User and Stakeholder Involvement

Who's doing it?
This workstream is co-ordinated by Age Concern Help the Aged, but also involves the other members of the consortium. Youth Access, the Law Centres Federation and Citizens Advice are funded service providers for the workstream while ASA and Advice UK contribute as non-funded service providers.
 
Why was this workstream developed?
 
In general, the Voluntary and Community Sector is very successful in engaging users and stakeholders in the management and development of services. However, this has not always been the case with advice agencies.
 
This is largely due to the different relationships that advice agencies have with their users and stakeholders. Users of advice agencies differ from many other users of voluntary sector services as their contact with the service is very often time-limited, sometimes only lasting for the length of one phone call or drop-in advice session and very often at a point of crisis or stress for the service user. In these circumstances it is not always easy or appropriate to attempt to engage with the service user about services.
 
Also, many advice agencies seek to empower their users to be able to tackle their problems themselves, actively discouraging them from becoming dependent upon advice services.
 
This has meant that although there are examples of excellent practices in advice sector user and stakeholder involvement, these practices have never become mainstreamed in the advice sector as they have in other sectors. There has also never been a dedicated resource to support the development of this important element of work.
 
What is its aim?
The overall aim of this workstream is to increase user and stakeholder involvement in the management and development of advice services.
 
What are the expected outcomes of the workstream?

• 750 voluntary and community sector organisations are better equipped to deliver more effective advice services based on the motivations and needs of advice users and stakeholders
• Members of ASA improve their understanding of user and stakeholder involvement in the development of advice services
• A minimum of 180 staff in the advice sector improve their ability to effectively involve users and stakeholders in development of services
• Users of advice services increase their opportunities to influence the planning, delivery and management of services
• The advice sector improves its contribution to policy development on user development in the provision of mainstream advice services

What has it achieved so far?

• 26 advice services and over 1500 advice service users surveyed on the motivations behind user and stakeholder involvement
• Research into good practice in involvement within the advice sector and other sectors completed
• Pilot toolkit resources developed to assist organisations to embed involvement in their advice services
• 6 organisations recruited to pilot these resources

What about future plans?

• Pilot organisations to pilot resources for six month period
• Toolkit resources to be developed and enhanced and made available to all voluntary sector advice organisations
• Training to be developed to support organisations to develop user and stakeholder involvement
• Regional seminars to share good practice in involvement work

 
Resources
Involve, Engage, Empower - The User and Stakeholder Involvement toolkit is a step-by-step guide designed to help advice agencies successfully involve users and other stakeholders. It includes exercises, templates and other tools which are neither time-consuming nor costly.
 

For further information, please contact:
Matthew Pilkington - Workstream Manager
0208 765 7748