Non-instructed advocacy for Independent Mental Health Advocates

This course can be provided in house, please contact us for further details.

IMHAs will often support people eligible for their service who can describe their issues and the support they want. What about those people who are eligible but are very unwell and lack the capacity to refer themselves to the service? These clients may not be able to be fully involved in decisions about their own care and treatment; or the nature of their mental disorder e.g. dementia, means they may not retain information about what the IMHA service can do and as a result miss out on vital independent advocacy representation. It is appropriate to use non-instructed advocacy in this situation and the Code of Practice advocates this, but how does that actually work in practice? Who refers the patient and what is the IMHA’s role if the person cannot tell you what they want or need? What skills are needed and how does the IMHA explain their role to patients and to mental health professionals?

This course is for IMHAs who want to improve their non-instructed advocacy skills. Through attending this course, advocates will be able to:

•    Understand the need for non-instructed advocacy in a mental health setting.
•    Develop practical non-instructed advocacy skills using a variety of methods.
•    Use a framework to plan and manage non-instructed advocacy cases.
•    Identify relevant ethical and professional boundaries

Comments

“Very practical”

“Very well presented, relevant, useful”

“Clear expertise in this area”

“Comprehensive, practical – ‘real life’ usage – thank you”

“Good to focus on Non-instructed advocacy for IMHAs”