A new book examined the practical, philosophical, and theoretical issues at the heart of user involvement in social care.
Source: Peter Beresford and Sarah Carr (eds), Social Care, Service Users and User Involvement, Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Sep
An article examined participatory forums, in which lay citizens or users of public services contributed to the governance of public services. It highlighted both their potential to generate novel outputs that influenced service provision – but also the way in which such forums, and their lack of imposed rules and norms of deliberation, could themselves work to exclude certain participants and discourses.
Source: Graham Martin, 'Public deliberation in action: emotion, inclusion and exclusion in participatory decision making', Critical Social Policy, Volume 32 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
An article summarized the research literature on children's and parents' involvement in social work decision-making. Involvement tended to be 'messy, difficult and compromised'. Different individuals or groups might have different understandings of participation and related concepts, while differences of age and disability also mediated effective user engagement.
Source: Michael Gallagher, Mark Smith, Mark Hardy, and Heather Wilkinson, 'Children and families involvement in social work decision making', Children & Society, Volume 26 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jan
An article examined the potential impact of narrow conceptualizations of the inclusion (or participation) of service users in mental health policy development and implementation. It highlighted the value of service user groups considering alternative forms of involvement, rather than those prescribed by 'Third Way' or 'Big Society' thinking.
Source: Sue Cowan, David Banks, Paul Crawshaw, and Andrew Clifton, 'Mental health service user involvement in policy development: social inclusion or disempowerment?', Mental Health Review Journal, Volume 16 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jan