What difference does it make? Findings of an impact study of service user and carer involvement on social work students’ subsequent practice

Abstract

What difference does it make? Findings of an impact study of service user and carer involvement on social work students' subsequent practice This paper reports on a study which followed up a group of social work students to explore whether service user involvement in their education made any difference to their practice and whether there were different models or types of involvement which had a more significant impact than others. The findings showed that the impact was individual to each student. It was often specific encounters or 'light bulb moments' which led to increased awareness or insight into their own practice particularly when encountering similar situations or when pressures of practice led to them losing sight of service user perspectives. The paper shares these findings and considers the learning for educators in developing models of involvement which enhance impact on subsequent practice.

Perspectives of experts-by-experience: an exploration of lived experience involvement in social work education

“…We have undertaken a qualitative study with the six core experts to discuss their involvement in social work education, addressing what motivated them to become involved, what the benefits of participation are, and the enablers and barriers to effective involvement. We considered the importance of the process of involvement (Unwin et al, 2018) from the perspective of people with lived experience of using services; a gap highlighted in the literature (Hughes, 2017;Mazanderani et al, 2020).…”

“…Despite this mandate, involvement practice across social work programmes is diverse and utilises different models of practice (Hughes, 2017). In order to evaluate the levels of service user participation across Higher Education (HE) courses, I drew on work developed by Tew et al (2004) who defined the 'Ladder of Involvement', drawing on the work of Arnstein (1969).…”

“…In our study, and beyond, the need both to present a diversity of perspectives to students (Hughes, 2017) and for involvement experts to establish a group identity (Noorani et al, 2019), are key elements to be considered when recruiting EbEs to contribute to social work education. This suggests that different models of user involvement in social work education can be useful, and that a small group can be very effective in supporting student learning, as well as a larger, more diverse group of EbEs.…”

“…This was important to challenge unconscious bias in student practice: M04: I can't speak for anybody else, but this is specific for what I feel round SUCI, it challenges unconscious and theoretical stereotypes and possible prejudices, and I always feel that that is one of my missions. Hughes (2017) considers that service user involvement has an impact on subsequent practice when the student engages with the service user. This learning is further reinforced if the student experiences double loop learning (Kolb, 1984) for example, when going on to encounter a similar experience or scenario in their practice.…”

Exploring the influence of feedback given by people with lived experience of mental distress on learning for preregistration mental health students

“…The involvement of people with lived experience within healthcare education is an increasingly prevalent phenomena, across a variety of disciplines including medicine, nursing and social work (Haycock‐Stuart, Donaghy, & Darbyshire, ; Hughes, ; Snow, Crocker, Talbot, Moore, & Salisbury, ). However, this movement towards service user autonomy is perhaps especially germane within mental health care; furthering the gradual transformation in the perception of service users from “powerless players” (Jordon & Court, ; p. 558) to experts as a result of their own experience (Muir & Laxton, ).…”