Types of advocacy

Case advocacy is also referred to as crisis or short-term advocacy, although there are slight differences between the three.

These are forms of advocacy similar to citizen advocacy, but which focus on one issue or set of issues, and are not intended to have a long-term basis.

They may be provided alongside peer, citizen, or self-advocacy to give extra support in dealing with a particular problem.

The support may be needed because a lot of work needs to be done, because of a break down in an advocacy partnership, or because issues requiring special expertise arise. For example, in law, child protection, education, housing, employment, and financial matters.

Self advocacy means people coming together to speak up for themselves. It is what most of us do most of the time. It is the best kind of advocacy, where people feel able and willing to do so. This should always be worked towards.

Many people with learning disabilities are good at speaking up for themselves. Sometimes they find it hard to get others to accept this or to listen to them.

Self advocacy groups are a good way of encouraging this. They are run by people with learning disabilities who sometimes have supporters.

Self advocacy groups are often groups of people who use services or have the same interests locally. They work together to make sure they have a say in how those services are run.

They are a very good way for people to support each other and they can help to build confidence so that people feel more able to speak up for themselves

This is when the advocate and the advocacy partner share similar experiences or environments. For example, this happens between children who may live together in a children’s home, those experiencing mental ill health, and those with a learning disability.

It sometimes means that people who have experienced the same things feel they have a better understanding and can be more supportive to each other.

Peer advocacy happened in the past between people with learning disabilities when they were separated from others and lived in isolated hospitals.

They often only had each other for company and were away from others in the community. There was no one else to speak up for them other than their fellow residents.

As people with learning disabilities began to learn more about the rights and obligations of citizenship, more of them are speaking up for each other.

This is often like citizen advocacy with both partners having a learning disability, and is mostly of an informal nature

Generally, independent advocates are unpaid, many not taking even expenses. Volunteers are always in short supply.

Where there is a huge demand, paid advocates may be needed to deal with the situation on a temporary basis. This can happen when a long-stay hospital closes and large numbers of people are being resettled, or where a major problem has occurred, for example.

Their role is typically a combination of citizen and case advocacy, but they will have a caseload of several clients. Ideally, once a person is resettled, the paid advocate hands over to volunteer local citizen or self-advocacy.

Volunteers developing long term relationships with people and speaking up for them. This is a partnership between two people.

To try to make things clear, one is usually called the advocacy partner and one the citizen advocate.

An advocacy partner is someone at risk of having choices, wishes, and decisions ignored, and who needs help in making them known and making sure they are responded to.

A citizen advocate is a person who volunteers to speak up for and support an advocacy partner and is not paid to do so.

The citizen advocate is unpaid, independent of service providers and families, and is a member of the local community. They identify the partner’s choices and decisions, but do not make or influence them.

The advocacy partnership is one to one and the advocate’s loyalty is to the advocacy partner alone. The advocacy relationship is based on trust and confidentiality. The partnership is long term, not time limited, and lasts for as long as both partners want it to.

An advocacy scheme “matches” the advocate and partner

Government policy is clear that people should be able to be active citizens and have a say about how things work where they live. It also recognises that some people need support to make this happen.

There are specific rights in law for advocacy in some circumstances:

The Mental Capacity Act 2005

This provides a statutory framework for acting and making decisions on behalf of individuals who lack the mental capacity to do so for themselves. The Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) Service supports people who lack capacity and who have no family or friends to support them when serious decisions are taken in their lives.

The Mental Health Act 2007

Arrangements will be made to provide independent mental health advocates (IMHA) for 'qualifying' patients in England.