Christian Alliance Housing

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Christian Alliance Housing

• Barbara Stevenson

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Service user involvement

• How to encourage staff- what gets in the way?
• Adapting ideas to suit the client
• Example from South West Surrey Refuge

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Andover Darwen Exeter Exmouth Surrey London Leamin
gton Spa Liverpool Manchester Nuneaton St
Austell Southampton St Leonards Tunbridge
wells Weston Super-mare Yeovil
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Christian Alliance Housing

• Wooden/clip board style of questioning

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Problems in Service User Involvement

• High volume work but little real value to service
  users
• Useful work service users shape the service but
  poor evidencing
• Psychological hurdles giving up some power
• Does not fit client group

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Empty files no complaints

• Refuge issues
• No complaints
• Grateful client group
• Short length of stay
• Too much going on in lives of women
• Tick box surveys always positive
• Exit surveys biased- women moving on

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Service user satisfaction

• Consultation with staff team
• Consultation with service user
• Planning with service user
• Take away embarrassment/blame
• Make it fun/make it short
• Staff started- with ice breaker
• Service user facilitated and staff left

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Method

• Two A2 sheets
• Title for each
• Link working where further training required
• Link working shows adequate training
• Offer post-its to stick onto sheets
• Ask women to write experiences on post-its

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Results

• Lots of positive comments. Some negative
• Referral phone calls taking precedence
• Taking longer to find out something and not
  informing service user of delay

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Tips for success

• Keep it short
• Use service users to help with the planning
• Offer refreshments
• Take Care not to label- goldfish bowl effect
• Use your imagination- be creative
• Posters up
• Take service users suggestions seriously
• Risks? Ask service users what might go wrong
• Get them to own mistakes
• Make it useful- relevant to service users
• Evidence the work
• If it doesnt work- ask them why