BA(Hons) Social Work
Faculty of Health

The BA (Hons) Social Work is firmly committed to a partnership with service users and carers in all the main aspects of the Award. We believe that service users and carers are their own ‘experts’ and must therefore have a major influence upon the training of social workers. This is essential to ensure that a high quality and sensitive service can be provided by our students in their future social work careers.

There are several aspects of service user and care involvement in this programme.

1. There is a formally constituted group which meets on a regular basis to discuss ways of influencing the work of the programme;
2. There are opportunities to share in the work of selecting new students for the programme;
3. Service users and carers take part in the skills training for social work students, and give feedback on student performance;
4. Opportunities are being developed for service users and carers to share in the teaching sessions with students, so that student learning can be enriched and enhanced;
5. Academic staff will actively encourage dialogue with service users and carers in the planning and delivery of taught modules on the Award;
6. The Award management structures offer further opportunities for the service user and carer voice to be heard, and to influence the development of the Award.

It is important for everyone involved to recognize that this is ‘work in progress’, and that some aspects of service user and carer involvement have been new to the Award since its formal launch in September 2003. The commitment to this process is clear, but it will take time and patience, alongside the enthusiasm, to ensure that this dimension to the Award becomes fully and creatively embedded.

The service users and carers group is by no means a ‘closed shop’. New members from organizations, as well as interested individuals, are always welcome, and every care will be taken to ensure that members of the group are given the support and information they need in order to make a worthwhile contribution. Anyone involved with the programme in this way will want to respect the value base of social work, with its commitment to valuing and celebrating diversity, and encouraging an atmosphere where learning can be a safe, enjoyable and challenging experience.

People are not expected to undertake this work ‘ for free’. Funds are available not only to meet any travelling expenses incurred in attending meetings or sessions with students, but also to make an hourly rate payment for the time which is given to this work.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the work of the group, and ways in which they can become involved, are invited to write in the first instance to:

The Convenor Service
User and Carers Group (Social Work),
Social Work and Applied Social Studies,
Staffordshire University,
Brindley Building,
Leek Road,
Stoke on Trent
Staffs
ST4 2DF