The Kit: a guide to the advocacy we choose to do
A resource kit for consumers of mental health services and family carers, to assist them in developing their advocacy skills.
Table of contents
- Foreword
- Introduction
- How to use this Kit
Knowledge and attitudes booklet- Consumer and carer movements
- Undertaking advocacy
- Some forms of consumer and carer participation
- The challenges of advocacy
- Maintaining personal effort in advocacy
- Engaging networks and organisations
- Organisations, networks and links
- Developing peer advocacy groups/ organisations
- How organisations thrive
- Gaining financial and other support
- Communication between organisations
- Collaboration between groups
- Peak bodies
- Advocacy groups and legal issues
- Mobilising family and social networks
- The Internet
- Working with mental health professionals
- The mental health system
- Introduction
- Recent developments
- Structure of mental health services in Australia today
- The National Mental Health Policy and Plan
- The mental health workforce
- Mental health services - what consumers and carers can expect
- National Mental Health Strategy
- The changing nature of service delivery
- National Standards for Mental Health Services
- References
- The higher education system
- The broader community
- Skills, strategies and tools
- 1. Advocacy and the individual
- 1.1 Looking after yourself
- Recognise that not all of your advocacy activity will succeed
- Take stock of your knowledge, skills and resources
- Take stock of your stress
- Create personal boundaries
- Take stock of your fear and anger
- Examine your own motives
- Take personal care
- Personal stocktake
- Personal advocacy goals
- Advocacy fitness worksheet
- Personal resume
- 1.2 Remembering who you are
- 1.3 Assertiveness
- 1.4 Problem solving
- 1.5 Personal administration and organisation
- 1.6 Interpersonal communication
- 1.7 How to influence people
- 1.8 The business end of participation
- 1.9 Creating a personal advocacy plan
- 1.10 Family involvement in service delivery to consumers
- Just as all families are not the same, not all service providers are the same
- Be clear about rights and expectations
- Examine your own motives
- Examine your own needs and values
- Express what you know and acknowledge what you don't know
- Remember that, for many service providers, the consumer's interests come first
- Accept responsibility for your own actions, not those of the consumer
- Negotiate with the consumer, set the conditions
- 1.11 Reaching agreement with significant people
- 1.12 Conflict resolution/ mediation/ complaints
- 2. Getting organised
- 2.1 Briefing and debriefing
- 2.2 Identifying and overcoming barriers
- 2.3 Dealing with conflict of interest
- 2.4 Finding relevant information
- 2.5 Managing change
- 2.6 Gaining support from service providers
- 2.7 Keeping the momentum going
- 2.8 Managing a budget
- 2.9 Managing a contact list
- 2.10 Reflection and evaluation
- 3. Some specific activities
- 4. Advocacy and the organisation
- 4.1 Getting yourself and your organisation focused
- 4.2 Starting up a group
- 4.3 Developing your group
- 4.4 Leadership
- 4.5 Team development
- 4.6 Worker selection and recruitment
- 4.7 Organisational administration
- 4.8 Business (organisation) planning
- 4.9 Promotion (organisational)
- 4.10 Becoming an incorporated body
- 5. Getting strategic
- Glossary
- Bibliography
Back to:
- The kit: a guide to the advocacy we choose to do publication page
- Mental health a-z publications list
The views expressed in this kit are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services.
Copyright
This work is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study, training or advocacy purposes subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgement of the source and subject to no commercial usage or sale. Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission of:Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Programs Branch*
Department of Health and Ageing*
GPO Box 9848
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia
ISBN 0-642-47108-8
The kit: a guide to the advocacy we choose to do
A resource kit for consumers of mental health services and family carers SPICE Consulting
First edition – June 1998
Second edition – August 1999
* This is an update of information that appears in the original PDF document. The PDF version has not been updated.