DISC provides one to one short term advocacy. The service is for adults with physical disabilities, MS, brain injuries, neuro-disabilities and stroke survivors resident in Camden.
What is advocacy?
Advocacy is taking action to help people say what they want, secure their rights, represent their interests and obtain the
services they need.
Advocates and advocacy schemes work in partnership with the people they support and take their side. Advocacy promotes social inclusion, equality and social justice.
Advocacy Charter 2002
Advocacy is about supporting and empowering people to have greater choice and control over their own lives.
Advocates assist and enable people to:
Speak up about what they want
Access information and services
Explore their options
Make informed decisions for themselves
Advocates aim to encourage people to speak and act for themselves as much as possible but are also able to represent your views on your behalf if you do not feel able to do so yourself.
An advocate does not:
Give advice
Tell you what to do
Make judgements about you.
How is advocacy relevant to me?
Do you feel like you are not being listened to?
Do you find it difficult to speak up for yourself?
Do you want more control over the decisions that affect your life?
Do want to find out more about your options?
Do you feel nervous and intimidated by care assessments and other meetings?
Do you sometimes feel that people don’t explain things clearly to you?
If any of the above applies to you then you might really benefit from having a chat with an advocate.
An advocate can help in situations such as:
Care assessments and reviews
Discharge from hospital
Meetings with your GP
Financial assessments (for community care services)
Making a complaint
Housing issues.
How do I get an advocate?
If you feel you would benefit from an advocate then please contact the DISC advocacy support service to refer yourself. Alternatively you can ask someone else to refer you. You can contact us either by phone or email.
After we receive your referral we will arrange a meeting with you to find out more about your issue.
Volunteer Advocates:
If you are interested in supporting and enabling people to express their views then you might like to consider becoming a volunteer advocate. Perhaps you have benefited in the past from working with an advocate or maybe you have knowledge and experience of a particular issue that might be beneficial to others.
Katrin McEntee
Islington Mind provides IMCA (Independent mental capacity advocacy) in Camden for people who lack capacity to make certain decisions.