Advocacy is when someone helps you express your views, needs, wishes and rights. This person is called an advocate.
An advocate can be family member or a friend. It could also be a professional advocate who comes and supports you.
Advocates will:
- listen to you
- explore you options and rights with you
- provide you with helpful information so you can make decisions
- help you contact relevant people
- come to meetings and appointments with you
Advocates will not:
- pressurise you into making decisions
- give you their personal opinions
- make decisions for you
- make judgments about you
You can have an advocate for all sorts of issues including problems with
- health and social care appointments
- employment
- benefits
- housing
There are some situations where you may have a legal right to advocacy. These are:
- Independent Mental Health Advocate: for certain patients under the Mental Health Act 1983
- Independent Mental Capacity Advocates: for certain patients under the Mental Capacity Act 2005
- Social Care Advocates: for certain people under the Care Act 2014. This would be for someone who has difficulty in understanding relevant information, retaining information, using information, communicating views, wishes and feelings.
Advocacy Services in Enfield
Enfield Disability Action
Enfield Disability Action provide services for disabled and older people living in Enfield.
They have two advocacy services that you can access which are:
- Individual One to One Advocacy
- Self-Advocacy Group
If you would like to contact them you can call them on 07745 795347 or eda@e-d-a.org.uk
POhWER
POhWer offer advocacy if you are unhappy with the care that you recieve in the NHS. It also offers Independent Mental Health Advocacy.
You can call them on 0203 553 5960 or email pohwer@pohwer.net
Voiceability
Voiceability offers:
- Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy
- Relevant Person’s Representative
- Care Act Advocacy
You can call them on 0300 303 1660 or email helpline@voiceability.org
Mind in Enfield
Mind in Enfield offers advocacy to those who have been referred to them by a mental health professional or a GP.
