3. Introduction
The act or process of
supporting a cause or proposal;
the act or process of
advocating something…
4. Advocacy definitions
• 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, Action for Advocacy (2002)
4
5. What is advocacy?
Befriending Counselling Choices Mediation
Legal support Rights Having a voice Support
Advice Dependency Empowerment
Making
decisions
Impartial Representation
6. Why Advocacy is Necessary?
Rights – concerned with law & social
structures
Participation – concerned with move to
inclusion, citizenship, & involvement in
recovery (e.g. Individualized funding)
Power – concerned with shifting power to
families & individuals & distributing valued
resources more equitably
8. History of advocacy
stay
•1950s – scandals in long
hospitals
•1960s – increasing awareness of
rights and the way people are treated
who need services
•1966 – Wolfensburger established the
first Citizen Advocacy project in
America 8
9. History of advocacy cont…
• 1979 – first Citizen Advocacy project in
London
• 1983 and 1984 – developments in
advocacy for mental health patients,
people with learning difficulties, and
children
• 1980s – till date – legislative and policy
changes based on the rights of individuals
to have a voice, choice and representation
10. Types of Advocacy
Here we will refer to five types of
advocacy:
•Individual Advocacy
•Citizen Advocacy
•Systems Advocacy
•Parent Advocacy
•Self Advocacy
11. Individual Advocacy
Here the advocate concentrates their
only.
efforts
There
on one or two people
are two common forms of
individual advocacy
•Informal Advocacy
•Formal advocacy
12. Informal Advocacy
like parents,
• When
friends,
agencies
people
family
speak
members or
out and
advocate for vulnerable people
this is termed informal
advocacy
16. Citizen Advocacy
• A Citizen advocacy is a partnership
between an individual who is vulnerable
and not in a good position to exercise or
defend their rights as a citizen, and a
member of the community who is
independent of those providing direct
services.
• A person may be vulnerable because of
disability, old age or mental health
difficulties.
17. Citizen Advocacy cont…
•A Citizen Advocate is someone
who volunteers their time and is
recruited by a paid, trained
advocate coordinator.
•The coordinators role is to create
and support relationships
between an advocate and partner
(vulnerable person). .
18. Citizen Advocacy is NOT a:
• Buddy Program
• Volunteer Program
• Complaints Service
• Paid Advocacy Service
• Legal Service
Citizen Advocates are involved because they have
made a voluntary commitment to be a loyal
supporter of a person with intellectual disability, to
be a friend, who can, when necessary, protect and
safeguard their interests.
19. System Advocacy
•This form of advocacy is primarily
concerned with influencing and
changing the system (legislation,
policy and practices) in ways that
will benefit people with a
disability as a group within
society.
20. Systems Advocacy cont,,,
This can include influencing:
• the creation of new laws or changes to
current laws
• the priorities and plans of government and
non-government agencies
• the policies and procedures that relate to
services or systems
• the way in which government and non-
government agencies provide services.
21. Parent Advocacy
•Parent advocacy is concerned with
advocating on issues that affect
the person with a disability and
their family.
•The focus is on the needs of the
person with a disability, not the
parents or family.
22. Parent Advocacy cont….
•However, some parent advocacy
focuses on the needs of parents
first.
•Whilst parents have substantial
needs for support and resources,
when we talk about parent
advocacy we mean advocacy by
parent groups for people with a
disability.
23. Self Advocacy
•Self-advocacy is the
speak-up for yourself
ability to
and the
things that are important to you.
•Self-advocacy means you are able
to ask for what you need and
want and tell people about your
thoughts and feelings.
24. Self Advocacy cont….
•self-advocacy means you know
your rights and
responsibilities, you speak-up
for your rights, and you are
able to make choices and
decisions that affect your life.
