Advocacy for adults

Find out about advocacy

Advocacy

Sometimes people need help expressing their wishes. They might also need help understanding information around health, care and support decisions.  

Advocacy is having someone to help you with this. 

Advocates

An advocate is someone who supports and represents you when dealing with issues to do with your: 

• care and support 

• medical treatment 

• mental health needs 

An advocate could be a family member or friend. You can also have an Independent advocate, if there isn't anyone else suitable to help you. 

Advocates help people to: 

• speak up for themselves 

• get their voice heard 

• understand and use their rights 

• find and understand information 

• make their own decisions about what they need and want 

• tell people like social workers, nurses and doctors what they want 

What is an independent advocate?

An independent advocate is someone who is paid to support you to make sure that: 

• your views and rights are respected 

• you are treated fairly 

• your concerns are taken into account 

• you have real control over the big decisions in your life 

They can help you: 

• speak up at meetings

• deal with difficult issues

• understand important decisions that are being made 

• challenge decisions that you don’t agree with 

They are professionally trained. Support is free, confidential and independent of the local authority and/ or health service.

Adults Advocacy Service

The Advocacy People deliver the Independent Advocacy service in Cornwall. This includes the following: 

• An Advocacy Hub
  A single point of access to advocacy and signposting

• Independent Advocacy
  Provides support from paid advocates with:

  • statutory advocacy

  • care act advocacy

  • mental capacity advocacy

  • mental health advocacy

  • health complaints advocacy

• Specialist Advocacy
  Provides support from paid advocates with:

  • non-statutory advocacy

  • parents advocacy

  • appropriate adults support with police questioning

  • adult social care complaints advocacy 

• Community Advocacy
  Access to support for:

  • self-advocates

  • peer / volunteer advocates

  • advocacy groups

  • non-statutory issue-based community advocacy

• Advocacy Training
  Training on advocacy principles for people who use services, their families, and professionals.

The Advocacy People have created this helpful video to explain how they can help

For further information on Advocacy please see The Advocacy People website. This includes the services they provide in Cornwall and contact details:

Visit The Advocacy People website

The Council must involve people in decisions made about them and their care and support. We want to help people understand their options and to make their own decisions.   

There are 'statutory duties' that tell the Council when they must involve an independent advocate. You can speak with your Adult Care and Support worker about how to make a referral to The Advocacy People.