The importance of advocacy in the social and healthcare sectors

What Is Advocacy?

Advocacy in the social and health care sectors can be defined as needed support for those who are unable to take care of themselves or ensure their best interests. Social workers ensure that the best interests of these people are taken into account. It is important for advocates to ensure that their voices are also heard and treated with the utmost care and respect (ena.co.uk 2022).

Advocacy is about helping people speak up and making their voices heard. Advocacy is defined as empowering these vulnerable or disadvantaged people to make choices and encouraging them to make their own decisions and exercise their right to choose or make decisions. its own decision. Through advocacy, social workers aim to build self-esteem and rebuild confidence. Advocacy is not about getting people to talk to or meet with them and to impose views on vulnerable people who are incapable of making their own decisions. Nor is it an excuse to solve problems quickly (Oliver and Sapey 2018).
Advocacy is about promoting empowerment. The concept is to help vulnerable people gain their power by helping them make their own decisions and choices that they believe are in their best interest. Advocacy also ensures the development of autonomy. Advocates’ goal is to ensure that vulnerable people have self-determination and can direct their lives according to their own choices.

Advocacy is involved in the community. Social workers aim to engage vulnerable communities in social issues.
It also encourages everyone to enjoy equal rights and become valued citizens (Oliver and Sapey 2018).

Advocacy is a method of promoting empowerment in society. There are many different forms of movement. Some of them are:

• Self-advocacy
• Representative advocacy like Group advocacy, Peer advocacy
• Professional advocacy 

Self-representation is where a person speaks for themselves. This is the best form of advocacy where the person feels empowered and is willing to speak up and make their choice (scie.org.uk 2022).

This means that another person is encouraged to speak on his or her behalf because he or she cannot speak for himself. (bild.org.uk, 2022),

Empowerment is about enabling people with disabilities to take control of their lives and maximize their quality of life. Empowerment is about empowering them and helping them gain the power to take control of their lives and let them make their own choices. Independence means establishing the true meaning of inclusion and helping them to be independent. The role of advocacy is to empower people and give them hope for their future. For example, the role of empowerment is to lead individuals to learn to express anger and be critical, thereby making them see things differently (Oliver and Sapey 2018).

Several changes have been made to Irish law to accommodate vulnerable or disabled people. Laws protecting their rights include: Equality Act 2000-2004, Equality of Employment Act, Citizens Information Act 2007, European Convention on Human Rights, Decision Support Act (Capacity) force) 2016, United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Handicap also works for people with disabilities. Through these laws, social workers strive to gain support for people with disabilities, to have their voices heard and to exercise their rights in society.

Promoting Empowerment And Autonomy

The role of social workers is to enhance the quality of life of people with disabilities and to help them develop skills that help them define meaning in their lives. Social workers who work on behalf of people with diabetes play an important role in helping them get out of the closet they are in or feel trapped in. vulnerable people and also help them address the stigma associated with them (Oliver and Sapey 2018).

Conclusion 

Therefore, it can be concluded that advocacy for people with disabilities is important because it promotes a better quality of life for them and helps them make their own choices because they are the best people to live with. assess their own needs and, therefore, they must be encouraged to take initiative. to meet their needs. Advocacy is about helping people with disabilities make their own choices and decisions. Advocating for policies promoting the realization of human rights and inclusion.

Disability affects an individual’s quality of life throughout their life. Many children with disabilities in childhood need care throughout their lives. Specialized outpatient services are available for lifelong disability. Disability presents challenges that pervade all stages of life. Therefore, social workers have an important role to play when working with people of different age groups. The document will focus on the support and challenge models of different age groups.

Longevity can be defined as the study of an individual’s development from conception to old age. The definition defines that each person goes through different stages of development throughout their life. According to Erikson, the oral sensory stage develops from birth to 18 months and ends in old age when they can experience satisfaction and fulfillment. The anal period marks the development of self-control or shame and doubt in infants. Then, at a later stage, they develop their independence. During adolescence, they are confused about identity/role. In early adulthood, they experience intimacy or isolation (Maree 2021).

There are many different models that explain disability and the role of social workers in helping people with disabilities and supporting their needs. People with disabilities are often stigmatized and therefore, when social workers work for the development and protection of populations, the social model promotes that disability is a social construct and not a matter of individual. People with disabilities can continue to enjoy their human rights and live a happy life. The medical model of disability explains all the things that people with disabilities cannot do, and so social workers motivate and play to their strengths (pwd.org.au 2022)

Disability refers to the interaction between an individual’s state of health and their state of health. People with disabilities have unique challenges that are appropriate for their age.

During childhood, children with disabilities are subjected to physical and emotional stress. They may develop new disabilities and not receive appropriate medications that make their disability worse (who.int 2022). Later childhood may be subject to social and environmental barriers within or outside the school system. Expulsion of students with disabilities may occur. Adulthood and later adulthood in old age also present challenges (Nielsen et al. 2018).

Different Forms Of Advocacy

Social models suggest that people have disabilities more because of the barriers that society imposes on them than because of their physical characteristics. Social role models support people in need by identifying the challenges they face and thereby removing barriers to help them become more independent (afdo.org.au 2022).

Modeling is central to the values ​​of social work. This approach reduces and encourages the removal of oppression in access to services (basw.co.uk 2022).

The role of the family is to promote inclusion and respect choice. As spokesperson, his role is to promote support for the needs of vulnerable people. Advocacy’s role is to bring about change in the lives of people who are often discriminated against or denied human rights because of their physical or mental disability. That is the role of advocacy to promote the well-being of individuals. As a social worker, it is important to help people with difficulty access the various services they are entitled to. For example, social workers help addicts receive appropriate detoxification therapies (Weiss?Gal 2017).

Social legislation is used to empower social workers and the law acts as a tool to protect and strengthen the basic human rights of people with disabilities. The Capacity Act was enacted to advocate for disadvantaged people and empower them to protect individuals. The law encourages them to make their own decisions about the treatment or care they would like to receive for themselves. The principle of action is to focus on people. It promotes the least restrictive care and is the most sought after social work practice. The law has five principles (skillsforcare.org.uk 2022).

Conclusion 

It can be concluded that people with disabilities face challenges and these challenges are often subjective for their age group. For example, later in life, children may be stigmatized because of their disability in school and inclusion policies may not be in place. This may discourage parents from pursuing their children’s education. Later in life, they may experience discrimination in the workplace, such as not being employed.

References 

afdo.org.au, 2022. Social Model Of Disability | Australian Federation of Disability Organisations. [online] Afdo.org.au. Available at: <https://www.afdo.org.au/social-model-of-disability/#:~:text=The%20social%20model%20of%20disability%20says%20that%20people%20are%20disabled,can’t%20do%20certain%20things.> [Accessed 24 April 2022].

basw.co.uk, 2022. [online] Basw.co.uk. Available at:

<https://www.basw.co.uk/system/files/resources/basw_25529-2_0.pdf> [Accessed 24 April 2022].

bild.org.uk, 2022. bild. [online] bild | Our vision is a society where everyone can enjoy the same rights and opportunities. Available at:

<https://www.bild.org.uk/> [Accessed 24 April 2022].

ena.co.uk, 2022. What is an advocate in health and social care? | ENA. [online] ENA Care Group. Available at: <https://ena.co.uk/news/what-is-an-advocate-in-health-and-social-care/#:~:text=Health%20and%20social%20care%20advocacy,and%20treated%20with%20appropriate%20respect> [Accessed 24 April 2022].

Maree, J.G., 2021. The psychosocial development theory of Erik Erikson: critical overview. Early Child Development and Care, 191(7-8), pp.1107-1121.

Nielsen, K., Andria-Habermann, K., Richards, T., Abbott, R., Mickail, T. and Berninger, V., 2018. Emotional and behavioral correlates of persisting specific learning disabilities in written language during middle childhood and early adolescence. Journal of psychoeducational assessment, 36(7), pp.651-669.

Oliver, M. and Sapey, B., 2018. Social work with disabled people. Macmillan International Higher Education.

pwd.org.au, 2022. Social model of disability – People with Disability Australia. [online] Pwd.org.au. Available at:

<https://pwd.org.au/resources/disability-info/social-model-of-disability/> [Accessed 24 April 2022].

scie.org.uk, 2022. Advocacy: inclusion, empowerment and human rights. [online] Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). Available at: <https://www.scie.org.uk/advocacy/commissioning/inclusion> [Accessed 24 April 2022].

skillsforcare.org.uk, 2022. [online] Skillsforcare.org.uk. Available at:

<https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Documents/Learning-and-development/social-work/psw/Pt1-Mental-Capacity-Act-in-Practice-Accessible.pdf> [Accessed 24 April 2022].

Weiss?Gal, I., 2017. Social workers’ policy engagement: A review of the literature. International Journal of Social Welfare, 26(3), pp.285-298.

who.int, 2022. [online] Apps.who.int. Available at:

<https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/75355/9789241504065_eng.pdf;sequence=1> [Accessed 24 April 2022].