issues

On one level advocacy is a very clear and precise methodology. Its providing unquestioning support for the views and opinions of your partner in whatever environment the user sees fit. Like in all such certainties situations arise where it is not so simple. In this page we look at a couple of such grey areas as well as some things that we feel are important in ensuring that Advocacy remains a vibrant service and one that is determined by the user rather than the service - (that's us!)
watching brief - what do you do when your partner and yourself have no reliable means of communication? Its all very well to talk about getting to know the communication system used by your partner, but in most cases our resources don't run to allowing the time - and even then you may still not get very far.
This page tells you about our approach to the problem. It also contains a link to download our information leaflets
conflict environments - despite its reputation, advocacy usually works in pretty co-operative environments. However occasionally it does happen that the service user is adamant in wanting to take a course of action that is in direct conflict with everyone elses idea of what is in their best interests. The role of the advocate in these situations is clear, at least in a superficial sense. However, it does lead to some grey areas of what do you do.
This page looks at the way we responded to just such a situation. Its a sort of discussion/come/policy document on the matter. We still have lively debates on the matter so please join in.
monitoring - its a big issue at Asist. It seems to us that some other advocacy groups, providers (statutory and voluntary) and purchasers give lip service to the monitoring of their services. At Asist we feel it is an essential element in offering a real service to service users. The mainstay of our monitoring is asking users what they feel about us and what we have done for them.
This page tells you what we do. It is by no means perfect (suggestions to improve it are welcomed) but its a start.
discriminatory behaviour - what does an advocate do when a service user is openly discriminatory.  What is primary - your role as an advocate or our equal opportunities policy?  Asist thought about this for some time and has developed a policy to guide our advocates.  Click here to go to the policy.