From limited beginnings service-user/carer involvement has become central to the accreditation and validation of social work programmes in the UK (Hatton, 2015). The extent and depth of service-user/carer involvement varies widely across the country and in many, but not all, cases focuses on the involvement of service users/carers in the traditional elements of the programme – admissions interviews, guest teaching and as expert speakers. This chapter suggest that if we are to make service-user/carer involvement meaningful, we need to develop a more holistic and complex way of understanding how service users/carers can contribute to social work education. This will involve seeing service users/carers as co-producers and partners in the educational experience rather than seeing their involvement as a way of legitimising our commitment to inclusion. To achieve this, this chapter argues that we need a more developed analysis of power, agency, imagination and creativity. The chapter uses the phrase ‘service users/carers’ for clarity, although it fully recognises that: a) service users/carers are not a homogenous grouping, and b) the very words are themselves contentious (McLaughlin, 2009). In current discourses, service users/carers are more often referred to as experts by experience or people with lived experience (PWLE). The authors also recognises that service users/carers have multiple identities beyond their status as service users/carers, and that many of these roles intersect (Hill Collins and Bilge, 2016) and cause contradictions/conflicts. This is the content of a recently published companion piece (Hatton, 2020).Over the last 20 years, service users/carers have at last been recognised as having a significant role in the delivery, management and development of welfare services.
During recent decades a strong interest has grown in actively involving service users in social work education, research and policy development. Drawing on a major European Social Fund project, this book presents an overview of inspiring collaborative models that have proven their efficacy and sustainability. Contributions from service users, lecturers and researchers from across Europe provide detailed case studies of good practice, exploring the value framework behind the model and considering their added value from a user, teacher and student perspective.The book concludes with a series of reflective chapters, considering key issues and ethical dilemmas.Based on the results of a European Social Fund project, this book critically appraises the benefits and challenges of involving service users in social work research, practice and education.