Guidance for Unpaid Carer Advocacy in Scotland

Who this Guidance is for

This Guidance is primarily intended for independent advocates, independent advocacy organisations, carer advocacy workers and carer advocacy projects. These advocacy workers are based in independent advocacy organisations or wider carer support organisations. The Guidance aims to support good practice in the delivery of advocacy for adult carers.

This Guidance will be of interest to everyone involved in working with and supporting carers to promote a wide understanding of the role and boundaries of advocacy for carers. It demonstrates the benefits of advocacy for carers and gives guidance on best practice in planning, commissioning and delivery.

For advocacy workers working with carers, the Guidance will ensure full understanding of the role and its challenges. It also aims to ensure that best practice is adhered to, thereby ensuring a consistently high quality of advocacy practice across Scotland.

For independent advocacy organisations and for carer advocacy projects the Guidance sets out advocacy best practice. It provides clarity around what may constitute a conflict of interest in delivering advocacy and how such conflicts may be avoided.

For carers the Guidance promotes understanding of what advocacy is, how it may help and what to expect from an advocacy service. It also provides information for health and social care professionals working with carers and with those they care for to understand the role and boundaries of advocacy for carers.

This Guidance helps ensure that conflicts of interest do not arise in the provision of advocacy for carers. Where there is the potential for a conflict of interest the Guidance helps both independent advocacy organisations and carers' support organisations to recognise this and to put in place policies and procedures to mitigate against this.

This Guidance relates to adult carers. The Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance (SIAA) is producing guidelines for advocates about working with children and young people. Where young carers have additional support for learning they will have access to an advocacy service.