What is advocacy?

Advocates are so important! Mental illness at times can make it hard to do what needs to be done, to stand up for yourself, to be listened to or taken seriously.

Why might I need an advocate?

Having a mental health problem can sometimes mean it's harder to have your opinions and ideas taken seriously by others. At times you might find it hard to express your views. Or to remember all the information someone has told you.

An advocate can help with this. And they can help to make sure you're fully involved in decisions that affect you.

What kinds of advocacy are there?

Statutory advocacy

In some circumstances, the law says you're entitled to an advocate. For example, if you're being assessed or receiving treatment under the Mental Health Act.

This is known as statutory advocacy.

You're also legally entitled to an advocate if you lack capacity to make certain decisions. For example, decisions about your health or social care. In this case, the local authority must organise an advocate for you.

If you're unhappy with NHS care you receive and you need an advocate to help you complain, you're entitled to have one.

Statutory advocates should be trained and have experience of working in these situations. And help from a statutory advocate is free of charge. 

For more information, see our pages on:

• Advocacy and social care
• NHS complaints advocates 
• Independent Mental Health Advocates (IMHAs)
• Independent Mental Capacity Advocates (IMCAs)

Community advocacy services

Community advocacy refers to advocacy that's not a legal entitlement. You don't need a diagnosis of a mental health problem to get a community advocate to help you.

Community advocates are trained. They can help you with things like understanding healthcare options and getting appointments. See on our page what an advocate can help you with to learn more.

There are organisations that provide community advocates for free. The advocates may be paid members of staff or volunteers. See our page on finding an advocate for details.

Group advocacy

This is where a group of people with similar experiences meet to support each other. And to collectively strengthen their voice. It's also known as collective advocacy.

Peer advocacy

Peer advocates are people who have lived experience of a mental health problem. They can support you and offer advice, based on their own experience.

Friends and family

A friend, family member or carer can be an advocate for you, if you want them to. It can be really helpful to get support from someone close to you, who you trust.

But being your advocate is a different kind of relationship to being your friend or family member. You might want to agree with them beforehand what you both understand the role to mean. And agree what your boundaries are.

Even if you don't choose to call them your advocate, you may find that just talking to someone you trust can help. It might help you to work out what your questions and concerns are before you speak to a professional, such as your doctor or housing officer.

Our pages on helping someone else with a mental health problem have other ideas for how your friends or family could support you.

I had one friend who helped me by just listening and never judging. Without him my recovery time would have been much longer.

Self-advocacy

Being able to speak up about what you want is sometimes described as 'self-advocacy'.

It's not always easy to do this when you have a mental health problem. But if you want to advocate for yourself, there are some steps you can take to help. These might also help if you can't find an advocate to support you.

Our page on finding an advocate has information about what you can do if there's no advocacy service in your area. This includes tips for how to advocate for yourself. 

What does an advocate do?

It depends on your situation and the support you want.

Having an advocate to support you in meetings can be help. Especially if you don't feel confident to express your views. The advocate can:

• Support you to ask all the questions you want to ask
• Make sure all the points you want covered are included in the meeting
• Explain your options to you without giving their opinion
• Help keep you safe during the meeting – for example, if you find the meeting upsetting, your advocate can ask for a break until you feel able to continue

An advocate is there to support your choices. They can:

• Listen to your views and concerns
• Help you explore your options and rights, without pressuring you
• Give you information to help you make informed decisions
• Help you contact relevant people, or contact them for you

What won't an advocate do?

A professional or trained advocate will not:

• Give you their personal opinion
• Solve problems and make decisions for you
• Make judgements about you

A family member, friend or carer advocating for you shouldn't do this either. And they shouldn't assume that they already know what you want, or what's best for you.

Published: December 2024

Next review planned: December 2027

References and bibliography available on request.

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