Introduction to Culturally Appropriate Advocacy

Description

The programmes are designed to equip participants with a lucid understanding of the knowledge, skills and sensitivity (attitude, values and perceptions) required to be culturally competent advocates for vulnerable people interacting with mental health services.

Our CCAT programmes have been co-designed with participants with direct experience of mental health services and are based on wide-ranging evidence. Our CCAT course was externally evaluated by Niche Consultancy. Each course incorporates a minimum of 30 key competencies vital to the role of a culturally competent advocate.

Our blended cultural competence advocacy training programme involves:

●        The equivalent of one day of learning per week over a 11 week period (15 weeks for peer advocates), incorporating a one week mid-programme break for review and refresh.

●       A scheduled 2-3 hour interactive learning session each week so every training cohort can be supported to consolidate and embed their learning.

●       Topics to ensure participants have a solid grounding in the way race, ethnicity and culture interact with an individual’s lived experience of advocacy and mental health services.

●       Activities and learning material so participants develop a strong understanding of multiple forms of racism and patterns of inequality and how these relate to the racialised lived experience.

●       Participants will acquire a thorough understanding of rights based legislation. In particular, they will gain insight into the key provisions, conventions and case law within the Equality and Human Rights Acts and how they relate specifically to the abuses more commonly experienced by racialised minority groups.

●       The skills and knowledge to allow advocates to represent and challenge abuses in an anti-discriminatory manner.

●       Participants will also be introduced to our care pathway decision-making points and processes typology so they can apply their new knowledge and skills to examine racial bias at crucial junctures pertinent to IMHA and related interfaces.