The agency of service user and carer engagement in health and social care education

Service user and carer involvement in health and social care education in the UK has gained momentum over the last two decades, largely driven by consumerist and democratic ideologies. This is reinforced by the health and social care regulatory bodies such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

This thesis presents a series of eight peer reviewed papers that have focussed on the agency of service user and carer involvement in health and social care education. The accompanying commentary draws the papers together and locates them within an overarching theoretical framework, ‘The Ladder of involvement’. This portfolio of evidence demonstrates a coherent approach that draws on underlying philosophies and theoretical underpinnings and displays contribution to knowledge in five distinct sections: Contribution to the literature with new findings, location of the findings within the current literature, location of the findings within the theoretical framework, contribution to the refinement and development of theory and contribution to dialogue and debate.

The key message from the studies undertaken as part of this portfolio of evidence is that service user and care involvement in health and social care education enhances student learning and influences their future practice. However, there must be a well-developed infrastructure within higher education institutions that recognises the complexities of user involvement for the key stakeholders. There is a pressing need for additional research to further substantiate the benefit of user involvement for all parties concerned, in order for user involvement to take its place as a core component of health and social care education.