Achieving a strategy for user involvement in community care

This paper presents an overview of findings from an evaluation of the Birmingham Community Care Special Action Project (CCSAP). CCSAP was intended to deliver an inter-agency, user-oriented strategy for community care. It pre-dated the reforms introduced by the National Health Service and Community Care Act and, indeed, may have influenced some aspects of those reforms. Lessons from the evaluation can assist agencies wishing to develop a strategy for user involvement. In particular, the evaluation indicated the need to be clear about: the purposes of involvement; who it is intended should be involved; importance of establishing effective mechanisms both to secure action in response to issues raised, and the continuation and development of involvement itself. The evaluation contributed to the development of involvement and this experience has also enabled us to reflect on the contribution research can play in the development of user involvement strategies.