Service user involvement in practitioner education: Movement politics and transformative change.

Area of Science:

• Health and Social Care
• Education Studies
• Sociology of Social Movements

Background:

• User involvement in health and social care practitioner education is a key development.
• Transformative change in services is often driven by user activists.
• A UK context is used for this analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To celebrate best practices in user involvement in practitioner education.
• To critically appraise the transformative potential of these initiatives.
• To explore the role of universities in facilitating social justice and change.

Main Methods:

• Discussion paper format.
• Illustration of themes with selected data from prior research.
• Analysis of data from two focus groups within the Comensus initiative (participatory action research).

Main Results:

• Universities present paradoxes for facilitating debate and learning on social justice.
• These institutions can either impede or support the aims of social movements.
• Critically engaged academic staff and deliberative democratic cultures foster progressive outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Universities are complex environments for social change initiatives.
• Strategic academic engagement is crucial for advancing social justice in education.
• Fostering deliberative democracy within scholarly cultures can enhance transformative outcomes.