Scottish Inter-University Service User and Carer Network Meeting

Dr Mel Hughes was to join and present at the Scottish Inter-University Service User and Carer Network Meeting in Edinburgh. The event was attended by social work academics and people with lived experience working with the University of Edinburgh, Dundee University, Stirling University, University of Western Scotland, Glasgow Caledonian, OU Scotland and representatives from Who Cares? Scotland and Scottish Social Services Council. It was a great example of organisations working together to share and develop ideas on user involvement in social work education.

Dr Hughes' presentation on the BU PIER partnership and their work in recognising, valuing and harnessing the expertise of people with lived experience was well received and led to some great discussions on approaches to engaging seldom heard voices in social work education. Members were particularly keen to hear more about the 'Learning from the Lived Experience' user led unit and  'Guide to Statutory Social Work Interventions: the lived experience' text book. There was even talk of adapting this to the Scottish legal framework. Watch this space!