Are you tuned in? Getting clients' voices heard

20 OCTOBER 2009 | LONDON | A JOINT CONFERENCE FROM HOMELESS LINK & ST MUNGO'S

 This one-day conference shared practical approaches to client involvement.

In this conference we showcased effective client involvement practices from across the country and provided practical examples of how an organisation could improve participation.

Client involvement is all about engaging homeless and formerly homeless people in the planning, delivery and evaluation of all services. It is possible with even the most vulnerable of individuals. The aim is to work in partnership to continually improve services – be it a brief contact or involving a client longer-term – this conference looked at all of the options.

Making use of the insights, knowledge and skills of people who have experienced homelessness benefits both the project and the organisation as a whole. At the same time, giving clients the opportunity to contribute helps them to gain experience and confidence - empowering them to move away from a dependence on services.

There are many factors that can inhibit placing clients at the heart of service development and delivery. This conference was an opportunity to explore these challenges and concerns and to offer possible solutions.

PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS

• Good practice in engaging with vulnerable clients
• How to engage clients at all levels: from transitory contact to long-term involvement
• Benefits of engaging clients for the individual, the project and the organisation
• Working together: how staff and clients can best work together by letting go of hierarchy and taking on different roles
• How to use peer research to inform service delivery
• Analysis of the challenges of client involvement and possible solutions
• How to involve clients in service specification

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

Please click here for a description of each of the workshops.

9.30 Registration and tea/coffee

10.00 Morning plenary session:

• the impact of client involvement: a personal view
• the benefits of client involvement to the project, the organisation and the sector as a whole
• a strategic viewpoint and approach to client involvement

11.25 Coffee break

11.45 Morning workshops

• 1: good practice in engaging with the most vulnerable clients
• 2: how to engage clients at all levels
• 3: working together: a practical, hands on workshop looking at how staff and clients can best work together, by taking on different roles and letting go of hierarchy
• 4: how to involve clients in service specification

13.00 Lunch

14.00 Afternoon workshops

• 1: good practice in engaging with the most vulnerable clients
• 2: how to engage clients at all levels
• 5: how peer research can be used to effectively inform service delivery
• 6: client involvement: learning from another sector

15.15 Coffee break

15.30 Releasing the elephant in the room. No matter how challenging, have your questions answered by our panel on the difficulties of client involvement.

16.30 Conference close

VENUE DETAILS

The Resource Centre, 356 Holloway Road, London, N7 6PA. Tel: 020 7700 0100

CONFERENCE QUERIES

If you have a query regarding this or any other of our conferences, please contact us.