Non-instructed advocacy supports individuals who cannot communicate their wishes, ensuring their rights and preferences are represented through observation, communication aids, and consultation with trusted people.

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Overview

Non-instructed advocacy is a form of independent advocacy designed for people who cannot express their views or provide instructions due to communication barriers, cognitive impairments, or other challenges. Despite their inability to communicate directly, these individuals still have rights, needs, and preferences that must be respected and safeguarded. The advocate’s role is to represent the person’s interests without making assumptions or decisions on their behalf, ensuring that their voice is heard in decision-making processes. 

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Key Approaches

Observation and Reporting: Advocates spend time with the individual, observing their daily life, preferences, and interactions. They report factual observations to service providers or decision-makers without making judgments. 

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Consultation with Trusted People: Advocates gather insights from family, friends, support workers, and other professionals to understand the person’s past and present wishes. 

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Use of Communication Aids: Tools such as writing, Talking Mats, or other assistive communication methods help the advocate interpret the individual’s preferences. 

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The Watching Brief Model: Developed by ASIST, this approach uses eight domains of ordinary living to guide questions and ensure decisions are person-centered. Advocates monitor proposals and raise questions to protect the individual’s rights and well-being. 

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How the Watching Brief was Developed

Asist’s non-instructed advocacy process is called ‘The Watching Brief’, it was created in the mid 1990’s and the explanation below given by Asist’s co-founder Hilary Stefanelli details how it came about:

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“Asist negotiated the contract to provide advocacy for people with learning disabilities moving from hospital into the community. We were challenged as to how we were going to find out what people wanted when we were unable to communicate with them. Most people had profound communication barriers but were moving to new homes and having to make big decisions about what they wanted.

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We thought about it from a human rights, personalised perspective and came across the 8 domains of ordinary living. These principles for ordinary living gave us the framework to be able to look at proposals being made for people and to ask questions which anyone would ask in their situation.

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The Watching Brief got taken up by the advocacy sector who had been looking for a way to better represent people and is referred to in the codebook for the Mental Capacity Act.  As to why we called it The Watching Brief – the dictionary definition is: a brief held by a barrister to follow a case on behalf of a client who is not directly involved. If you change ‘barrister’ to ‘advocate’ it perhaps explains our thinking!”

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Purpose and Benefits

Safeguarding Rights: Non-instructed advocacy ensures that individuals are not excluded from decisions affecting their lives and helps prevent abuse or neglect. 

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Person-Centered Decision Making: Advocates promote a holistic understanding of the individual’s lifestyle, preferences, and needs, supporting decisions that reflect their best interests. 

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Legal and Ethical Support: Advocates remind professionals of relevant rights frameworks, such as the Human Rights Act, National Care Standards, and UNCRC, and seek legal representation if necessary. 

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Practical Implementation

Advocates work independently, raising questions and highlighting concerns without making recommendations. They may accompany individuals to meetings, assist with correspondence, or participate in consultations to ensure the person’s perspective is considered. 

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Conclusion

Non-instructed advocacy is a critical mechanism for empowering vulnerable individuals, ensuring their rights, preferences, and well-being are respected even when they cannot communicate directly. By combining observation, consultation, and structured frameworks like the Watching Brief, advocates provide a person-centered, rights-based approach to decision-making and safeguarding. 

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