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Mental Health Advocacy 
Mental health advocacy can help when you want someone to speak up for you or to support you and provide information to help you to speak up for yourself. An advocate can offer support and information if you are unhappy about any aspect of your treatment, such as medication, care arrangements or discharge from hospital. Advocacy can be helpful if you feel that the mental health professionals do not listen to you as you would like.
Advocates work with patients on hospital wards or with people using services in the community. An inpatient advocate might help by attending a ward round with you, or help you speak up in a meeting with a psychiatrist or at a Mental Health Review Tribunal meeting, etc. A community advocate can help in accessing services you're entitled to and support you in meetings such as CPA reviews and with on-going contact with services.
An advocate is independent from the mental health services, is on your side, and works from the instructions that you give him or her.
Note: under the Mental Health Act 2007, all detained patients, and other qualifying patients, e.g. patients under a Community Treatment Order, have the right to support from an 'Independent Mental Health Advocate'.
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Some useful organisations and services 
Action for Advocacy (A4A)
Target Group(s)   Advocacy services, and people wanting to work in or develop advocacy services.
Area Served   UK.
Carers' Hub Lambeth
Target Group(s)   All carers, including parent carers.
Area Served   Lambeth.
Community Support Network (CSN) - Community Advocacy Service
Target Group(s)   People aged between 18 and 65 years accessing Independent Mental Health Advocacy under the Mental Health Act, and/or people accessing or wanting to access community mental health services.
Area Served   Lambeth.
Community Support Network (CSN) - Forensic Service
Target Group(s)   People aged from 18 to 65 using forensic mental health services.
Area Served   Lambeth.
Community Support Network (CSN) - Inpatient Service
Target Group(s)   People aged from 18 to 65 years accessing Independent Mental Health Advocacy under the Mental Health Act and/or using statutory inpatient mental health services.
Area Served   Lambeth.
Community Support Network (CSN) - Volunteer Befriending & Advocacy Service
Target Group(s)   People aged from 18 to 65 years accessing Independent Mental Health Advocacy under the Mental Health Act and/or using, or wanting to access, community mental health services.
Area Served   Lambeth.
Lambeth Mental Health Carer Support Service (Making Space)
Target Group(s)   Unpaid carers of a friend or family member living in Lambeth, aged 18 to 65 years with a mental health concern.
Area Served   Lambeth.
Latin American Disabled People's Project
Target Group(s)   Spanish and Portuguese speaking people with physical or learning disabilities and/or mental health problems, their families and communities.
Area Served   All London.
PACE (Project for Advocacy, Counselling & Education) Advocacy
Target Group(s)   Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people using mental health services.
Area Served   London.
Vietnamese Mental Health Services
Target Group(s)   Vietnamese people with mental health problems, their families and carers.
Area Served   All London. Occasionally further afield with referral (funding needs to arranged).
WISH (Women in Secure Hospitals)
Target Group(s)   Women involved with special hospitals or secure psychiatric care.
Area Served   England and Wales.
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