Preparing to meet with service users
Learning Objectives
After considering this resource, you should understand how you might prepare to meet with a service user and the self-awareness you will need.
When planning a meeting with a service user for the first time, it is as important to consider yourself in the assessment as it is the service user and their circumstances. What are your values for example, and how might these impact on your meeting with a service user? How would you feel if you were experiencing what the service user is going through?
This quick guide from Alison Domakin provides you with steps to help you to develop your self-awareness as you start to work with service users.
Reflective Questions
- Spend time reflecting on what it means to be 'genuine' when you are communicating with service users. How will you handle issues so that as a professional, the person you are working with feels they are working with the real you?
- Think about an experience where you have had contact with a professional (for example, a GP or other health care professional). How did you feel before meeting them? How did you feel when you left the appointment? What did they do during the meeting that you thought was effective? Can you also identify any experiences with professionals when you felt them to be ineffective?
- To avoid rushing in, how do you prepare for an assessment? How effective do you think this preparation is? Are there are any areas you wish to develop?
- What are your own personal and professional values? Consider a case you have worked on recently. How did your personal and professional values influence your actions?