Conducting Consultancy with Vulnerable Clients
摘要
A core consideration for health psychologists conducting health and social care consultancy is to identify vulnerable clients. These can include commissioning clients, ultimate beneficiaries and other stakeholders. The four domains of health inequality are a useful guide to people who may be vulnerable. These include socio-economic deprivation, geography, protected characteristics under the United Kingdom (UK) Equality Act (2010), and vulnerable and inclusion health groups. The extent to which vulnerability impacts participation in consultancy activities varies with the context of individual projects but consultants should anticipate, negotiate and incorporate appropriate accommodations. The consultancy framework for health psychologists can assist consultants to meet the needs of vulnerable clients throughout their project by clarifying the five key elements of the consultancy process. In this chapter, I focus principally on service users and suggest considerations and potential strategies for working with client vulnerabilities around ethnicity or race, religion, and belief, age and disability. I include a case study based on a consultancy which I conducted to explore stakeholders’ views of a dementia hub. The primary client was a UK dementia care charity, and the ultimate beneficiaries were people with dementia and family caregivers. Finally, I address personal vulnerabilities and strategies for self-care.