Mental health advocacy aims:

• To help safeguard the rights of service users – both rights under mental health policy and law and rights as citizens
• To empower service users to make informed decisions about their care and treatment and to take greater control over their lives
• To support service users to get their views heard
• To represent the views of service users as if they were their own if the service user wishes it
• To support service users in seeking resolution to issues which concern them
• To protect service users who are particularly vulnerable for reasons of their illness or lack of capacity to make informed descisions
• To feedback issues raised by service users to those providing and commissioning services so that services an be constantly improved