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The ‘Empowerment Debate’: Consumerist, Professional and Liberational Perspectives in Health and Social Care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2003

Fenella Starkey
Fenella Starkey
Affiliation:
Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol E-mail: F.Starkey@bris.ac.uk
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Abstract

This article aims to clarify the meaning of the much-used term ‘empowerment’ in order to contribute to a more theoretically coherent development of policy and practice aimed at facilitating the empowerment of health and social care service users. The liberational and consumerist models of empowerment are highlighted, with the former having a broader emphasis on people's roles within society than the latter. The concept of ‘empowerment as professional practice’ is also critically explored, with the conclusion that professionals can work with people in empowering ways if they recognise and work to address the structural causes of oppression.

Type
Articles
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 2 , Issue 4 , October 2003 , pp. 273 - 284
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2003

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Footnotes

This work was conducted as part of doctoral studies undertaken in the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol. I would like to acknowledge the invaluable support and encouragement provided by my PhD supervisor, Mr Randall Smith. Thanks also to the anonymous referees for their helpful and constructive comments on an earlier version of this paper.