ABSTRACT
User involvement (UI) has been promoted as a means of improving the quality of health and social care services across Europe and North America over the last thirty years (E. Bates 1983; Crawford et al. 2004). In several countries, policies aimed at promoting user involvement are underpinned by legislation requiring service providers to involve people who use services in the decisions they make. In England and Wales, providers of state-funded health and social care, including drug misuse services, have a statutory requirement to involve users when planning changes to the services (Home Office 2002).
