Table 1 Characteristics of the seven stages of the Candidacy Framework
Stages of candidacy | Description of stages |
|---|---|
Identification of candidacy | The process by which individuals come to view themselves as legitimate candidates for particular services |
Navigation of services | Knowing how to interact with appropriate services in relation to identified candidacy |
Permeability of services | Includes the level of explicit, implicit gate-keeping within a service and the complexity of its referral systems referring to the ‘cultural alignment’ between users and services |
Appearing at services and asserting candidacy | The actions that individuals must take to assert their candidacy in an interaction with a healthcare professional |
Adjudication by professionals | Candidacy, as expressed by service-users, is validated or otherwise by healthcare professionals which influences subsequent service offers |
Offers of, resistance to, services | Emphasises that follow-up services may be appropriately or inappropriately offered and that these may or may not be acted upon by service-users |
Operating conditions and local production of candidacy | This incorporates factors that influence decisions about subsequent service provision (e.g. the resources available for addressing candidacy) and the kinds of contingent relationships that develop between professionals and service-users over a few encounters |