Valuing Lived Experience and Strategic Co-production
In July 2021 we secured further funding from the Health Foundation Q Community to test a new approach to strengthen collaboration between people with Lived Experience and decision-makers in health and social care. This builds on the exploration into what works well to promote productive relationships, improve insight and influence carried out by our advisory group between May 2020 and February 2021. Members have experience of shaping services at a strategic level.
Rachel Matthews, Head of Experience at National Voices and Associate Lived Experience Leader Keymn Whervin have co-designed and developed a prototype programme of coaching and mentoring, which will bring mutual benefit to those with Lived and Learned Experience and improve health and social care. We know that people with Lived Experience bring important insight to the design and delivery of care, and understand how resources can be directed for better value. However, they do not often get the opportunity to work alongside system leaders to support improvement.
Voices for Improvement, a National Voices project in partnership with Q Community, offers Lived Experience Partners the opportunity to provide coaching and mentoring to those in senior positions in health and care. Through 1 to 1 coaching in action learning groups, Lived Experience Partner participants are trained to bring their perspective and insights to support leaders to develop their personal and organisational practice. In May 2022, Janssen awarded National Voices a grant to further develop and support the organisation's work on strategic co-production.
We really believe that this has the potential to help to enact meaningful change through strategic co-production.