SCN Learning Event resources: How do we value lived experience in co-production?
Taking place during Co-production Week Scotland 2022, this participative online learning event explored the opportunities and challenges of resourcing and supporting the participation of people with lived experience in co-production and other decision-making processes
We know lived experience is vital to making meaningful co-production happen - but what does valuing those contributions look like in practice, and how do we do it well? This event brought more than 60 Scottish Co-production Network members together to share their insights.
Presentations
We were delighted to have three brilliant presentations as part of the day from:
Lynn Laidlaw, Patient & Public Contributor, Pat Scrutton, Intergenerational National Network, and Amy Watson, Principal Research Officer, Open Government, Scottish Government. You can watch their presentations below.
Workshops
We had some great discussion in workshops, reflecting on the inputs from our speakers and our participants’ own experiences and knowledge of co-production. We’ve grouped some of the workshop feedback below into themes, and we’ll be exploring these issues through future work and discussion.
Remuneration
How do we work around DWP remuneration rules for people with lived experience?
People want to explore payment for co-producers, not just with DWP but also how organisaitions afford this.
We should be asking their co-producers HOW they like to be compensated. Certicficates, training, other means that might be valuable, too. Ask!
Guidance and standards
Can we develop practical guidance or accrediation building on the National Standards for Community Engagement - what does good co-production look like?
Guidance for people with lived experience to be involved - can they see all documents? How many opportunities to speak? etc.
Culture shift and relationships
We need to challenge the culture of what can do done, not what organisations prefer to do. What happens if one part of an organisation doesn’t support a co-pro press (e.g. procurement department)
We need to create a suite of opportunities to engage people in a co-prouctive process - make it flexible to their needs
When we come into this work, we want everyone to be on an equal footing - suggestion that everyone is called ‘co-creators’ and that we drop job titles. Everyone needs to have the same capacity, information to participate equally in the process.
We need to underscore the importance of relationships - how do we build them, and how can we use existing ones to make co-pro process more efficient?
Shifting the balance of power
The most powerful co-pro could come from flipping the concept - people with lived experience invite the 'professionals' to the co-production. Lived experience should be setting the agenda.
We need to make sure we diversify the people we work with, and reflect on that what being accessible truly means?
How do we safeguard people with lived experience in a co-production process?
We need to shift a in how people see this type of work - move to a more equal power relationship.
There is a danger than co-pro turns into an advocacy process, especially where there are people with lived experience being supported by peer organisations - we need to be aware of this and take appropriate steps to mitigate this possibility.
Learning and practice
Can we develop a database of co-production work to share good practice, and avoid repetition?
We need to make sure we have enough time - we need enough time for a co-pro process to maintain and build relationships.
What makes engagement meaningful? People want to do it, but don't know how. We need to be honest and learn with people
We need to be offering people options in how the are involved in co-productive process. Ask how they want to be involved, before deciding on the programme.
Accessibility of employment - if you've less of a power imbalance in your staffing that helps create a better process
People felt that co-production often worked well at a local level but became significantly more difficult when scaling up into more strategic projects or bigger organisations.
Chat links
We had a lively chat during the event, with some interesting links and reports shared by participants:
What’s the value of co-production? - Co-production Collective.
Our co-production payment policy - Co-production Collective.
Children and young people in conflict with the law: policy, practice and legislation
Better for Everyone? Egalitarian Culture and Social Wellbeing in Europe (repec.org)
Include For Good | Scottish Commission for Learning Disabilities
To find out more about this event, please get in touch.
