Journal article - Tackling health inequalities together: inclusion health and co-production
The article, published in the British Journal of General Practice, explores two case studies of how co-production of health services with those with relevant lived experience is intrinsically important to establishing a robust trauma-informed approach to primary healthcare.
One main finding from the research was that trust is vital for co-production to work. This takes time to grow and must be actively cultivated, which requires longer timeframes than other service development projects.
The need for significant support, time, resource, and expertise to enable safe participation for those who are least well served by existing models of care may in part explain why so many voices are currently excluded from development of primary care services. This will likely perpetuate health inequalities.
As we seek to move towards the delivery of trauma-informed care, there is a need for dedicated resource and funding so that the patient voice is meaningfully and safely embedded at the heart of future system change.