May 4, 2023
As the blossom is beginning to bloom, so too are some of the projects we have been working on over the last two years. In this update we share two projects that have been coming to fruition, as well as what else we have coming up and how you can get involved.
Despite increasing support within universities and amongst research funders for participatory research approaches, institutional processes and funding requirements continue to limit researchers ability to interact with communities in ways that are meaningful and that further social justice. Recognising this disconnect, UCL’s Institute for Global Prosperity, Co-Production Collective, and Institute of Education, supported by UCL’s Grand Challenge of Justice & Equality, set out to investigate the practical barriers university researchers and community partners face in conducting participatory social justice research.
As we mentioned in our Impact Report, we supported this project with a series of qualitative interviews and a sense-making workshop. Findings from this work have now been published and a blog giving a further explanation about this project will be published within the next few months.
Continuing our focus on consultancy work to embed co-production in equal partnership across organisations and communities, we have been progressing a project called The Peer Worker Community of Excellence.
The project is supported by a partnership between all three NHS Mental Health Trusts across North Central London (Camden and Islington; Barnet, Enfield and Haringey; Central and North West London), voluntary and other third sector organisations and people with lived experience of using mental health and recovery services. Following a series of online listening exercises, in October 2022 we held an in-person Co-production workshop which helped define the direction for the Community of Excellence. From these activities, it became clear that for Peer Practitioners to be a force for compassionate and personalised care and transformation of existing systems, they needed to be heard and empowered to create supportive and respectful local approaches to their work. There was also a need for pathways for them to develop skills and forge a career to be well set out.
Ultimately this would mean valuing the lived experience and expertise of Peer Workers as an essential and integrated part of the recovery journey of people using NHS services who gain support from them.
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On 20th April, we met for our second in-person workshop bringing together individuals in various roles across sectors who value the Peer Workforce and support the aims of the programme. Co-produced planning, preparation and facilitation culminated in a vibrant workshop, sharing knowledge and expertise and building enthusiasm to champion change.
During the workshop we defined what values the Community of Excellence should hold, how it should function, how to ensure it is a safe and compassionate space and how it will make a difference. In the afternoon we focussed on helping everyone in the room gain a practical understanding of how to co-produce what they wanted to achieve and get the cogs of action and change moving.
Look out for a blog coming soon about what was discussed, what was learnt from this process and comes next.
These are how some of the participants described the best aspects of the workshop and what it meant to them:
“Connecting and acknowledging the work of Peer Support. Looking collectively at areas of peer working and recognising common ground. Through the activities exploring possibilities to address some of the challenges but celebrating the valuable work and to be recognised and valued.”
“Networking with Trusts and other local Peer Networks and not feeling like an island in the Peer/Co-production Community. Standardising support development and recognising the value of our lived experience. It was done in a fun way.”
This is what some felt changed for them as a result of attending:
“Not feeling quite so alone in my journey to support my organisation to adopt Peer Worker models.”
“It has opened my eyes to the fact that stigma is still a big problem and needs to be addressed through co-production.”
“Feel uplifted from the action/change ideas generated. Feels like progress has been made 😊.”
"The day left me lifted up. It has been so inspiring to see the natural development of this wise and compassionate network across the North Central area. Participants have been quick to identify priorities and possibilities and as such will be a powerful resource for the future as they move into action."
At the Collective, we are supporting the co-production process and embedding the principles of co-production in this early stage. To see further examples of how we are partnering with organisations take a look at our Impact Report and work on the value of co-production.
Nicc, Alison, Nira, Sarah, Naheen, Yesmin, Lynn, Humma and Isaac facilitated a lively discussion at UCL Open Science’s Conference about ‘Challenges of equity in authorship’. A blog sharing what was discussed and exploring this subject further is coming soon.
Nicc, Chloe and Anthony will be training the latest cohort of Mental Health Sciences PhD students in co-production.
Our second strategy session to discuss the successor to ‘Our Direction’ will take place on 23 May at 9am (UK Time). You can sign up to join us via our events page on the website. Read what happened at our last session and find out how to share thoughts in our previous blog about this work.
Thanks to those of you who joined us for our May cuppa. We had a very rich and varied discussion covering a wide range of topics relating to co-production including what to considerations to take into account when considering venues to meet co-producers and much more.
As part of our efforts to find more ways to include people in our co-production conversations our next Co-Pro Cuppa on 6 June will be from 17.00-18.30 (UK time) in the hope that it will enable people who may not be able to join us during the day to take part. If you know of any one you think this would appeal to please help spread the word. As usual you can sign up to join us via our events page on the website.
Interested in finding out more or exploring how we could work together?
Co-Produce with us