Co-production
On 29 February 2024 the second Co-producing Co-production conference at the Brighthelm Centre took place
“I have had my spark lit again from today – more co-production spaces!”
Hosted by Changing Futures Sussex, Capital Project Trust and our very own Lived Experience team, the aim of the conference was to share:
- Good practice from people and organisations providing services for people experiencing multiple disadvantages across Sussex
- The impact and difference we are all making
- Our learning, resources and observations
What is co-production?
Co-production is a way of working that involves people who use health and care services, carers and communities in equal partnership with the people who run and work for these services. It engages these groups of people at the earliest stages of service design, development and evaluation.
Co-production acknowledges that people with their own lived experience are often best placed to advise on what support and services would make a positive difference to their lives. Done well, co-production helps to ground discussions in reality, maintaining a person-centred perspective.
Around 80 people attended the conference from all over Sussex. It was an amazing opportunity to connect and plan for the future of co-production. An extended lunch allowed attendees time to visit the marketplace and find out more about the amazing things happening around Sussex in co-production.
Many local services had stalls that handed out information and spoke to people about the help they could provide such as;
Presentations made up much of the morning’s agenda and included an inspiring talk by members of the Sussex LEAG (Lived Experience Advisory Group) who spoke about their experiences of co-production and how their involvement has helped to improve their own personal mental health as well as giving them a chance to voice their opinions with a chance of improving services for others in the future.
Several people were wearing badges that said ‘Talk to me…’ on them and this was an opportunity to have a chat about how they’re doing co-production and how they might be able to help.
“The atmosphere was welcoming and friendly, that meant it was easy to start a conversation with anyone.”
Afterwards there was a discussion amongst professionals and attendees about how the current framework of co-production could be improved. When asked, one person said that they really enjoyed the interactive elements, saying that, “the atmosphere was welcoming and friendly, that meant it was easy to start a conversation with anyone.”
Continuing the theme of improving services, special guests in the form of an adorable group of stuffed elephants joined the twelve tables for a special activity coordinated by Andree Ralph from Changing Futures Sussex. They helped to form a discussion about the challenges faced with co-production as well as being a cheerful prop to help illustrate this. Of course, no elephants were harmed in the process and in-fact they were all rehomed by attendees at the end of the day.
“I will continue to advocate and push for improving the accessibility of our service and diversity of our staff and clientele.”
As the day ended many people felt it had been a successful conference but there was a feeling that there is still work to be done. The general consensus was that co-production is positive but there is certainly a need for involvement from people from more diverse communities and that reaching out to these should be a priority. One person pledged that, “I will continue to advocate and push for improving the accessibility of our service and diversity of our staff and clientele,” with another saying, “I have had my spark lit again from today – more co-production spaces!”
