Co-Production Archives

The beginning of the journey of the Co-Production Advisory Group

A key element of IMPACT, the UK evidence centre for adult social care, is the commitment to co-production in all aspects of its work. The first step towards this commitment involved the Co-Production Advisory Group, and their group Charter.

The Co-production Advisory Group’s role is to develop, support, monitor and review IMPACT’s co-production activity, producing an annual report for the Leadership Team on progress made during the year, areas of good practice and areas for further development. This work is supported by the Lived Experience Engagement Lead, Karen McCormick.

“Quite often when new groups come together for the very first time, it can be a challenge to gel. We are all a little bit nervous and perhaps unsure of each other’s circumstances. However, this was not the case with IMPACT’s new Co-Production Advisory Group. They are an animated, confident and lively bunch – this bodes well for us as a group.” Karen explained.

Creating a Charter

A charter is a nice way to document how we intend to collaborate together and our guiding principles. It’s a way of acknowledging the work we have to do, such as project objectives and the parameters we have to work within, but also allowing space for members of the group to have their say on how we approach it and work together.

“My approach to starting a charter is to include the knowns, leaving space for the unknowns and being open to the aspirations.” Karen tells us.

“The knowns are the practical things such as structures, definitions, the fact that we need to have 3 meetings this year and produce and annual report. The unknowns are things like the topics we are going to discuss and the schedule for this. Unknowns are also things like the shared vision for the work of the group, the strengths and assets of the group and the language we use and barriers to participation. Suggestions around practical tips for working together online, communicating and engaging are also included in the early version.

“These were collated into a draft charter (a working document) and presented as suggestions to get us started at the induction meeting – the first coming together of the co-production advisory group – all subject to change through engagement and agreement among members of the group. Ideally with more time, we would come with a blank page but we have a lot of work to do in a short space of time.”

A Living Document

It is intended that the charter will be a living document. Just like charting any course, it will need revision – the group will have waypoints, needing to check where they are and if they are heading in the intended direction. It is hoped that by the end of the first working year together all members of the co-production advisory group respect the journey, and recognise each other and themselves as valued members of the crew.

We are pleased to bring you a two-part episode of the Care Matters Podcast, produced by the ESRC Centre for Care and CIRCLE, and focussing on the work of IMPACT (IMProving Adult Care Together), the new UK centre for implementing evidence in adult social care. IMPACT is funded by the ESRC and the Health Foundation, with £15m over nearly 7 years.

Improving Adult Care Together: Part 1

Improving Adult Care Together: Part 2

“We believe that good care isn’t about services, but about having a life – and that evidence can play a key part in achieving this vision.”

However, for this to be meaningful, ‘evidence’ has to include insights from different types of research, from the lived experience of people who draw on care and support and carers, and from the practice knowledge of people working in adult social care. As IMPACT gets up and running, people from across social care have told us that they don’t really need ‘more evidence’ – but that they are crying out for practical support on the ground to make a difference in the realities of front-line services, support to fund the participation of people whose voices are seldom heard, and shared spaces/facilitation to come together to work on shared problems and shared solutions.

We’ll be building all these principles into a series of delivery models and projects which we’ll be piloting from 2022, and then rolling out across the UK from 2023. As we start this work, these two linked podcasts involve conversations between people from different parts of the UK and from different parts of the social care ‘system’, exploring some of the key challenges and opportunities, and reflecting on what these mean for our work together to bring about positive changes on the ground. You can find out more about how to get involved, but please listen to and share these podcasts as a way of continuing the conversation about how we get better care and support for all of us, how we see social care as a form of social and economic investment that we make in ourselves as a society, and how we work together to make a difference.

Our host and guests

Host

Jon Glasby

Jon is a qualified social worker by background and works as a Professor of Health and Social Care at the University of Birmingham. He is the Director of IMPACT.

Jon Glasby Profile

Part 1

Karen McCormick

Karen is a parent to a young adult with an intellectual disability who draws on social care. In order to give her daughter more choice and control over her life, they have opted for a personal budget. The process of establishing her daughter’s self-direction arrangement to employ her own personal assistants motivated Karen to found inCharge Ltd in 2020. She believes that technology can play an enabling role in the self-directed care process. Karen contributed to the work of the Northern Ireland IMPACT assembly in the design phase through her lived experience contributions to the temporary co-production advisory panel and is now Lived Experience Engagement Lead for IMPACT.

Terry Davies

Terry is an IMPACT Assembly member for Wales and is a person of lived experience, employed by West Wales Action for Mental Health.

West Wales Action for Mental Health Website

Obert Tawodzera

Obert is a Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham and IMPACT’s Project Officer. He completed his PhD at Sheffield University and was part of the Sustainable Care programme led by Professor Sue Yeandle. Prior to doing his PhD, Obert worked as a care worker for adults with learning difficulties. His desire and passion to see change which is underpinned by inclusion and equality is what drives his commitment to research in adult social care.

Professor Sue Yeandle Profile

Part 2

Clenton Farquharson MBE

Clenton is a disabled person with lived experience who draws upon health and social care. Clenton employs his own Personal Assistance, and he looks after his mum’s personal budget which his mum uses for her own personal assistance.

He is Chair of the Think Local Act Personal (click here to learn more) programme board, and a member of the Coalition for Personalised Care. He is also a member of the Social Care Sector COVID-19 Stakeholder Group which will ensure that concerted and determined action continues to be taken to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in the sector, both for those who rely on care and support and the social care workforce.

Clenton was named in Disability News Services’ list of influential disabled people and listed in the top 50 of HSJ’s most influential Black, Asian and minority ethnic people in health. He was also voted top social care leader in the recent Social Care Top 30 awards hosted by Care Talk magazine.

Visit Think Local Act Personal

Social Care Top 30 Awards

Karen Hedge

As National Director for Scottish Care (click here to learn more), Karen is working to shape the future of social care but is frustrated by the failure of traditional research to move beyond the ‘proof of concept’ stage. She believes IMPACT offers an exciting opportunity to reconsider our approach to evidence implementation by recognising the value and capability of the social care sector. Creating the conditions for real collaboration, critically including those who work in and access care and support, will allow us to move not only to research implementation but embedding. She brings over 20 years of sector experience from frontline to Board level and a passion for evidencing impact in outcomes for people.

Scottish Care Website

The Care Matters Podcast

Care Matters Podcast Producer: Dan Williamson

Dan is the Digital and Communications Coordinator at the ESRC-funded Centre for Care and produces the Care Matters podcast, as well as creating animations, videos, various other digital outputs and maintaining the Centre for Care website and social media platforms. Before joining the Centre for International Research on Care, Labour and Equalities (CIRCLE) at the University of Sheffield, Dan worked for many years at a telecare company, training healthcare professionals and patients with long-term conditions how to operate state-of-the-art remote monitoring devices.

The Care Matters Podcast Series: care is a complex and important issue that affects everyone at some point in their life. The CARE MATTERS podcast welcomes experts in the field and those giving or receiving care to discuss crucial issues in social care, as we collectively attempt to make a positive difference to how care is experienced and provided.