planning

Facing Forward – Co-producing 2023!

Co-production group members attending a zoom meeting

As the complexity of problems and crisis management in adult social care continues, so too do the efforts of those working across all sectors to do their bit to effect change. Change does not happen quickly or magically. There is no wand. The crisis in health pushes adult social care further down the agenda. A growing and resilient social movement for change such as #SocialCareFuture across the UK is helping to bring it back to the forefront. So too is IMPACT, an implementation centre enabling practical improvements on the ground and making a crucial contribution to longer-term cultural change. Karen, our Lived Experience Engagement Lead, shares how IMPACT’s co-production work was shaped in 2022 and the upcoming plans for co-producing in 2023.

Our co-production approach

IMPACT projects, or sites as they are known, take a co-production approach. They span many areas of adult social care, such as direct payments, decision aids in end-of-life dementia care, and technology-enabling care. Expressions of interest are now open for organisations wishing to work on change projects in partnership with IMPACT in 2023-2024.

IMPACT’s co-production advisory group ensures the voice of those with lived experience is equally represented across IMPACT’s work. As will be reflected in our first annual report when it is published.

Co-production group members attending a zoom meeting

Learning from 2022 and co-producing into 2023

Looking back, co-producing our own work plan in 2022 was challenging and sometimes frustrating, but hugely rewarding. Relationships, time, and space were key themes. Time was well spent laying the foundations of our working relationships. We also acknowledged that co-production requires more space than we often afford – or can afford it. That will be a key lesson facing our work for 2023 – more space. A safe space to keep building trust, airing opinions freely, and listening to the voices of experience. We want to improve how we communicate this experience across IMPACT teams and beyond, by engaging further with like-minded groups.

In 2023, we begin to learn about the evidence emerging from existing sites and how IMPACT is practically working. We will continue with our flexible and responsive approach to our work. Our approach will continue to adapt based on what we hear. We also aim for many of our contributions to continue being implemented across IMPACT. We will draw on the strengths of our group members to inform, guide, and ensure that those who have lived experience of drawing on social care support are central to our work.

As we scale our projects, we want to ensure that co-production remains a core approach throughout all of IMPACT’s work. We want to ensure that this is consistent and transparent. Thankfully, the IMPACT team is traveling in that same direction and is listening with open ears. And listening to hear – prepared to act upon the feedback, and committed to effecting change. Each positive change in social care, however small it may seem, can lead to another, and another. Perhaps not from a magic wand, but from these tiny ripples come great waves.

Thinking about 2023

In 2022, we’ve been getting up and running as a national centre and testing our four delivery models via a series of pilot projects across different parts of the UK.  In 2023, we want to work in even more places and cover a broader range of topics.  We’re still working on the detail of this, but we hope to be able to go out to the sector in late 2022 with an ‘expression of interest’ – looking for partner organisations who might be interested in hosting future projects. 

Topics for 2023

The topics for 2023 would be based on the priorities which came out of our national survey and from our Assemblies.  In particular, we’ll focus on topics which:

  1. Make a real difference
  2. Tackle inequalities
  3. Make good use of scarce resources
  4. Have enough evidence for us to work with (where there isn’t enough evidence we’re trying to make sure that we feed this back to partner organisations so that they can try to fill these gaps as quickly as possible)

This is likely to include topics such as:

  • Prevention and well-being
  • Assets-based and person-centred care
  • Carers’ health and well-being
  • Support for people who work in social care

Identifying Partner Organisations

When we identify sites that might want to work with us, we want to get a real mix (e.g. in terms of geography, and the nature and needs of the local population).  We also want to make sure that we don’t just work with organisations that usually volunteer for these opportunities – but with a wide range of people.  This might include small, innovative community organisations; user- and carer-led organisations; and services that are really struggling and wouldn’t usually be able to think about taking part in something like this.

To help people plan, we’ll be clear about the funding and support we can provide, but also about the things we’ll need in return (for example, we’ll want sites that are committed to co-production and to sharing learning with others). 

Expressing interest

There will be more information later in the year – but please start thinking about whether your organisation might be interested in expressing an interest. You can sign up to our newsletter and follow us on social media (Twitter, LinkedIn) to be among the first to find out more.

A Co-production Charter

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.