Beyond Tokenism: Authentic Lived Experience Involvement
Format: Training and Consultancy
Who’s it for: Leadership, Service Managers, and HR professionals looking to authentically integrate lived experience into their workforce and service design.
The Value of Lived Experience Today, many organisations recognise the value of involving people with lived experience in service design, delivery, peer mentoring, and co-production. When done well, it transforms services, bringing deep authenticity, empathy, and effectiveness to your work.
This said, ntegrating lived experience is often more complex than simply creating a new role. Without the right foundational structures, this work can become tokenistic. Poorly planned coproduction can set people up to fail, leading to burnout for the individual and frustration for the organisation.
A Thoughtful Approach to Coproduction We believe that bringing lived experience into your workforce requires a cultural shift. Our training and consultation services are designed to help you embark on this journey thoughtfully, safely, and collaboratively. We help you build the processes, boundaries, and reflective spaces necessary to support effective and compassionate involvement, ensuring you get the absolute best out of both your colleagues and your service.
What We Can Cover: Whether through a dedicated training day or ongoing consultancy, we can help your organization explore:
Organisational Readiness: Assessing and preparing your teams for authentic co-production.
Navigating Boundaries: Establishing clear roles, responsibilities, and boundaries for peer mentors and lived-experience colleagues.
Building Supportive Structures: Designing compassionate supervision, reflective practice, and well-being plans that prevent burnout and centre reciprocity, ensuring that the experience is positive and benefits all parties.
Avoiding Tokenism: Moving from passive involvement to equal collaboration in service design and delivery.
Managing the Transition: Supporting colleagues as they navigate the shift from "service user" to "service provider."
Let’s Build Something Meaningful We offer tailored training sessions and ongoing organisational consultancy.