Lived experience

Lived experience offers a fresh and valuable viewpoint, especially in areas like healthcare policy, service design, and delivery. By incorporating the voices of those who have directly received care and support from our services, we can better understand:

• Personal Perspectives: What do services look like from the perspective of those who use them? How do these interactions make them feel, and what meanings do they derive from these experiences?
• Authentic Insights: People with lived experience can highlight challenges and successes in ways that data alone cannot. Their stories bring the human element into discussions that are often dominated by statistics.
• Innovative Solutions: By listening to and learning from those with lived experience, we can develop more effective, compassionate, and person-centred approaches.

Incorporating lived experience into decision-making processes is essential for creating inclusive and effective services. Here's how we make the most of this invaluable resource:

• Engage in Dialogue: We have a dedicated Professional Lead for Lived Experience and Peer Engagement Facilitator; their roles are to create opportunities for individuals to share their stories and insights openly and safely.
• Collaborate in Design: We involve people with lived experience in the design and delivery of services to ensure they meet real needs.
• Respect and Honor: We acknowledge the courage it takes to share personal experiences and ensure that these contributions are valued and respected.

By embracing lived experience, we enrich our understanding of how services are working and can build care pathways that truly serve the needs of everyone involved.

Read what Kirsty one of our lived experience partners has to say about her experience of being a part of our work…

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience of co-production with West Midlands Adult Eating Disorder Provider Collaborative. I have been involved in various projects with the team, where I have been able to bring my lived experience and perspective to discussion, and this has led to exciting developments such as a ‘reducing health inequalities strategy’ and a ‘lived experience coproduction sign up form’. I have felt throughout that my input is valued, and I have always been treated with the upmost respect and care and as a complete equal.

The team go above and beyond to be as accommodating as possible to ensure the process is as stress free as possible and meets the accessibility needs of you as an individual. I really appreciated the little things that were always considered by Emily (Lead for Lived Experience), where she would ensure there was always space to check-in with you or for a debrief after a session, it really added a personal touch and made me feel very heard and seen throughout my work with her. I would really recommend West Midlands Adult Eating Disorder Provider Collaborative to anyone with lived experience who is looking for opportunities to be involved in networking and coproduction projects.

They have been brilliant and it brought me so many unique innovative opportunities to influence real change on various levels." – Kirsty – Lived experience partner