Partnering with Lived Experience: Our Collaborative Approach
At the heart of our Lived Experience Network is the invaluable contribution of people with lived experience. We believe that involving and empowering these individuals is crucial to the success of our services and initiatives. Here's how we worked together to enhance the processes in place for our Lived Experience Partners.
To begin, we sought input from our community through multiple channels to ensure we captured a wide range of perspectives. We invited our existing partners and interested individuals to share their thoughts via:
- Online Forms: Easy access for those comfortable with digital platforms.
- Paper Surveys: A traditional option for those who prefer or need it.
- Network Meetings: Open discussions during our regular gatherings for more personal interaction.
These methods allowed us to collect diverse feedback on the sign-up and registration process for the SupportED West Midlands mailing list and the Lived Experience Network.
Understanding the importance of co-creation, we formed a small task and finish group comprising four lived experience partners. Together, we:
- Reviewed Current Processes: Analysed existing methods to identify areas for improvement.
- Scoped alternative processes: Reviewed best practice guidance and gathered together a number of alternative registration options
- Considered Feedback: Carefully examined the input we received to guide our revisions.
- Co-Created New Forms and Processes: Developed updated our sign up and registration processes to better reflect the needs and preferences of our lived experience partners.
Our collaborative approach ensured that the voices of those with lived experience were not only heard but are integral in shaping how we operate.
Getting Involved
Are you interested in using your lived experience to make a difference?
Together we developed a simple 3 step process to allow people to learn more about what we do and decide if they would like to be a part of the network.
Fill out our short contact us form or drop us an email to express your interest and we will be in touch.
We will invite you to meet with either Hollie, our Peer Engagement Facilitator, or Emily, our Professional Lead for Lived Experience. We offer everyone who reaches out to us the opportunity to connect in-person at a convenient community venue such as their local library, or cafe, online via Teams, or over the phone.
This informal meeting is your chance to learn more about SupportED, understand how provider collaboratives work, and explore how you might like to get involved.
After the meeting, you can decide if you'd like to register and become a part of our Lived Experience Network. As a member, you'll receive regular updates from us about various projects where you can use your lived experience to help develop services.
You will also be invited to join our quarterly lived experience network meeting where you can hear about any new developments, and most importantly have your say about how our services are working.
A copy of the sign up forms can be found here: