Webinar | The Reality of Co-Production: Learning from Experiences of Working with Service Users as Stakeholders

Offered in partnership with the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership. This webinar is open to all.

The term co-production refers to a way of working where service providers and users, work together to reach a collective outcome. The approach is value-driven and built on the principle that those who are affected by a service are best placed to help design it.

Co-production is an approach to decision-making and service design rather than a specific method. It stems from the recognition that if organizations are to deliver successful services, they must understand the needs of their users and engage them closely in the design and delivery of those services. 

Co-production rejects the traditional understanding of service users as dependents of public services, and instead redefines the service/ user relationship as one of co-dependency and collaboration. Just like users need the support from public services, service providers need the insights and expertise of its users in order to make the right decisions and build effective services. In practice, it means that those who are affected by a service are not only consulted, but are part of the conception, design, steering, and management of services.

Using real-life examples, this interactive discussion session will share learning from the theories, tensions, challenges and benefits of co-production in health practice and research. Among other areas, we will collectively discuss power inequalities, lived experience vs data to inform decision-making, and ethical considerations. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the theories and policy drivers of undertaking co-production in health research and services.
2. Consider the real-life implementation challenges of co-production in practice within current health systems and contexts. 
3. Develop an understanding how leaders can support co-production in future healthcare.

When: May 24, 2022 at 9:00am PDT / 10:00am MDT / 11:00am CDT / 12:00pm EDT

Presented by:

Dr. Corinna Hackmann, Clinical Psychologist/Adult Services Research Development Lead | Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, UK

Dr. Bonnie Teague, Head of Research and Associate Professor in Mental Health Services Research | Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust and University of East Anglia

This event is free and open to all!

Speaker Information

Dr. Corinna Hackmann

The research we develop is clinically applied and has co-production at its heart. Meaningful research development should encompass a multitude of perspectives and empower everybody. This has included work on diagnosis, peer support, autistic spectrum disorders, eating disorders and discharge from inpatient settings. We have worked in collaboration with the World Health Organisation on a paper published in the Lancet Psychiatry on the need to include service-user perspectives in diagnostic guidelines.

I am also interested in co-creativity, the arts and language. We are currently working on a project to explore the impact of the language on people who have experienced mental health issues.

Dr. Bonnie Teague

I work across all areas relating to mental health research and lead the strategic programmes of work relating to research within the NHS.

My specific research interests are in mental health inequalities, global health services and social determinants of mental health. I am also Associate Professor in mental health services research at the University of East Anglia, and act as supervisor for nursing, PhD and psychology trainees.

I am passionate about how research can be used as a tool of education and learning for everyone and can also support principles of health equity by challenging the status quo through high-quality evidence.  My current research focuses on supporting marginalised health groups to engage in health intervention development.