Home Care Today

Developing Co-production Principles: Uniting AgeWell’s Journey

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Contents

Contents ........................................................................................................................................................1

1. Introduction ..........................................................................................................................................3

1.1 The project & the partnership ......................................................................................................3

1.2 What we wanted to achieve? Objectives .....................................................................................3

1.3 How did we do it? The co-design discovery process and internal dissemination of good

consumer engagement practice ...............................................................................................................4

1.4 Outputs .........................................................................................................................................4

2. UAW’s experiences: Case studies .........................................................................................................5

2.1 Case study 1: Seed to table project ..............................................................................................5

How it all started? .................................................................................................................................5

Bringing in other stakeholders and reaping the benefits of engaging others ......................................5

Extending the dream to consumers, their families and support network ............................................6

The future: Involving clients and the community in the program development .................................6

Rationale for delaying consumer involvement in the early stages of the project ................................7

Key learning messages from within ......................................................................................................7

2.2 Case Study 2: Advisory Groups Experience & Music for David – Serendipitous co-design ..........7

Experience with an Advisory Group ......................................................................................................7

Challenges encountered .......................................................................................................................8

Learnings from the Carers Advisory Group ...........................................................................................9

Music for David: Serendipitous Co-design ............................................................................................9

Co-producing to resolve the problem ...................................................................................................9

Challenges .......................................................................................................................................... 10

Learnings from the process ................................................................................................................ 10

2.3 Case Study 3: Fascinating fashion .............................................................................................. 11

The project - ....................................................................................................................................... 11

Adjusting the level of engagement according to skills and abilities .................................................. 11

Making the vision visible .................................................................................................................... 12

Puppet’s diaries – another project using people’s stories to craft activities and engaging others

from the community for support ....................................................................................................... 12

Benefits for staff ................................................................................................................................ 12

Challenges .......................................................................................................................................... 13

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Key learning messages ....................................................................................................................... 13

Would you recommend this type of project to your colleagues? ..................................................... 13

3. Summary of Learnings ....................................................................................................................... 14

4. Crafting Uniting AgeWell’s Co-design and Co-Production Principles ................................................ 14

4.1 Principles Explanation ................................................................................................................ 15

4.2 What staff need to co-create and co-produce? ......................................................................... 15

5. Tools to support co-creation and co-production ................................................................................... 16

5.1 Management Framework for Co-production ............................................................................ 17

5.2 What to remember? Tips generated from the case studies ...................................................... 18

5.3 Locating your efforts on the Ladder of Participation ................................................................ 19

6. References ............................................................................................................................................. 20

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1. Introduction

1.1 The project & the partnership

This project is the result of Uniting AgeWell’s commitment to consumer engagement and Home Care

Today’s continued efforts to promote consumer involvement in aged care through co-production.

As a large aged care service provider, Uniting AgeWell is committed to increasing the involvement of

older people in service development and delivery. At the heart of its values is the concept of

‘partnership’. That is, the commitment to work with older people and their support networks.

Consumer engagement is flourishing at Uniting AgeWell’s Community Care Services. It was the

intention of this small project to documents current examples to further embed the practice across

its service sites.

COTA Australia’s Home Care Today program have embraced co-production as a tool to increase

participation of older people in service design and implementation. To date COTA Australia’s Home

Care Today have run a series of workshops and small projects to assist aged care providers to develop

capabilities to implement participatory processes within their services. COTA Australia’s Home Care

Today is particularly interested in promoting the use of co-production.

For the purpose of this report we define co-production as a full collaboration between professionals

and consumers. In co-production professionals and consumers share power to plan and deliver

supports together. That is, working together as equals, to design, deliver and improve opportunities,

support and services that enable people to have a good life. Consumer engagement is fundamental

for the development of supports and services that are not only satisfactory to providers but are also

relevant to aged care consumers.

1.2 What we wanted to achieve? Objectives

The purpose of the project was to streamline and strengthen consumer engagement practice within

Uniting AgeWell with a view to progress UAW’s journey to co-production. This was to be achieved by:

Discovering existing co-design or other consumer engagement practices within Uniting

AgeWell’s Community Care Services

Documentation and dissemination of existing consumer engagement practice within Uniting

AgeWell’s Community Care services

Establishing a common understanding of what it means to participate in coproduction with

older people, and

Developing key co-production principles, distilled from its own work with consumers.

The partners (Uniting AgeWell and COTA Australia’s Home Care Today) expected that the collaborative

process. These encourage service quality improvement and greater consumer engagement across the

service.

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1.3 How did we do it? The co-design discovery process and internal dissemination

of good consumer engagement practice

COTA’s Home Care Today interviewed staff and community care managers who were either running

or had in the past run a project engaging older people.

Key questions guided this process:

What have been UAW’s experience of co-design?

What are the learnings?

What co-design and co-production principles can UAW extract from current and past

experiences of consumer engagement?

Following these interviews, a group session was organised with senior staff to explore the examples

in great detail using Sherry R. Arnstein’s ‘Ladder of Participation’. This was used as a framework to

establish a common understanding of consumer engagement and co-production and also to

generate UAW’s key co-production principles.

1.4 Outputs

The project delivered the following outputs:

• Three documented examples of co-production within the Community Care Service group

• One workshop with staff to develop Uniting AgeWell’s co-production principles.

• A project report.

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2. UAW’s experiences: Case studies

2.1 Case study 1: Seed to table project

The Seed to Table project is located at Uniting AgeWell Noble Park. The site is the home of a large

residential aged care facility as well as community care programs.

Uniting AgeWell Noble Park offers a range of programs for older people and people with special needs

aimed at maintaining older people active and connected with the community. The services include

recreational, social and cultural activities-Planned Activities Groups (PAG), on site café, seniors’ gym

healthy ageing programs and allied health services such as Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy,

Nursing Services, Podiatry, Healthy Promotion, Massage Therapy and the ‘Seed to Table’ which is the

focus of this project.

Seed to table is in its first stage. The project involves the creation and development of a dynamic

communal garden space where older people, people with disabilities and the community will interact

while engaged in various activities on the site. The area in construction will have a complete raised

vegetable garden, workshop station, an outdoor kitchen and each specific area will host different

activities.

This large project had a small beginning. It initially intended to resolve issues for a particular clientele.

However, as people started to engage and contribute with ideas the project was modified.

How it all started?

The Seed to Table is an off-shoot of a men’s shed idea which surfaced as a result of conversations

between the Community Programs Coordinator, the Physiotherapist and Occupational Therapist at

UAW Noble Park. There and then, they discovered that the activities conducted catered more for

women rather than men’s interests. The men, participants of the program, were seldom engaging in

the activities. After discussions, the staff concluded that these men had an active life prior to entering

the residential care facility. And, as a result, they were finding it difficult to adjust to the pace and type

of activities offered. It was time to reconnect the men with some of the activities they used to do in

their own home environment. This marked the beginning of it all.

At this stage, staff worked together to improve the program. However, consumers were not yet

involved.

Bringing in other stakeholders and reaping the benefits of engaging others

In order to progress the idea, the Community Program Coordinator sought and obtained management

support. Together, they identified a small area for a men’s shed. By then, more people started to join

the conversations. The conversations went on-and-on and the ideas started to flourish. At this point

not only staff were talking about the project but also, informally, users of services and supports also

started to imagine how existing and potential activities could be conducted in that new space: potting

with raised garden beds… pet animals, BBQs … The more they talked with each other, new ideas

started to surface.

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At this stage the kitchen’s chef joined the discussions and the ‘veggie garden’ idea became stronger.

They started to imagine the produce going to the Kitchen and meals being cooked for or by the group.

The social programming staff then joined in the conversation and said that if that was the case, they

could run some courses on ‘cooking for one’, ‘food handling’ etc.

As expected, some issues were raised about pets and food restrictions as the program was run within

the residential care setting. Issues were noted and resolved.

People continued to talk… the more they talked, the more ideas surfaced and the bigger the project

became - the initial idea has outgrown the space reserved for the shed and the shed did not represent

the desire of the stakeholders. The question for them at that point was: What are we going to do?

A bit of lateral thinking led the program coordinator to engage the facilities manager to discuss the

possibility of an alternative place for the potential programs. The facility manager got involved and

management was supportive.

Pressured by the new idea and the excitement of others to join the project, they tried to resolve their

biggest problem- physical space. To resolve the problem, staff met with the facilities manager, the

builder and the landscape designer. The community program coordinator explained the ideas and the

problems they encountered. While talking, they saw a green area which was previously considered

but discarded due to perceived accessibility issues. The landscape designer with his landscaper eyes,

explained that access would not be an obstacle for the usage of that space. A ramp could be fitted and

access could be granted to all abilities! A solution they could not see without the landscape designer

showing the benefit of involving direct and indirect stakeholders in the design process.

Extending the dream to consumers, their families and support network

The project at this point needed more financial support. A small grant from the Maggie Beer

Foundation enabled them to work on a recipe book. In order to collect the recipes, program

participants, staff, residents, their families and volunteers were invited to contribute to the

development of the book. The book was published and funds from the sales will go into the project.

The Maggie Beer Foundation is now involved in the project and has visited the site.

Now, 18 months after obtaining the initial approval and being supported by all levels of management

the project has concluded its first phase.

The future: Involving clients and the community in the program development

The men shed idea has been transformed by the involvement of staff across the organisation and from

passing comments by consumers.

As the project progresses the intention is to systematically involve consumers, the community and

residents in a broader conversation about the usage of the area – this is their opportunity for program

co-design and co-production.

The dream is to connect with the wider community to be part of the life at Uniting AgeWell Noble

Park: intergenerational interactions, exchange of knowledge and support, skills development,

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entertainment, all happening in that space. The initial small dream is now a dream that involves staff,

consumers, families, residents, and the community at large. A good example of how ideas grow and

how they are refined with the engagement of stakeholders.

Rationale for delaying consumer involvement in the early stages of the project

Staff did not want to ask people what they wanted and not have the capacity to deliver. In the

manager’s words, Staff were very conscious of asking when it was possible to deliver on the dreams.

“If I had consulted two years ago, people would have lost interest. Now we are at a point that

I would like to start to get more formal on consumer engagement. I think now is the time to

involve them so that they feel empowered. We will slowly move some responsibility onto

them.”

Key learning messages from within

See below key messages:

Conversations bread ideas

Flexibility is necessary when dealing with people – ideas sometimes change

More heads equal more ideas and sometimes more dilemmas

Nothing come fast and funding is hard to come by

Dreaming is fine. Dream big the worst thing that can happen is that you have to scale it down

or stage it

Motivation comes from how much benefit one can get from it.

Visual/ tangible things help to sell ideas. Get something concrete. If you have to sell people a

vision ‘what sells an idea is not so much as the enthusiasm and the vision but is the hard and

concrete examples people can see. The picture was only in my head. I needed the drawing – I

learned that I can use the flowery words, but the pretty drawing is a bigger part of the process

and for a long time I did not push enough for it’.

2.2 Case Study 2: Advisory Groups Experience & Music for David – Serendipitous

co-design

Experience with an Advisory Group

Consumer engagement at Forest Hill’s Carers Support Program is not a new endeavour. In fact, the

Carers Support Program had in the past established a Carers Advisory Group with eight members. The

group was formed to provide advice and act as a sounding-board to the service. Most of the advice

was focussed on documentation developed by the staff. Occasionally, they provided a new idea for

the service but this was not part of their brief. This group met for a period of over three years. They

were active and vocal - not afraid to speak their mind.

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One day, while commenting on a booklet staff were designing for consumers, this group came across

a statement of rights and responsibilities. To the staff’s surprise, the carers did not like the text which

explained the rights and responsibilities of consumers. They understood the importance of it but felt

the statement was patronizing – talking them down. Their dislike was such that they asked for the text

not to be included. In the end, the staff explained the reasons why a statement needed to be in the

booklet and they reached a compromise. The text ended up at the back of the booklet as a small

paragraph on rights and responsibilities with a link to the full statement somewhere else.

Unfortunately, this advisory group did not continue in 2014. Staff ran the advisory group for about 2

to 3 years but they could not attract more members. In addition, the program did not have enough

raw material to ask for further input and there was no funding to progress such activities. At that time,

the biggest issue for the service was supporting the delivery of care rather than support groups of

people.

Challenges encountered

Advisory groups are one of the ways aged care services can engage older people and their support

network. However, engagement of consumers in services does not come without challenges. For this

team the challenges were:

1. Finding the best way to engage people – groups tend to become stale and run out of topics.

There is often a need to get them interested in something.

‘the biggest challenges following on from our consultation is working out the best way to engage

our consumers’

‘we have a quarterly newsletter, we send out a note we ask for new members, but we did not

get responses. The new members tend to be those who were connected to the coordinators –

these people are the ones who actually respond to requests’

2. To assist people with system/political concerns

‘One thing that was very hard was to get them to understand that we would not do individual

advocacy on government policy. This meant it was hard to get them back. One way we tried to

manage this was reassuring them we would pass the message on … but this was at every

meeting…’

3. Introducing the idea of participation to working carers

“I think the only problem is to introduce this to the clients – particularly carers who are working.

They did not use the evenings to have meeting” because it was family time and trying to get

them meeting during the day was difficult.

4. Cater for two different groups of carers – working carers and home carers is challenging.

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Learnings from the Carers Advisory Group

According to the program manager, the lessons were many. Among those she cited the following:

It’s important to give people a purpose to be involved – they need to feel they are engaged in

something that is real. In these cases, they seemed to be more motivated. Find a specific goal

The team could have used a carers group as a sounding board during the preparation of the

documentation before we committed to the project ‘s methodology

Talk more about this with staff:

‘We do not talk too much about consumer engagement’

Support for consumers was not an issue:

‘a bit here and there… transport, respite but on the whole it was not laborious’.

‘If we were not able to finalise an issue at the meeting I would go back to them via email. And

we had minutes’

Keep communications flowing - management reported back to staff carers’ views. The results

were that staff end up asking for carers feedback when they had something in their minds.

Music for David: Serendipitous Co-design

Music for David was a research-based project developed to ascertain whether individualized music

with MP3 was useful or not as stress alleviator.

The research project was developed with university partnership support. The university researcher

provided advice to the team and developed a qualitative research project. Upon approval of the

proposal the research team designed the tools for its implementation. Once all tools were developed,

they recruited carers to implement the project.

While developing the forms, one of the key concerns among the staff was research rigour. The team

wanted a thorough research design to give them the ability to use the results widely. In order to ensure

rigor, the researchers introduced a detailed data recording system with meticulous descriptors on a

spreadsheet. The rationale for designing detailed forms was to support carers. Carers did not have to

think too much to describe what was happening and the team could easily measure their answers.

To staff’s surprise carers said they could not complete the spreadsheet. It was far too difficult and

impossible to do it taking into consideration the difficulties of the day-to-day schedule at home. The

challenges were such that some of them left the project.

Co-producing to resolve the problem

In the end, to resolve the issues, the team worked with the carers on the design of the new research

recording tool. As a result of carers’ involvement in the design of the tools the project ran much more

smoothly and was completed.

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The organisation now has a program following that initiative. The team worked with what they were

able to provide and still had enough information to construct the program.

The family that provided the initial funding continue to fund raise for it. They now employ a music

therapist – referrals come in from other programs. There is an assessment, the music therapist

discovers their interests and searches for the appropriate music to be installed on the device.

Challenges

Early drop out of the project – Some carers left but most of them stayed until the end.

Learnings from the process

From the manager’s perspective, the greatest learnings were:

1. We need to know the consumer well.

“… it is really being able to listen to where they are at and getting the program to fit in with

their needs. It is not quite so easy when you have budget constraint and so forth – often we

make it fit“

2. Customization is important - the ability to offer the program to those who are interested in it.

“From the consumer and carer’s point of view, despite the fact that there is enough evidence

that this activity is effective, some families are not comfortable with the technology. And that

was fine. For the most part there were good responses from families.”

3. Trustful relationship - another learning for the staff was the fact that people felt more

comfortable to join if they knew the people involved in it. The program was facilitated by one

of their own staff. This is so important because they felt comfortable and could interact much

more with the project.

4. Introduce consumers/carers at the early stages of any project

“If we had introduced some carers at the early stages we may have had some other clients

involved in the project.”

“We would not have a result if we had not adjusted – they would have all pulled out – we

would have missed the depth of the information we got out of the conversations. They all

provided feedback forms“

5. Better to co-design from the outset!

“I would recommend - definitely co-design is beneficial to organisations and its programs.”

This team did not set up a co-design process but they were certainly open to it – Well done Forest

Hill Carer Support team,

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2.3 Case Study 3: Fascinating fashion

The project - Fascinating Fashions began as an idea of a senior manager from Uniting AgeWell Tasmania. The

manager wanted to engage residents, their family, staff and community members in an innovative

and challenging project whilst also raising awareness of the large amount of materials that are wasted.

This manager was and still is passionate about life and about environmental conservation. She has a

real interest in recycling in an unusual way. According to her remarks, the recycling fashion idea was

and still is being used as one way of expanding people’s imagination on re-use showing them what

can be done with something that people often throw away.

As the Arts Coordinator for all seven sites/groups that joined in the project she was both coordinator

and artist. She had assistance from either a volunteer or a staff member at four sites. At some locations

she was also working with another experienced artist who was employed especially for that project.

The artist was interviewed for the write up of this case study.

Engaging frail older people and people with dementia

From many years of experience working with aged care residents, the project manager found that

participation is enhanced when people are presented with an idea. In this case, the participants were

then given the idea of creating crazy clothes from clean, discarded materials for a fashion parade. This

was enough to give them a finite image they readily responded by engaging in the project.

Despite the fact that engagement happened after the conceptualization of the project, consumers

were very involved in the decisions about the materials to use and the garment to be created. This

was done through discussions and experimentation with different options. For instance, with enough

stimulation people started to contribute their ideas. In this case, the project manager and the artist

talked about recycling trying to capture people’s imagination. According to their recount of the facts,

all of a sudden one lady said: why don’t we make a dress out of old magazines? The group was stunned

by it and loved the idea.

Consumers in this project had various levels of abilities. In some instances, people were very capable

but in some other instances they struggled to do complex tasks because of the various forms of

dementia displayed in the group. That’s why some of them had been engaged in similar activities

before. However, this example shows that provided that opportunities for participation is meaningful

and genuine and that small contributions also count. Consumer engagement can happen at many

levels and at different times.

Adjusting the level of engagement according to skills and abilities

Patience and love was required from all involved in the project. When people had a higher skill level,

it was easier to engage them. When their cognitive capacity was impaired, they were still engaged but

in less onerous activities. The participants had a good time. These lifestyle classes are not compulsory

but residents went and it was regarded that they really enjoyed them.

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In order to allow for the engagement of older people and people with disabilities the project was

broken down into multiple tasks which enabled everyone to participate. It was not the same task every

day. One day they cut squares, the other day they folded pieces of paper. So, those who could not do

some tasks that required cognitive skills would pass things on to the artist and they still felt involved.

“I never pushed people to do what they did not want or know what to do but I would

encourage them. I would really encourage people who could not do too much to do something.

For example, there was a lady that could not do much she had her hands covered in bandage…

but she was very happy – she could cut the pages and pass them down the line. They were

really happy with this. People used to say, I cannot do this, I am not creative. And I would say,

yes you are… and then when they master something we try something else.”

Making the vision visible

The challenge with this group was to help them to visualize the end result. They were not used to

making things out of recycled material and could not see how pieces of magazines could result in a

dress. Even closer to the end after people had mastered the tasks they would still say: I do not know

what we are doing? They could not visualize what was ahead. They knew what they were doing but

they could not visualize the results. It was not until they saw how it would look like that they started

to become more interested and engaged even more with the project.

Puppet’s diaries – another project using people’s stories to craft activities and engaging

others from the community for support

During this period, another fantastic project took place. This one was about people’s experiences of

what it was like to live in a residential care home. In this instance, project workers asked people what

they did not like about their day-to-day in the home and transformed it into a comedy sketch. For

example, they hated being woken up for medication. That was one of the strongest message of all. In

this project we designed and made nurse’s uniforms with old plastic bags … a big apron and etc… in

this project community members were also involved in the show.

“I had a friend who was able to come along and help us. She put on big eye lashes, make up,

platform shoes. She did a sketch and part of the fashion parade was this nurses uniform made

out of plastic bags“

Memories and recollections of people made the puppet diaries shows.

The puppet project was made out of people’s stories – how people used to recycle – they did not

waste stuff … they did not come from a waste society… it was a nice way to get the stories.”

Benefits for staff

Fascinating Fashions gave staff a new topic for conversation with residents, gave staff new insights

into the amazing range of skills the residents had, generated a wider range of conversation with

colleagues and with family members. It also brought a feeling of unity to the home/group as they

worked together to create ’their’ garment.

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Staff’s response to the project was positive. Staff embraced the project with enthusiasm, sometimes

coming during their afternoon tea break to assist residents in their creative efforts or making little

pieces at home and bringing them to the group to assist the overall effort. I think the staff are very

pleased to see the residents engaged in a project that is imaginative, challenging and generates

great pride in knowing they contributed to an outstanding result.

Challenges

When working with people with dementia and frail older people, support before and during

engagement activities are essential. At times, it was a little difficult according to the artist. Some

sites were more supportive then others and this made a difference. For example, at times I could not

engage a client because I was alone and could not support that person during the activity.

“I can say that a lot of support is required. Sometimes we did not get any assistance from any

other staff allocated to life style. It looked as if the project was not seen as important. When you

work with 12 people it becomes too difficult – having another staff member is really crucial –

otherwise they are there just waiting for some help- waiting to be shown how to do that

particular activity. Sometimes I had to give them some colouring in – for these things you need

staff support.”

Key learning messages

Consumer engagement is beneficial to staff. Some staff got so involved that they ended up

doing things for the project

Consumers can give ideas to shape projects even after the project has been conceived

For some, a more passive involvement is still meaningful

“some people are really unwell – sometimes they are happy just to be there – seeing

conversation, activity, laughter around them. One lady comes to mind. She was on a wheel

chair, unable to contribute but happy to be there for a couple of hours”

Consumer engagement can brighten people’s day - break their routine. The arts projects were

a bit wacky

Volunteers and supporters want to be appreciated

“They never offered me a cup of tea – because they do not give tea to staff. It would not hurt to

offer me a cup of tea”

Ask for feedback from consumers and your own staff

Encourage people, never pushed them.

Would you recommend this type of project to your colleagues?

Yes, providing it is carefully structured and managed by professional artists experienced at working

with residential care residents, and it was sufficiently funded by management.

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3. Summary of Learnings

A summary of the learnings is attached in the appendices as ‘Things to remember: tips generated

from the case studies’.

4. Crafting Uniting AgeWell’s Co-design and Co-Production Principles

Another agreed output of this project was facilitation of a workshop with senior managers to extract

Uniting AgeWell’s principles for co-production.

A team of nine staff members discussed the case studies presented and collectively agreed with the

following principles:

Partnership from the begining

Value people and their

contribution

Inclusion Adaptation

Clarity and Transparency

Focus on outcomes

Trust Purpose

Uniting AgeWell’s Principles for

Co-Creation & Co-Production

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4.1 Principles Explanation

Principles Explanation

Purpose Engaging with a purpose. That is, involving consumers and their support network in meaningful work.

Partnership from the beginning Start your work in partnership. Ask people at the very beginning what they want.

Value people and their contribution

Recognizing the different skills and attributes people bring to the co-production and co-creation work.

Inclusion Equal opportunity of engagement – no one is excluded because of cognitive impairment.

Clarity and transparency

Making use of simple language – avoiding professional jargon – for instance if necessary rename the term ‘co-production’. Ensure consumers understand your thought processes.

Trust Believing older people know what they want and have made always made personal decisions

Outcome Focus on the end result and make it happen

Adaptation

Having the ability to change with the circumstances. For instance, considering the level of engagement people want and can contribute

4.2 What staff need to co-create and co-produce?

According to Uniting AgeWell’s staff, to realize co-creation and co-production one need:

At the strategic level

Allocation of resources – this can be financial, human as well as in-kind such as time

Creating an innovative and co-creative culture

At the operational level

Permission from managers to do the necessary work for co-creation to occur

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Guidance to staff. That is, providing staff with

o Information about co-design and co-production

o Discussions on co-creation ideas and concepts (clarifying issues)

o Explanations for case managers about their new role in the CDC context

o Creating space for conversations to surface about advantages of ‘letting it go’ – being

happy with client’s choices

o Finding extrinsic rewards for staff

o Assisting staff to discovering job satisfaction – intrinsic rewards

Time – e.g. creating initiatives such high duties secondment up skilling staff allowing managers

to freeing up time

Making use of supervision – including discussions about co-production within the supervision

framework – avoid pre-empting outcomes, unconscious ageism, prescribing supports

Being guided about the next steps

Keep the conversation going

At individual level

Consumers, their support network and other stakeholders receive clear information about the

process and the issues at stake

Being enthusiastic.

5. Tools to support co-creation and co-production

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5.1 Management Framework for Co-production

Consider the external environment

Government policies

Consumers’s abilities

Consumer’s motivations

Representation

Cultural influences

Consumer cultural

Consider:

Vision – prioritise it

Strategy – set boundaries and scope

Structure

Resources – budget allocation

Cost / benefit analysis

Org culture

HR – skills/ Capabilities

Assumptions

Invite /select genuine

representation

Ensure diversity

Motivate participants

Market your efforts

Org culture

Transparency of Information

Honesty and reciprocity

Clear communication -

simple language

Reward and value

contributions consumers

Lead from the top

Share responsibilities

Meaningful activities

Resolve conflicts

CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS DRIVING THE PROCESS

Seek feedback

Celebrate

Extend network

Promote

IMPROVE AND CELEBRATE

Thinking and planning Doing it Sustaining it

Exte

rnal

infl

uen

ces

Inte

rnal

infl

uen

ces

Enti

cin

g C

olla

bo

rati

ng

Tran

sfo

rmin

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Review process

Iterate or replicate

Sustain efforts

Sust

ain

ing

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5.2 What to remember? Tips generated from the case studies

Conversations breed ideas

Flexibility is necessary when dealing with people – ideas sometimes changes

More heads equal more ideas and sometimes more dilemmas

Nothing come fast and funding is hard to come by

Dreaming is fine. Dream big the worst thing that can happen is that you have to scale down a bit or stage it.

Motivation comes from how much benefit one can get from it. And the practicalities of it are yet to be developed

Visual/ tangible things help to sell ideas. Get something concrete. If you have to sell people a vision –

Use resources you have – if need volunteers use them

Recommend it to my colleagues

Give people a purpose to be involved. Find a specific goal

Use carers’ and consumers’ ideas before committing to projects

Talk more about consumer engagement, co-design and co-production with staff

Support consumers when needed

Get back to them when you are not able to complete discussions

Keep communications flowing between consumers and staff

Get to know your consumer well

Customization is important -offer to those who are interest in it

Develop a trustful relationship - build co-design and co-production upon trust.

Introduce consumers/ carers at the early stages of any project

Co-design from the outset!

Consumer engagement is beneficial to staff. Some staff got so involved that they end up doing things for the project too.

Consumers can give ideas to shape projects even after the project has been conceived

For some, a more passive involvement is still meaningful

Consumer engagement can brighten people’s day - break their routine. The arts projects were a bit wacky

Volunteers and supporters wants to be appreciated

Ask for feedback from consumers and your own staff.

Encourage people, never pushed them.

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5.3 Locating your efforts on the Ladder of Participation

What’s your journey up the ladder?

Transformational co-production

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6. References

Arnstein, Sherry R., A Ladder of Citizen Participation, JAIP, Vol. 35, No. 4, July 1969, pp. 216-224.

Ottmann, G. 2015, Engagement of Older People in Experience-Based Co-Design.

Thorburn J, Lewis A, Shemmings D (1995) Paternalism or. Partnership? Family Involvement in Child

Protection Process. London.