Involvement is good because there are lots of different ways that people can be involved. (examples listed below) A service like The SUN Network can help services or those that fund services to use involvement in their work.  

 Involvement can be Encouraged and Supported by:

• Those that work in services and those that fund services can go out of their way to create opportunities for people to be involved.
• Understanding how important lived experience is and how it can help.
• Helping people be an important part of an on-going project.
• Making sure that opportunities are offered to everyone and that no-one is left out for any reason. Also, that the opportunities are accessible to all so that those who wish to be involved can be.
• Offering opportunities that are important to those involved, and that those people are happy with their involvement and feel a sense of pride or achievement.
• Being open to listening to other ideas and points of view and create opportunities for people to be involved based on how they would like to be involved, not based on how a service thinks they should be involved. Just because it hasn’t been done before, doesn’t mean it can’t be done now. Welcome the challenges and embrace change.
• It’s the right thing to do.

Types of Involvement Opportunities with Positive Practice Examples

There is a wide range of different ways to involve people, and we have listed some of the ways below and shared local examples of how these methods have been used to great effect locally.

Consultations – When services or those that fund services have conversations with carers and people with lived experience about those services, or a new service they are thinking about creating. The Recovery Coach service was developed after consultation with people leaving mental health support services, to find out what they needed next.

Meetings – People with lived experience and carers attending decision making meetings on a regular basis to learn about and have their say about the work. The SUN Network have people with lived experience at all decision-making mental health meetings in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough representing the voice of themselves and others.  

Tender Scoring – When services are applying for money to run a service. People with lived experience and carers may ask them questions to see how they will run the service and give them scores based on how well they answer. The Cambridgeshire County Council invite service users and carers to participate in their tender panels through The SUN Network.

Workshops – Those that fund services, service staff, people with lived experience and carers attending workshops together to share ideas and move work along. The Exemplar mental health service project in Peterborough designed their services this way.

Blogging and Vlogging – Writing a blog or making a vlog (video blog) to raise awareness and inspire other people to be involved. Change, Grow Live (CGL) Cambridgeshire invite people to share their blogs, poems, recipes, art, photography and more.

Training (1) – Services and those that fund services offering training to support people with lived experience and carers to be involved. Illuminate Charity offer Confidence for Change training.

Training (2) – People with lived experience, carers, services, and those that fund services designing and delivering training together. The SUN Network and Recovery College East have both designed and delivered training together with people with lived experience.

Interview panels – People with lived experience or carers being a member of an interview panel when someone applies for a job. Asking their own questions, giving a score to the responses of all questions, and having an equal say to help select the best person for that job. All of The SUN Network interview panels have a lived experience representative on them.

One off Projects – Services and those that fund services offering different choices of projects and involvement opportunities so that people can select one-off projects that they are interested in. The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (CPCCG) ran a

series of workshops and leaflet design opportunities for the Eating Disorder service and asked people how they wanted to do the work.

Reviewing services and apps – Carers and people with lived experience using a service or an app on their phone and sharing their experience to help others understand what to expect. David Lee who has lived experience of mental ill health reviewed the Lifeline service and CPSL Mind, and CPFT used this review in their communications strategy.

Feedback – Carers or people with lived experience offering feedback about a service that they have used. Rethink Carers support, The SUN Network, and Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough work together to share their feedback at regular meetings with the those that fund services.

Surveys – People with lived experience and carers answering questions in a survey to share their thoughts and ideas Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough regularly run surveys to hear what people think of local health services.

Telling Your Story – People with lived experience and carers sharing their personal journey including the good bits and the more difficult bits to help raise awareness and let people know they are not alone. Recovery College East offer training to empower people to tell their story. The SUN Network have a series of Addiction recovery Stories told by people who have experienced addiction.

Boards – Having people with lived experience or carers on the Director’s board or Trustee panel.

The SUN Network have a Directors board which has people with lived experience on it.

Other services offer similar opportunities (Lifecraft, CPFT, CPSL Mind etc).                            

Evaluations – People with lived experience and carers checking if a service is doing what it is meant to be doing by using a set of questions to hear the experience of staff in that service or people who have used the service. The SUN Network Five Values Patient Experience which was co-produced with The SUN Network, evaluates patient experience based on the Five Values chosen by people with lived experience and carers. (Empathy, Inclusion, Honesty, Working Together and Personalisation).

Innovation – People with lived experience or carers may have a fantastic idea that people who fund services or people that work in services can help bring to life. Kim Laidler who has lived experience of mental ill health raised the concept of a Toolbox Café and CPSL Mind developed the idea with Kim to make it widely available to others.