By Jodie Allen-Cawley, Lifeways’ Lead Quality Manager

As the saying goes: when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

Simply put, if we don’t see each person in the world as an individual, we risk grouping people together.

And if we group people together, we won’t see each individual’s unique likes, dislikes, desires, needs, problems, dreams and goals.

Focusing on each individual is called personalisation.

To make sure every person we support receives high-quality person-centred care and support, personalisation is key.

Here’s where co-production comes in.

What is co-production?

Let’s look at the word. Co, meaning to do something with someone, and production, meaning to make something.

Co-production is when an individual who receives support has a voice and designs and influences the support and services they receive.

Co-production might also take place in groups. For example, a group of individuals who receive support might get together to talk about and then influence the way the services where they live are designed, commissioned, and delivered.

What co-production isn’t

Here are some statements that you may hear by and about people who aren’t having their support co-produced:

• “I just did it for him”
• “They put the TV on for me. It wasn’t on the right channel, but it’ll do”
• “We got her new glasses”
• “Let’s get these people a cold drink – I’m sure they’ll all want one.”

In each of those statements, there’s no evidence (in fact, much the opposite) that the individuals have had any hand in designing and influencing the support received.

If co-production isn’t in play, the individual who’s being supported risks not being listened to, or treated like they are incapable of making their own decisions.

Of course, we know that’s not the case. As anyone who’s worked in social care will attest, most people are capable of far more than even they themselves think!

Night-and-day

In my own three decades in social care, I’ve seen a night-and-day transformation in the way that support is delivered.

Back in the late 1980s, when I was a teenager, I was a care assistant in nursing homes for older people.

Once people moved into these nursing homes, they were now in what I call ‘serviceland.’  In serviceland, you move to the rhythm and pace of the service. In serviceland, it’s about caring for people, not supporting and doing things with them.

Back then, people weren’t included in any of the planning or decision-making in their day-to-day life. There was almost no promotion of choice. Most individuals’ only real choice was what they were eating that day!

Sadly, we still see some examples in services provided across the country – and these include services that support autistic individuals, and individuals with learning disabilities – where the ‘serviceland’ mentality still exists. And it needs to stop.

People, not patients

It was only later that, for the first time, I received personalisation training.

There, I saw clearly that the people we supported were individuals, with their own hopes and aspirations, likes and dislikes, and with the same rights and responsibilities as anyone else.

That’s such a simple truth, but it’s a hugely profound one – and it shapes everything my team and I do.

Today, as Lifeways’ Lead Quality Manager, I head up a team that’s ultimately dedicated to one outcome: to make sure every person we support receives high-quality person-centred care and support.

So, for my team, personalisation and co-production aren’t merely feel-good buzzwords – they’re both our verbs and adjectives.

If we’re not listening to each individual’s experiences, hopes, aspirations, and needs, we won’t have that end outcome of providing support that promotes independence, choice, and freedom.

Here’s to listening more.

To find out more about Lifeways, visit www.lifeways.co.uk