by Simon StevensWe are living in the era of service user involvement in which all health and social care organisations should recognise they need to involve us, the users, in ultimately co-producing their services.
The message has finally been accepted and if we believe the hype, this
simple act of involvement will ensure a change in the balance of power,
and many of the problems within social care will be solved. But
clearly, beyond the hype, service user involvement is a lot more
complicated than one might expect.
Involving service users does not just mean inviting a few known users for a meeting, bombarding them with lots of technical information and expecting them to just act like another member of the paid team. Service users are not a free commodity who can be used without regard for the changes in culture needed to facilitate their involvement. While payment is certainly important to recognise the value of their input, this is only half of the picture and
indeed half of the costs.
For a whole range of reasons, involving users can be an expensive business for service providers. As well as meeting and travel costs, there is a need for training, advocacy and access to technology. Without these, meaningful engagement might be elusive.
Proper involvement requires a comprehensive strategy that involves a whole organisational shift towards co-produced solutions.
While service user involvement may no longer be tokenistic; I do not feel it is always considered properly. Many assumptions are made about what us users will and will not do without involving any users in such decisions. Also, user involvement budgets are restricted and measured on the basis of traditional, or average, needs. This inevitably excludes people with higher support needs from getting involved.
And this is the point, enthusiasm for service user involvement is high when the money is flowing but as organisations tighten their belts, user involvement is likely to be the first thing to go as traditional priorities are given more importance. This "summertime"-only commitment to engagement reveals the true nature of the difficulties faced by professionals and service users who wish to engage each other.
True co-production is about working together all of the time and not just when it is easy for organisations to do so and it is important people start understanding how with interdependency, we need to share our problems to solve them properly.
Simon Stevens is a independent disability trainer and consultant
➔ Contact him at simon@simonstevens.com or through www.simonstevens.com
Involving service users does not just mean inviting a few known users for a meeting, bombarding them with lots of technical information and expecting them to just act like another member of the paid team. Service users are not a free commodity who can be used without regard for the changes in culture needed to facilitate their involvement. While payment is certainly important to recognise the value of their input, this is only half of the picture and
indeed half of the costs.
For a whole range of reasons, involving users can be an expensive business for service providers. As well as meeting and travel costs, there is a need for training, advocacy and access to technology. Without these, meaningful engagement might be elusive.
Proper involvement requires a comprehensive strategy that involves a whole organisational shift towards co-produced solutions.
While service user involvement may no longer be tokenistic; I do not feel it is always considered properly. Many assumptions are made about what us users will and will not do without involving any users in such decisions. Also, user involvement budgets are restricted and measured on the basis of traditional, or average, needs. This inevitably excludes people with higher support needs from getting involved.
And this is the point, enthusiasm for service user involvement is high when the money is flowing but as organisations tighten their belts, user involvement is likely to be the first thing to go as traditional priorities are given more importance. This "summertime"-only commitment to engagement reveals the true nature of the difficulties faced by professionals and service users who wish to engage each other.
True co-production is about working together all of the time and not just when it is easy for organisations to do so and it is important people start understanding how with interdependency, we need to share our problems to solve them properly.
Simon Stevens is a independent disability trainer and consultant
➔ Contact him at simon@simonstevens.com or through www.simonstevens.com
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