Practical approaches to co-production: building effective partnerships with people using services, carers, families and citizens

Co-production is one of four elements which define successful change. The additional elements are defined as subsidiarity, leadership and system alignment1 . It is clear that engagement of people who use services, carers, families and citizens needs to be a core element of all four change principles for genuine and sustainable change to be achieved. This document provides a brief overview of the different approaches to co-production and acknowledges the individual voices and approaches which exist in the co-production sphere. The content has been co-produced by a range of partners2 who have shared their insights to highlight different aspects of co-production.

The document: • considers the policy context within which approaches to co-production are being developed, in particular, in the NHS White Paper, Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS, the proposed Public Health White Paper, A Vision for Adult Social Care: Capable Communities and Active Citizens and the Partnership Agreement between government and the social care sector, Think Local, Act Personal. • explores what we mean by co-production – it looks at definitions of co-production within health and social care and the principles underpinning co-production. • highlights different approaches to involving people, including: - ensuring diverse groups can participate, - collaboration with user-led organisations (ULOs), - engaging carers in co-production, - working with citizens to create Participatory Budgets, - working with small social enterprises, • summarises legal frameworks that support co-production, and • provides examples of where co-production has worked well at different levels of the social care system.

This paper also links closely with accompanying DH briefing papers Practical approaches to improving the lives of disabled and older people through building stronger communities, Practical approaches to safeguarding and personalisation and Practical approaches to market and provider development.