By Pete Fleischmann, SCIE head of co-production
John Lennon in his famous song Imagine sang:
‘You
may say that I'm a dreamer,
But
I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one.’
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one.’
Peace and Love
John Lennon’s vision for a world of
peace and love may seem a very long way from our incredible, though struggling health
and social care system. But SCIE’s Co-production week gives us the opportunity
to step back and try to imagine how different things could be. There is now
widespread support for the values and principles of co-production. So if we
dare to dream for a while what might a co-produced service look like?
Truly representative boards
Imagine the boards and committees
that run our services and organisations becoming properly representative of the
communities they serve. Services would be truly owned by the local people they
serve and would reflect their needs and aspirations.
Genuine partnerships
Imagine staff who no longer need to
think of themselves as the experts with all the answers but instead form
genuine partnerships with people using services.
Imagine the experience, skills and
knowledge of professionals being equally valued alongside those of users,
carers and the wider community. Imagine a workforce which is trained and
supported by disabled people, service users and carers. And includes many more
people who have used services.
A flowering of peer support
Imagine a flowering of peer support
services, self-help, user-led groups and time banks that give expression to the
amazing energy and thirst for change of service users and disabled people of
all kinds from people with learning difficulties to young people leaving care.
Imagine services which are
integrated and preventative and address the real needs of communities. Imagine
a service which takes on the underlying causes of ill health inequality, exclusion,
loneliness, stigma, isolation and discrimination. Imagine a service in which
users, carers and professionals work together in equal partnerships toward
shared goals.
Permission to dream
John Lennon’s song gives us
permission to dream and imagine a different world. There’s a long way to go but
if co-production week means anything it is an opportunity to dream. To snatch a
few brief moments to think about what co-production really means to you. Lennon also reminds us that he is not the only
one dreaming and he invites people to join him. So why not join us and
celebrate co-production week 3 – 7th July see the Co-production Week website for details of how you can contribute.
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