Peer research reflections

By Patrick Wood, SCIE Co-production Steering Group Member

I’ve been actively involved in co-production for a long time. Through working with SCIE, my commitment to the principles of co-production and the core elements of the process has grown wider and deeper. I was interested in learning about how these underpinning values could be embodied in a programme that was run by a large statutory sector organisation and how this work compared with the projects run by the user-controlled groups that I am more familiar with.

Involving peer researchers in the evaluation contributed to it being co-produced, like the other elements of the programme. Peer researchers bring an understanding based on personal experience that differs in emphasis from the experience of professionals and can offer insights that might not otherwise be registered.

It was a pleasure to work alongside the people I encountered in this project, including the deeply committed individuals involved in the Board, whose work bodes well for the future of co-production in the county. It was good to work alongside Laura as a fellow peer researcher; our styles complemented each other very well and we were able to offer each other mutual support as our work progressed.

Overall, I learned that despite the challenges involved in operating in a large organisation with competing interests and priorities, when the will to affect change is strong enough it is possible to develop new and more inclusive ways of working that improve the lives of citizens and create improved relationships between people who use services, carers and workers, for the benefit of all.