Co-production Week 2026: Putting lived experience at the heart of decision-making

The week highlights the importance of involving people with lived experience in shaping support, services and decisions. We see every day how people’s experiences help improve support for others and maintain the values of Shared Lives. Our members involve people with lived experience in many ways, from carer approval panels to quality assuring accommodation. At Shared Lives Plus, people with lived experience help shape our communications, events, influencing and development work, but we know there’s more to do to ensure co-production is embedded across everything we do.

One recent example from our members comes from Coventry Shared Lives. When the scheme set out to recruit a new Shared Lives officer, they invited Katie, who lives with her Shared Lives carer Lucy, to help choose the right person.

Ahead of the interviews, Katie met with the scheme’s Registered Manager, Karyn Ross, to talk through and help shape the process. Together, they discussed what an interview involves, how questions are asked and the qualities that matter most in a Shared Lives officer.

Drawing on her own lived experience, Katie helped develop interview questions for candidates that went beyond policies and procedures. Instead, they focused on empathy, understanding and the personal qualities needed to build strong relationships.

To make sure Katie could take part fully and independently, all recruitment and interview documents were translated into Braille.

On the day, Katie joined the interview panel alongside members of the scheme team. (Main picture at top). Candidates heard directly from someone with lived experience of Shared Lives and responded to questions shaped by someone they would ultimately support.

Afterwards, Katie said she felt honoured to be asked, thoroughly enjoyed the process and was delighted to help recruit the new Shared Lives officer.

Katie’s story is a great example of co-production in action. It shows what can happen when people are valued for their experience and given the opportunity to help shape decisions.

The same principle sits at the heart of the work we do at Shared Lives Plus.

Through our Shared Lives for Young People Leaving Care programme, ambassadors use their lived experience to help improve support for other young people leaving care. They speak at conferences and events, contribute to training, share their stories through the media and work alongside professionals to shape policy and practice.

Their contribution is helping to shape conversations about the future of support for young people leaving care and is increasingly being recognised nationally. Earlier this year, ambassador Gracie won the Young People Award at the Frontline Awards 2026 for her work raising awareness of Shared Lives and speaking up for young people leaving care. (Pictured left).

Ambassador Vicky also received national recognition, winning the Making a Difference Award at the National Learning Disabilities & Autism Awards 2026 for her commitment to creating more inclusive communities and improving opportunities for others. (Pictured right).

Co-production isn’t a one-off activity or something we only celebrate during one week of the year. We’re continuing to look at how we can strengthen the involvement of people with lived experience across our own work and support our members to create more opportunities for people to shape the decisions that matter to them.

Whether it’s helping recruit a new member of staff, speaking at a national conference or helping shape policy and practice, lived experience matters. When people are involved in decisions that affect their lives, services are more likely to reflect what matters to the people who draw on support.

Find out more about Co-production Week: Co-production Week 29 June – 3 July 2026 – SCIE

Find out more about our Shared Lives for Young People Leaving Care programme