Why do we need our own definition for co-production in Cwm Taf Morgannwg?

At its core, co-production re-balances power structures to create an equal, reciprocal and trusting platform for people to find solutions together.

In health and social care this could mean somebody with a lived experience and a professional working together to improve a service.

Research undertaken by the Our Voice Matters project in 2019 shows people have a general understanding of co-production in Cwm Taf Morgannwg.

We know language can be a barrier. Sometimes co-production can be defined in a number of ways, creating confusion and difficulty in pinpointing what good co-production looks like

To tackle this barrier, we have worked with people with lived experiences and professionals to create our own definition.

The words in our definition have been carefully chosen by people living and working in our region.

By using language that matters to our communities, we are at a good starting point to co-produce!

How did we get here?

The Co-Production Network for Wales describes co-production in the following way*:

Co-production (of public services) means that people who provide and deliver services, and people who access and recieve services, share power and responsibility, and work together for mutual benefit in equal, reciprocal and caring relationships.

It enables:

• People to access meaningful support when they need it
• Services to be effective and make a positive difference to people’s lives
• People, services and communities to become more effective agents of change

*courtesy of Co-Production Network for Wales 

Co-Producing Co-Production hack-a-thon

Co-production takes time.

If carried out effectively, it will help to overcome barriers, and find solutions, so services can be genuinely created to meet the needs of those who need them.

In September 2022 we brought people with lived experiences together with professionals to look at how we can co-produce as a region more effectively.

We spent the day in a ‘hack-a-thon’ format. Hack-a-thons last approximately four hours, and involve small groups working with a creative professional to look at challenges, and identify how to solve these together in a different and innovative way.

Co-analyse information

All information gathered though this event was then collated and presented to a smaller, self-referred co-analysis team of 15 individuals who examined all of the thoughts and ideas that people had offered at the Co-producing Co-production hackathon, and through a series of activities identified commonalities of words, meaning and intention to co-design the finalised regional definition of co-production.

We then undertook a series of sense checking activities, providing opportunity for more people to feed in and be part of the process, until final approval was sourced from the Regional Partnership Board who have since approved adoption of this definition.

In total 183 individuals from across the Cwm Taf Morgannwg region we involved in the development of this definition which was officially launched on Friday 19th May 2023 as part of Co-production Week Wales.