COVID-19 and Co-production in Health and Social Care Research

Online book launch with the authors and open Q&A

About the event:

4:00-4:05 (5mins): Introduction to event
Chair: Mary Chambers

4:05-4:15 (10mins): Introduction to the book: editors explain the aims and ambitions of the book
Speaker: Josephine Ocloo

4:15-4:45 (30mins): Author presentations (5mins per speaker and 2mins for intros by chair/change overs)

1. Are we there yet? Co-production and Black Thrive's journey towards race equity in mental health
Speaker: Natalie Creary

2. Disabled People's Deaths Don't Count: how a protected characteristic offered Disabled people little protection during this pandemic
Speakers: Ellen Clifford and Mark Dunk

3. Against Violence and Abuse: gender-based violence and the need for co-production with women with experience.
Speakers: Lucy Allwright and Naima Iqbal, Against Violence and Abuse (AVA)

4. Going remote: using technology to co-produce homeless health research
Speakers: Spike Hudson and Andy Guise

4:45-5:05 (20mins): Chair hosts Q&A session

5:05-5:15 (10mins): What needs to be done now: editors talk about overarching themes from book and next steps for addressing them
Speaker: Meerat Kaur

5:15: Session ends

About the book:

Editorial Team: We are a diverse team with experience as service users, activists, academics and researchers and a commitment to co-production, made up of: Peter Beresford (University of Essex; Shaping Our Lives); Michelle Farr (NIHR ARC West; University of Bristol); Gary Hickey (University of Brighton; University of Southampton); Meerat Kaur (NIHR Centre for Engagement and Dissemination); Josephine Ocloo (King’s College London); Doreen Tembo (University of Southampton); Oli Williams (King’s College London; THIS Institute)

Contents: The groups most severely affected by COVID-19, with so much to share from their lived experience seem to have largely been ignored both in preparing for the pandemic and in developing responses to it. Yet increasingly we know that innovative participatory and co-produced approaches to research, policy development, and service design can ensure this experiential knowledge makes an important and unique contribution and tackles inequalities in society. This book addresses these issues and offers ways for developing inclusive co-produced approaches to respond to health emergencies at a time of major change where the search for fit-for-purpose solutions is especially critical.

This book addresses how and why more collaborative, diverse, and inclusive approaches could lessen the toll of this pandemic and future health emergencies, as well as improve health and social care research, policy, and practice as a ‘new normal’ is established post-pandemic. It will demonstrate how and why this way of working can help to address the social wrongs we now need to right. The grave consequences of following the precedents set during this pandemic – in terms of morbidity, mortality, inequality, marginalisation, and ineffective policy – emphasise the urgency with which we must act to do things differently; to illustrate why co-produced responses are valuable and how researchers, policymakers, practitioners, service users, patients, public contributors, communities, and activists can make this happen both during the pandemic and beyond.

Structure: this is a practical book – something to help those involved in health and social care research, policy, and practice to appreciate why co-production is worth doing and to learn about different ways it is being done. To achieve these aims, the book is divided into three sections: (1) The impact of existing structures; (2) The pandemic and (increasing) marginalisation; (3) Working together at a distance: guidance and examples. Each section is comprised of a series of chapters from contributors with relevant expertise and experience. Sections 1 and 2 are collected in Volume 1: ‘The Challenges and Necessity of Co-production’. Section 3 makes up Volume 2: ‘Co-production Methods and Working Together at a Distance’.

Contributions: Over 100 people have contributed to this collection. As an editorial team we prioritised bringing together a diverse range of contributors so that this book provides a platform to (i) people with perspectives that have been marginalised and excluded during the pandemic – specifically those with relevant lived experience and (ii) those who can offer practical advice about ways of redistributing power in decision-making processes in order to achieve more inclusive practice and effective outcomes. We encouraged contributors to form collaborative writing teams including a range of expertise and experience. To facilitate this, we made funding available to pay service users, patients, carers, and members of the public for their contributions. We prioritised accessibility and diversity – so chapters are relatively short (2000-2500 words) and written a diversity of styles but always in accessible language. To make the book as practical as possible, authors ended each chapter with their priorities for ‘What needs to be done’ to address the issues, and better serve the groups and communities, discussed in their chapters.

Publisher: The book is part of Policy Press’s Rapid Responses pandemic series. Policy Press are a not-for-profit publisher and publish work that seeks to understand social problems, promotes social change, and informs policy and practice. Their core aim is to improve the day-to-day lives of people who need it most.

Access: The Health Foundation provided funding to make this book open access. It will be available digitally as an e-book without fee and accessible to all.