To mark the start of the Social Care Institute for Excellence’s Co-Production Week 2025, we spoke to ADSS’s Head of Quality & Development Sarah Taylor about how the charity is using co-production to develop services that better meet the needs of people with dementia and their Carers.
The SCIE defines co-production as “working in partnership by sharing power between people who draw on care and support, Carers, families and citizens.” For Sarah, that idea of sharing power is key. “We’ve always worked closely with the people that use our services, making sure we ask them what they want and how we can do things better. The difference with true co-production is that their voices are part of the conversation from the start.”
The launch this year of our new ADSS services in Medway gave Sarah, who also heads up ADSS’s Influencer Forum, the opportunity to put full co-production into practice. “We knew we had funding to set up four activity groups for people with dementia in Medway,” she says. “Other than that, it was a clean slate. We had a lot of freedom to determine what those groups actually looked like.”
So Sarah and the team put together a short series of workshops to gather input from those accessing ADSS services, including those living with dementia as well as their Carers and loved ones. The first session set out the basics of the project and looked at what was already being provided in Medway.
Participants then went out and joined in activity groups provided by ADSS in other areas, so they could bring back first-hand insights into what worked for them – and what didn’t. Based on that ADSS came back with a proposal which the whole group then could then discuss and approve.
“We did a lot of research into how to make the sessions as accessible as possible,” says Sarah. “We used Powerpoint to summarise the research we wanted to share, and we gave people printed copies of all the materials to take away and read in their own time. Everything was very clear and very concise. We also used a tool called an Ideas Tree, which was a great way of visualising ideas and bring them to life.” To find out more about the Ideas Tree and other useful tools, have a look at Mind’s Influence and Participation Toolkit.
Based on feedback and input from the workshop participants, ADSS is now running groups in Medway covering a range of activities including singing and creative arts. “The creative arts one is really interesting,” says Sarah. “We already had a crafts group but people wanted it to be broader, so it could include things like poetry and drama. That’s something we would never have thought of without their input.”
Another surprise for Sarah was how strongly the group felt about being part of the community. “They wanted sessions to take place in parks, churches, working men’s clubs,” says Sarah. “They didn’t want to be hidden away. That’s a real priority for us now as we look for venues for the groups.” Find out more about the memory café sessions we’re already running in Medway.
The most obvious benefit of co-production is that the services developed meet people’s needs. That leads to more engagement, and more impact. But there are also benefits just from taking part. “At the end of the sessions we did a short evaluation,” says Sarah. 100% of participants said they felt listened to, that their ideas were valued and that this was a real team effort. It’s a really powerful thing for people to feel properly involved in how decisions are made and resources are spent.”
Now Sarah and the team are looking forward to their next co-production venture, working with Carers to help define their support needs. “The idea for this has come from some Carers we’ve been working with for a while,” she says. “They told us they love what we do for people with dementia, but there’s scope to do more for Carers. That’s now part of our strategy, and I’m really excited about taking this forward and finding out what ADSS can do to support this group more effectively.”
The Social Care Institute for Excellence has some great information on why co-production matters and how it works. Find out more about co-production here.
ADSS is working with people with dementia in Medway and other parts of Kent to develop services that meet their needs. Contact us to find out how to get involved, and how we could support you.
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Alzheimer’s and Dementia is a registered charity in England and Wales (1173379). A company limited by guarantee and registered charity in England and Wales (10690071). Registered address: Safeharbour, Coldharbour Road, Northfleet, Kent DA11 8AE
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