Getting involved in Adult Social Care

Co-Production - Shared Lives Scheme, Real Experience, Real Impact.

Katie, an Expert by Experience joins the Interview Panel. As part of the recruitment process for a new Shared Lives Officer, the Shared Lives Scheme actively involved Katie, a person with lived experience who lives with her Shared Lives carer, Lucy. Katie was a fully active member of the interview panel and played a key role in helping to identify the right candidate for the role.

What did we want to achieve?

We knew this role was about more than qualifications and experience, it was about compassion, understanding, and real-life connection. So, we did something quietly powerful: we invited someone who truly lives the experience to help choose the right person. The objectives were to:

• Embed co-production within the recruitment process.
• Ensure lived experience informed the selection of a new Shared Lives Officer.
• Demonstrate our commitment to inclusion, accessibility, and equal participation.
• Recruit a candidate who could demonstrate not only professional skills required, but also empathy, understanding, and person-centred values.

Who was involved?

• Katie, who lives in a Shared Lives placement. Katie was involved from the planning stage through to the final recruitment decision.
• Lucy, Katie's Shared Lives carer, who supported Katie.
• Partners / Staff / Organisations, Coventry Vision Hub,
• Karyn Ross, Registered Manager, Shared Lives Scheme.
• Recruitment panel members.
• Human Resources colleagues supporting the recruitment process.
• Candidates applying for the Shared Lives Officer role,

How people came together to engaged and be involved?

• A preparation session with the Registered Manager to explain the interview process and build confidence.
• Adapting recruitment materials into Braille to enable full and independent participation.
• Supporting Katie to understand the role requirements and interview format.
• Inviting Katie to develop and ask her own interview question based on her lived experience.
• Involving Katie as an equal member of the interview panel, allowing her to assess candidates and share her views.
• Katie’s shared lives Carer was onboard to support.

What we heard?

Katie's involvement highlighted what matters most to people receiving support. Katie asked follow up questions if she felt her question hadn’t been answered. It gave her confidence.

Through Katie’s interview question and feedback, key themes emerged:

• The importance of communication that is accessible and tailored to individual needs.
• The need for staff to check understanding, rather than make assumptions.
• The value of empathy, patience, and respect.
• The importance of involving people in decisions that affect their lives.
• Candidates felt reassured and positively challenged by hearing directly from someone with lived experience.

Katie's interview question was:

"Can you give an example of a time you have supported someone with additional needs to understand information or make a decision? I am blind, how would you check that I feel comfortable and understand what is happening?"

This encouraged candidates to demonstrate how they would put person-centred values into practice.

What changed as a result?

Co-production and Lived experience have become a central part of our recruitment process, also presenting to other professions and services. Katie's views contributed directly to candidate selection and recruitment.

The successful candidate Kemi was recruited through a process that reflected Shared Lives values. The recruitment process demonstrated how reasonable adjustments and accessible information can support meaningful participation.

The scheme strengthened its commitment to involve people with lived experience in future service development activities.

Impact and outcomes

• Katie gained confidence and developed new skills through participating in recruitment.
• The service benefited from insights that professionals alone may not have identified.
• The successful candidate was able to demonstrate their ability to respond to real-life situations and experiences.
• The recruitment process better reflected the principles of co-production and person-centred practice.
• Staff saw a practical example of how meaningful involvement can improve decision-making.

Katie’s feedback

Katie said:

"I felt honoured to be asked and really enjoyed being part of the interview process."

Kemi said:

"It was a really positive experience taking part in the interview, especially having someone like Katie with lived experience on the panel. Her questions and insights really stood out and added genuine value. It made the whole process feel more meaningful, balanced, and personally reassuring to be part of such an inclusive approach."

Challenges and learning

• Challenges can be overcome.
• Finding Colleagues and services to support with accessible information took some time, but we have now found resources for future projects.
• People with lived experience bring unique expertise that significantly enhances recruitment decisions.
• Small adjustments, such as providing information in Braille and taking time to prepare individuals, can have a significant impact on participation.
• Co-production can be successfully embedded within operational processes,
• Involving people with lived experience creates a more authentic and inclusive recruitment experience for candidates and staff alike.
• The experience reinforced the principle that the best decisions are made with people, not just for them

The next steps

• Continue involving people with lived experience in future recruitment.
• Share Katie's story across Adult Social Care as an example of effective co-production.
• Katie acts as a Shared Lives Ambassador who will now attend talks/presentations to advocate for Shared Lives and for individuals who live within the service.
• Explore additional opportunities for people who use Shared Lives services to contribute to service development, quality assurance, and staff training.
• Capture further examples of co-production to build organisational learning and demonstrate impact.
• Promote accessible and inclusive approaches that enable wider participation in decision-making.

Katie's involvement in recruiting a new Shared Lives Officer demonstrated genuine co-production in action. Her lived experience shaped the recruitment process, influenced decision-making, and ensured that the values of inclusion, accessibility, and person-centred support remained at the heart of the Service. The experience benefited Katie, staff, candidates, and the wider service, providing a powerful example of how co-production can improve outcomes when people are actively involved as equal partners.