04 July 2025
By Gina Walton and John Potts
Kent Research Partnership’s Lived Experience Working Group has been central to the success of the Partnership. The group have been fantastic and dedicated champions for research, making the case that people expect decisions to be made on the best available evidence, and that research should be relevant to the priorities of people who draw on care and support. They have maintained momentum and motivation throughout the four-years.
They have worked as part of the KRP team on all aspects of the Partnership, including:
- Being regular attendees at the Community of Practice meetings to ensure that research ideas being discussed are informed by the insights of people who draw on care and support, carers and people working in the social care sector
- Reviewing Fellowship applications and sitting on the panel to ensure that projects were chosen which are relevant and impactful
- Supporting Fellows with their projects as expert advisors
- Collecting evaluation data and co-authoring papers – not only the paper about the working group but also the wider papers about the evaluation of different aspects of the Partnership
- Speaking at events and chairing meetings – including a presentation on co-production at the School for Social Care Research Conference, and chairing our End of Partnership event
The Working Group members also designed and kept an impact log in a way that suited their needs and enabled them to keep track and evidence the wide impact of their role. The KRP team had originally designed an impact log which was focused on the impact of the group on the Partnership. However, the group felt strongly that their impact went both ways and that this should be captured because they got involved in the Partnership to make a tangible difference.
Image of the Working Group’s Impact Log
Their involvement in the KRP Working Group has fed into their other work in different groups, networks and in arranging their own care and support, and their wider activities have had an impact on the group and Partnership.
For example, some of the group members have experience in education and championed the need for young people to be inspired about social care. This has had an impact on discussions at Community of Practice meetings leading to a focus on recruiting younger people into social care roles which is being taken forward in the new Care Work partnership.
On the other hand, involvement in the group has helped members advocate for evidence and research in other networks and discussions about their care and support.
The impact log is a clear record of all that has been achieved both in terms of the impact of the group on the Partnership, and the impact of the Partnership on the wider sector.
The Group has provided a consistent, supportive opportunity to get started in research, supported by co-produced training and regular meetings to ensure they were informed about progress and able to participate in wider activities as much as suited them. We are delighted that many of the Working Group members will continue to be involved in research following, and because of, their involvement in Kent Research Partnership.
I have just been offered a place on the Care Work: Adult Social Care Workforce Research Partnership Lived Experience Working Group with Leeds Beckett University. I feel very honoured to have been offered one of the 10 places available throughout the country and am looking forward to a new project. As we all said, if we had not been members of the KRP we would not have had access to other opportunities elsewhere either. – Julie, Working Group member
It is essential that building research capacity includes developing capacity amongst people who draw on care and support, including developing progression and leadership opportunities. Some of the opportunities that working group members are moving on to include:
- Joined the Opening Doors group at Centre for Health Services Studies
- Joined the Applied Research Collaboration Public and Community Involvement group
- Joined Kent County Council involvement and co-production groups
- Joined a research project that was originally presented at a Community of Practice as lay co-applicant
- Supported bids for future research projects from the outset – including as co-applicants and work package leads
Members of the group have also been supporting other improvement projects in the region, and have been instrumental in developing understanding of co-production amongst the workforce.
As a result of this project, some members of the group were given the opportunity to work with social workers attending a co-produced training module to emphasise the value of co-produced work. All the feedback we received from the sessions stated that those with lived experience attending was the highlight of the session. Most described feeling more motivated and inspired to work in a different way. – John and Lyn, Working Group Members
This emphasises the impact of the group not only in research, but also in the wider social care sector. This kind of impact on practice has been at the heart of the working group throughout the Partnership.
John Potts and Gina Walton, co-leads of the Working Group, summed this up in their reflections on the past four years:
We are amazed at what we have achieved in the last 4 years. The working group has been instrumental in shaping and helping us to build research capacity in Kent. We would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all members of the group, you have made a real difference.