Ten top tips for co-production

Since a common complaint of social care guidelines and toolkits is that they are jargon heavy, we were particularly pleased when Sally Percival, Chair of TLAP's National Co-production Advisory Group, worked with colleagues to produce their Ten Top Tips (opens new window) for what is important for co-production to be effective.

Besides giving a succinct summary, the tips have been developed from first hand experience of seeing what works. They are an excellent resource for anyone who is implementing coproduction in their organisation.

Tip number one: "Co-production must start as an idea that blossoms with everybody involved having an equal voice".

The format for the Ten Top Tips is a one-page profile. This way of presenting information was initially developed by Helen Sandersen, who also helped TLAP's NCAG members produce their own one-page profiles.

The purpose of one-page profiles is to capture all the information needed to understand a person quickly so that their help can be tailored most effectively. They can be the start of a more detailed person-centred description, and they can be produced by anyone not just the person who uses services, and at any stage of an individual's life.