Here for You: Creating meaningful change through co-production

Tell me about Here for You. 

Michaela

Here for You is a way for healthcare professionals to refer people diagnosed with primary or secondary breast cancer to our services. After we get a referral, people receive 3 calls to tell them about what we offer and understand what support they need.

Zoe

The calls can vary from a 5-minute check-in to a 40-minute longer conversation. What we talk about depends on the person we’re calling – they lead the conversation.

Why did you decide to set up a project group?

Michaela

It's important that we’re guided by the people that we want to support. And that we give them a voice and the power to make those decisions. So we wanted to have a group of people who have experienced breast cancer to help us co-create everything we do.

We worked with the involvement team to create the group and to recruit people from Breast Cancer Voices. It was important to us that we recruit people with diverse experiences and skills, who are willing to go on a learning process with us.

What has the project group done so far?

Zoe

We worked with the project group to create some refresher training for volunteers who’d been with us for a long time.

One of the group members came to a session and gave feedback on it.  Based on their feedback, we made some changes to make the training more engaging and valuable for the volunteers.

Michaela

We also had a project group member help us recruit a new staff member. They helped us write the job description and interview questions. They were part of the selection process and on the interview panel as well.

It really helped us see it from a different perspective. And it helped us make an informed decision about who we chose.

We’ve also involved them in different areas of Here for You, such as reshaping the website and creating evaluation surveys for people receiving the calls.

How has the group added value to your work?

Michaela

Sharing power helps us make informed decisions together about what will work. Because of that, we’re able to reach more people and help them get the support they need.

The project group isn’t only an opportunity to share their experience of breast cancer, but also contribute their other skills. This is rewarding for them and hugely valuable to us.  

Zoe

The group also helps us to think outside the box. It’s great to have a different perspective to ask us, ‘Why do you do it this way?’. It challenges us to think differently and creatively.

Why is it important for people affected by breast cancer to shape our work?  

Zoe  

Including someone with lived experience should be a standard in all that we do. It helps us make sure we're getting it right.

Our Voices bring so many skills and new ideas. It means we’re not relying on how things have been done in the past. It makes our work sustainable because we understand more about what people want. And only people with lived experience can give you that perspective.