What was the project about?
We want all our colleagues to feel confident to work in partnership with people affected by breast cancer to help them deliver their work more effectively. We also want all people affected by breast cancer to have a voice to make a meaningful contribution to our work. And to know that your views and experiences are valuable to us, no matter your background.
We began this project to help us identify the changes we want to make to our work in order to achieve this vision, and what activities will help us create that change. This is known as a Theory of Change.
How did Voices get involved?
We worked together with 3 members of our Breast Cancer Voices and our Evaluation, Services, Fundraising, and Research departments.
At the beginning, we had a pre-meeting with the Voices members to explain more about what would be involved and to break through any jargon or terms that might come up. It was also a chance to get to know each other and make sure they'd feel as comfortable as possible contributing.
We then had a workshop where we discussed what we want involvement to look like at Breast Cancer Now, what's important to people within that, and what needs to happen in order for that to become a reality. We reviewed different versions of our Theory of Change Until we were all happy.
"The team were very open to listening to feedback and making changes where necessary and providing copies of draft documentation for approval before going ahead" - Voices participant
By the end of the process it felt like we had an Involvement Theory of Change that really represented what was important and meaningful to all stakeholders. We have a clear vision, and the steps to get there are clearly laid out.
This means we can now evaluate our work on the basis of these key things – they help us know that we’re making progress and focusing on the right things.
What was the impact?
The 3 Voices who took part all had different backgrounds and experiences that helped make sure we understood what might be important to different members. They helped bring to life what we understood from other sources, and they challenged some of our assumptions.
Without the Voices involvement, we wouldn’t have been confident in this and we’d definitely have missed things. For example, it really brought to light how important it is to be able to influence meaningful change, and that this helps people to process and find meaning in their experience.
"Open communication and being valued as an equal partner [was especially positive]" - Voice participant
What's happened since then?
We’ve already used parts of the Theory of Change to help shape the resources and training we offer to staff to help them involve people with lived experience in their work.
For example, we know that in order to reach our goal, staff need to feel confident to work in new and collaborative ways with people with lived experience. So, we're developing training and resources to help them think about things like:
- When different types of involvement (such as surveys or focus groups) are right for a project
- Power dynamics and power sharing
- Working sensitively and supportively with people affected by breast cancer.
We want to make sure that everyone who wants to has the opportunity to get involved in our work, and that they have a good experience. So we'll be looking at how we can remove barriers, build trust, maintain relationships and improve feedback.
We’ll also be developing ways to test and measure our effectiveness, so that we can confidently say we’re making progress.
Room for improvement
It was really valuable to have the Voices participants there, not only to tell us what's important to them when they get involved in our work, but also to give us feedback on what it was like for them to be involved in developing the Theory of Change.
"In other involvements, I've experienced a more direct feeling of having benefitted or being clear on how other patients will be positively impacted. However, the feedback from staff involved has been really positive and this is nice." - Voices participant
This will help us improve how we run similar projects in the future, so that we can make sure everyone has the most fulfilling experience possible.
How can I get involved?
If you're interested in finding out more, or if you have any feedback or any questions, please get in touch with Susanna at susanna.glover@breastcancernow.org. She'll be more than happy to chat with you.
Read our Theory of Change
