Joining the dots at the Mental Health, Dementia, Learning Disability and Autism Alliance

Blog by Kirsteen Redmile, Lead Change Manager

Last week Victoria Sleight, Head of Community Mental Health transformation and I were invited to present the journey of Our Shared Agreement at the Mental Health, Dementia, Learning Disability and Autism (MHDLDA) Alliance. The Alliance is made up of colleagues from Adult Social Care, NHS, District Councils, VCFSE sector and experts by experience who are responsible for overseeing all the transformational work going on across mental health.

I arrived a little early to discover that the air conditioning was stuck ‘on’ and the room we were in was a little chilly! However, the reception wasn’t, as they had just finished a comprehensive session about the importance of Co – Production and working with experts by experience. It was a great opportunity to build on this through a presentation and discussion about the Co – Production of Our Shared Agreement, developing a better relationship with the people of Lincolnshire and how it has become an integral part of several key strategic plans and showcased some of the team's excellent artwork.

We updated the Alliance on the launch of Our Shared Agreement at the It’s All About People Conference and reiterated the endorsement that this work has received from the Executive Leadership across the health and care system. We also used this opportunity to remind them of how intrinsically linked the Our Shared Agreement and the trauma informed care work are, with the ‘Together We Will’ statements forming part of the five foundations.

This can be seen in the ripple map, above. It shows how we’ve got to where we are now and the ripples, or in some cases the waves, Our Shared Agreement is starting to make.

As you can imagine the map generated some interesting and insightful discussions about the importance of developing better relationships and learning from each other, particularly sharing best practice and people’s stories. 

The MHDLDA meeting was a great session and it is now causing it's own ripples, which we are starting to map. Fortunately, someone fixed the air conditioning and we all left with a warm glow.

If you have any examples of Our Shared Agreement or working in a personalised and strengths-based way and would like to share them, please get in touch with us.

Thanks as always!