This report offers insights from a range of experts on the cultural barriers to People Powered Health.

Key findings

• Co-production means developing services with people rather than for people
• This type of collaboration continues to be the exception rather than the norm within public services, limited to small pockets of practice. 
• Systemic change (redesigning an entire system) requires work on a number of fronts. Creating the right culture and appetite for change is crucial. 
• Co-production needs to be promoted at all levels in the system, from top down policy to demand from patients to play a more active role in developing health services. 

People Powered Health is about creating a healthcare system where clinicians and patients work together to help people live better with long-term conditions. While we believe this approach has the potential to transform health services – delivering better outcomes at lower cost – it requires a cultural shift that’s challenging for both professionals and patients.

This report focuses on the challenges for professionals and, in particular, how workforce culture needs to change to enable People Powered Health to move from the margins to the mainstream. 

We asked a range of experts – clinical, academic, policy as well as commissioners and service providers – to write down their ideas about getting patients, families and community groups more involved with delivering healthcare, and how much resistance they expect to see towards this type of change.

Authors

Nesta, Innovation Unit