Co-production within community-based services for children with intellectual disabilities and behaviours that challenge in England

Purpose Developing effective community-based services for children with intellectual disabilities and behaviours that challenge in England is a national priority. Service design and delivery guidelines state services should be co-produced with the children and families/carers accessing them. There are no identified data about how well services are delivering this recommendation. This research paper aimed to describe self-reported co-production activities within such services, and to consider how well these align with co-production definitions. Design/methodology/approach During a mapping exercise of community-based services for children with intellectual disabilities and behaviours that challenge in England, staff at 60 services completed an interview including questions concerning co-production. Types of self-reported co-production within services were described. The authors then examined how well these aligned with definitions of co-production. Findings Six types of self-reported “co-production” activities were identified via content analysis – (i) service planning, (ii) recruitment processes and decisions, (iii) individual case work, (iv) resources used within the service, (v) running training, workshops and groups and (vi) the service’s physical environment. Very few activities met co-production definitions, typically being classified as participation or co-creation. Practical implications All involved in the planning and delivery of services need to better consider how to implement additional activities that meet higher-level co-production definitions. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first known assessment of how well community-based services for children with intellectual disabilities and behaviours that challenge are enacting guidance that service design and delivery should be co-produced.