Lived Experience training now available as an e-learning course

The award-winning Healthwatch Essex training course, ‘Introduction to Lived Experience’, has been made available as an e-learning course for the first time.

‘Lived experience’ describes people’s first-hand accounts of health and care. How they experience services is affected by their own personal circumstances, for example, whether they have a family or whether they are in work. The course allows health and care professionals, commissioners and volunteers the opportunity to learn how to engage effectively with the public.

“The training course came out of our Ambassador training programme,” explained David Sollis, Chief Executive of Healthwatch Essex. “Anyone who volunteered to help out the charity was trained so that they understood the principles of good engagement.

“Healthwatch Essex bases all its work on patients, carers, families and staff lived experience. We capture this through our award-winning research, engagement, and information teams. Captured well it can be used to influence the commissioning, design and delivery of services.”

Produced in collaboration with training partner, VST, Healthwatch Essex has teamed up with company ProTrainings, to produce an online version of the course, with the aim of making it more easily accessible to busy professionals and volunteers alike.

The course helps participants understand the importance of knowing and engaging with their community, active and positive listening techniques and the principles of inclusion.

“It has been designed to equip people with the skills they need to collect and represent the voice of whoever they engage with,” explained David. “We’ve made sure that the content of the course has been independently certified so that it conforms to universally accepted Continuous Professional Development (CPD) guidelines and it comes with a Certified CPD Statement as well as a ProTrainings Certificate and an Evidence Based Learning statement.”

The course can be accessed via the ProTrainings website at www.protrainings.eu for just £24.95 + VAT (group rates are available).