Side by Side – what it means
Our service is shaped by everyone in The Life Rooms community – whether you access the service, work for us, volunteer, are one of our partners or a member of the wider community. We call this working Side by Side.
Working Side by Side is built into The Life Rooms infrastructure. Everyone is encouraged to share their own experience – from lived experience of services to partnership – to inform the way our service develops.
This means The Life Rooms is continuously evolving according to the needs and experiences of everyone in our community. The fundamentals of our model remain strong yet this flexibility of approach allows for a truly responsive service with population health at its core.
Testimonial
For me, Side by Side seeks to challenge and change the often cited dynamic within mental health care services of ‘us and them’, it strives to get all parties involved to see the intrinsic value in each other, develop trust, share experiences and ideas and work actively together to shape services in a more holistic way that provides real benefits to all involved.
feel that because of its grounding in mutual trust and respect it starts to give back a platform and voice to those that may have long been silenced by stigma.
- Stuart, Innovation and Development Volunteer at The Life Rooms