Our Shared Agreement Community Listeners

The Our Shared Agreement (OSA) Community Listeners initiative was developed to strengthen relationships between people and health and care services across Lincolnshire.

At its heart, the programme recognises a simple but powerful truth: meaningful system change begins with listening - genuinely hearing people’s experiences, concerns, and priorities in a human, respectful way.

Rather than relying solely on formal consultations or structured engagement exercises, this initiative centres on everyday conversations.

By creating space for people to share their lived experiences in familiar, comfortable environments, the programme aims to build trust, deepen understanding, and ensure that services evolve in ways that truly reflect the needs of the communities they serve.

Aims and objectives

The Community Listeners initiative was designed with several interconnected goals.

A network of Listeners

First, it sought to create a diverse and accessible network of individuals - Community Listeners - who could engage others in natural, informal conversations about health, care, and wellbeing.

These listeners were not positioned as experts or representatives of organisations, but as curious, empathetic individuals willing to listen without judgement.

This approach helped reduce barriers, remove perceived power imbalances, and encourage more open and honest dialogue.

Capturing lived experiences

A second key aim was to gather authentic lived experiences. These stories provide valuable insights into how people interact with services in their daily lives, highlighting both strengths and areas for improvement.

By capturing these experiences, the programme contributes to shaping how the Our Shared Agreement is understood and applied across the system.

Sharing and growing Our Shared Agreement

The initiative also aimed to increase awareness and understanding of the Agreement itself. Importantly, conversations were designed to prioritise people’s experiences first, introducing the Agreement only after individuals had had the opportunity to share their perspectives. This ensured that the Agreement felt grounded in real life rather than abstract or theoretical.

Embedding co-production as the way we do things

Another important objective was to embed co-production throughout the programme. Both people with lived experience and professionals were actively involved in shaping the initiative, ensuring shared ownership and collective responsibility for its success.

Building our capacity to listen

Finally, the programme focused on building capacity. Through training, resources, and ongoing support, Community Listeners were equipped with the confidence and skills needed to facilitate sensitive conversations, manage complex stories, and share insights ethically and effectively.

What we did

To bring these aims to life, a structured yet flexible model for Community Listening was developed and implemented.

A core element of delivery was the establishment of a Co-production Framework. This included both the wider Our Shared Agreement Steering Group and a dedicated Community Listeners co-production group. Together, these groups ensured that the initiative remained grounded in real experiences while benefiting from professional insight and oversight.

A programme of Listener Briefing sessions was also created and delivered. Fifteen open sessions were made available, introducing participants to the principles of the Our Shared Agreement and providing guidance on how to approach conversations in a natural and respectful way. These sessions emphasised that listening should feel informal and relational, rather than structured or interrogative.

Recruitment of Community Listeners was carried out through partner organisations and networks, resulting in a growing and diverse group of participants. Individuals from a wide range of backgrounds were encouraged to take part, helping to ensure that a broad spectrum of voices and experiences were represented.

To support listeners in their role, practical resources were developed, including briefing documents, postcards, and Listener Packs. These materials were designed to be accessible and flexible, allowing listeners to capture stories in ways that felt comfortable and appropriate.

In addition, the programme actively created and attended opportunities for listening within communities. This included events, pop-in sessions, and informal gatherings, ensuring that conversations took place in real-world settings where people naturally connect.

As a result of these efforts, to date the programme has gathered a significant number of stories - 47 individual accounts and five group-based narratives - offering rich qualitative insight into people’s experiences of health, care, and wellbeing.

What we heard

The stories collected through the Community Listeners programme are currently being analysed through People’s Stories Panels and thematic review processes. While analysis is ongoing, several consistent themes have emerged:

• People emphasised the importance of whole-person, holistic care, highlighting the need for services to recognise the full complexity of their lives rather than focusing on isolated issues.
• Compassion and feeling genuinely listened to were also central concerns. Many individuals expressed a desire for more empathetic interactions, where they feel heard and valued as people.
• Access to timely diagnostics and care remains a key issue, alongside the need for better coordination and communication between services. People often described challenges navigating fragmented systems, reinforcing the importance of joined-up approaches.
• Support for carers and families was another recurring theme, as was the value of community and social connections in maintaining wellbeing.
• Preventative approaches and support for self-care were also highlighted, alongside the emotional impact of navigating health and care systems. Many stories reflected feelings of uncertainty, stress, and the need for emotional support.
• Finally, collaboration across organisations emerged as a critical factor in delivering effective and responsive care.

The difference it has made

The Community Listeners initiative has provided valuable insights into both people’s experiences and the effectiveness of listening as an approach to engagement.

One of the most important findings is that informal, relationship-based conversations foster greater trust and openness. People are more willing to share honest and meaningful experiences when they do not feel they are part of a formal consultation process.

These conversations often reveal emotional and personal aspects of people’s experiences that would not typically be captured through surveys or structured interviews. This includes feelings of loneliness, the challenges of caring roles, and the emotional burden of navigating complex systems.

The programme has also highlighted the importance of feedback and transparency. For Community Listeners to remain engaged and motivated, it's essential they understand how the stories they collect are being used and what impact they are having. Strengthening these feedback loops will be critical to sustaining the initiative over time.

Overall, the work demonstrates that community listening is not simply an engagement tool, but a foundational practice for building relationships, improving understanding, and supporting long-term cultural change.

What’s next

The next phase of the programme will focus on strengthening and expanding its impact:

Co-production will remain central, with continued collaboration between the Our Shared Agreement Steering Group and the Community Listeners co-production group. These groups will also play a key role in reviewing and refreshing the core principles and messaging of the Our Shared Agreement.

Recruitment efforts will evolve to target organisations as “Listening Partners,” encouraging teams within health, care, and voluntary sectors to integrate listening into their everyday practice.

Engagement with existing listeners will also be enhanced through regular communication, sharing insights and impact, and providing opportunities for further involvement.

Awareness-raising activities will increase, including social media campaigns and short videos showcasing listening in action. These efforts aim to demonstrate the value of the programme and encourage wider participation.

Importantly, the initiative will continue to align closely with related programmes, such as Community Reporters, workforce engagement, and People’s Stories Panels, ensuring a cohesive and integrated approach.

Finally, work will be undertaken to develop meaningful ways of measuring impact, ensuring that the value of community listening can be clearly demonstrated and sustained.

Conclusion

The Community Listeners initiative represents a shift in how engagement is understood and delivered across Lincolnshire. By prioritising listening, relationships, and lived experience, it moves beyond traditional consultation methods to create something more human, inclusive, and impactful.

At its core, the programme recognises that people’s stories are not just data - they are powerful drivers of change. When individuals feel heard, respected, and valued, trust grows, relationships strengthen, and services become more responsive and effective.

The learning so far is clear: listening works. It uncovers deeper insights, builds stronger connections, and supports better decision-making. But for this approach to succeed in the long term, it must be sustained, visible, and embedded across the system.

As the programme evolves, its success will depend on maintaining this commitment, continuing to listen, to learn, and to act. By doing so, Lincolnshire has the opportunity to create a health and care system that is not only more effective, but also more compassionate, connected, and truly centred on the people it serves.