Nothing About Us Without Us
By Carrie Prechtel, November 2022, Carrie Prechtel Consulting
"Nothing about us without us" is a slogan dating back hundreds of years, but more recently used by disability advocates to promote the practice that any policy planning for an affected group must have direct participation by those group’s members.
One of the values that Common Thread consultants share is a focus on equity for all the projects we are involved in. This is not a box to check, but a true intention to make sure that when we are consulting for a client, we prioritize and solicit inclusion in the planning process of those impacted by any project. This serves as a check and balance to make sure that organizations aren't making decisions in a vacuum, but rather are keeping those being affected top of mind.
A current project of Common Thread is the training of over 70 Traditional Health Workers (THWs) in Coos, Curry, and Douglas Counties. A priority that we committed to early on is the inclusion of current or recent THWs in order to gain their valuable Lived Experience with supporting their peers, sharing their experiences with training options, and their struggles with the certification and supervision process. We have a multitude of THWs on the Partner Panel and Workgroups who have already provided critical insights of different training models along with potential barriers to address such as background check requirements and certification timelines, in order to ensure the success of the program. These insights have brought to light potential roadblocks way in advance in order to avoid them.
Let’s take an imaginary walk through this same project developed WITHOUT those with Lived Experience. We could have potentially sent the THW cohorts through a training that was a bare minimum, crash course in their specialty field, leading to their entry into their profession unprepared. We could have enrolled applicants who don’t have a realistic idea of the work they’re training for, leading to a much higher attrition rate. Some trainees could have gone through the entire program only to be rejected at the end due to background check issues. All of these scenarios were avoided by prioritizing participation of those who are Subject Matter Experts through lived experience.
I encourage you to think about your current initiatives and do an environmental scan to see if you have participation in decision-making roles by those who are being impacted by that project. Do you have houseless individuals’ input on a project for addressing winter shelters? Do you have families who are attempting to navigate resources as thought partners on projects that are meant to support them? Does your drug prevention program include the voices of those recovering from substance use disorder?
Now here’s the big question… Are you compensating those impacted folks who participate in initiatives for their time? When developing projects with an equity lens and asking for participation from those with lived experience to ensure that the goals, processes, and structure are truly beneficial to those whom the program hopes to serve, it’s important to recognize that lived experience with a stipend for their valuable insights. Also, be sure to share the data collected and progress of initiatives with them so that they see the results of their contribution.
Let’s make sure that everything about them includes them!
Carrie Prechtel, November, 2022
Published in collaboration with Common Thread Consulting
