Communication support for a new strategy for people with learning disabilities and autistic people

Summary

Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) commissioned Blue Lozenge to support a pre-engagement event informing a new strategy for people with learning disabilities and autistic people. Blue Lozenge developed event communications, established a working group including people with lived experience, and coordinated partner organisations including the Autistic Alliance and Learning Disabilities England. All materials were designed to be fully inclusive. The event attracted over 90 in-person attendees, with 50% being people with learning disabilities or autistic people, meeting the ICB’s target. A further 53 people contributed through an online pre-engagement process.

Background and objectives

Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) wanted to hold an inclusive pre-engagement event to support the development of their new strategy for people with learning disabilities and autistic people. They onboarded us to develop an event narrative, event communication materials, and support the co-ordination of partners involved within the event.  

Kent and Medway ICB wanted at least 50% of the event attendees to be people with learning disabilities and autistic people so that people with lived experience could contribute to the new strategy. In addition, they also wanted professionals involved with the care of people with learning disabilities and autistic people to be represented at the event, recognising the important role they play in delivering care and support to people with learning disabilities and autistic people.  

The ICB also set us the challenge of ensuring that all the communication materials sent out before, used during, in, and after the event were as inclusive as possible. This was so that the main audience for the event (people with learning disabilities and autistic people) could engage fully with the event and pre-engagement process.  

Approach

To ensure we could deliver a fully inclusive event and develop appropriate communication materials, we set up a working group that included people with learning disabilities and autistic people so we could fully understand the needs of our main audience and benefit from their insight. The group also included the ICB’s partners, the Autistic Alliance and Learning Disabilities England. We used this group to review the communication materials developed for the event and they provided facilitation support for the event.  

We worked with Kent and Medway ICB to engage with their well-established networks who support people with learning disabilities and autistic people. Through the networks, we could directly reach out and invite people from these groups to the event or support them in contributing to the pre-engagement process online. 

In addition, we gathered information on what support people with learning disabilities and autistic people may need to attend the event or contribute to the development of the new strategy.  

In partnership with our working group, we developed communication materials advertising the event which were shared with both professionals involved in the care of autistic people and people with learning disabilities, and autistic people and people with learning disabilities themselves.

We worked with colleagues from Kent and Medway ICB to develop communication materials that would enable people unable to attend the event to contribute to the strategy pre-engagement process online, so the ICB could capture as many views as possible.  

Outcome

The materials developed by us and colleagues from Kent and Medway, the advertising of the event, and engagement of key stakeholders saw over 90 people attend in person with 50% of those being people with learning disabilities and autistic people. 

In addition, 53 people contributed to the online pre-engagement information gathering, further supporting the development of the new strategy.  

Contact

If you need support engaging seldom-heard audiences or developing inclusive communication materials or events contact us today at hello@bluelozenge.co.uk