From the Boardroom to the Kitchen Table: Niagara's Lived Experience Advisory Network

In this episode, Andrea is joined by Brandon Agnew and Donna Mills from Niagara Region Public Health, and community member Jennifer Symonds to talk about Niagara Region’s Lived Experience Advisory Network (LEAN).

Niagara Region started LEAN in 2018 to bring two parties together- public health, and people who experience poverty- to talk about the intersections between poverty and health in Niagara, and problem solve solutions to improve health outcomes. LEAN leverages the skills, talent and experiences of people who live in poverty and empowers them to be community leaders, to think outside of the box and look for innovative solutions. LEAN is also creating social connections between network members, and community connections between service providers.

There are several “ingredients” that allow LEAN to be successful:

• Public health leaders had an understanding of the importance of community engagement. This meant that staff didn’t have to “sell” the idea of LEAN to leadership.  
• LEAN builds on success of the Youth Advisory Committee which has been running successfully for several years.
• Public health staff leveraged existing relationships with community members who already knew and trusted them.
• LEAN members’ feel like their voices are heard and their advice is incorporated in decisions.
• Both LEAN members and the health unit are benefiting equally.

An important consideration when engaging people with lived/living experience is making meetings accessible, safe and comfortable. Brandon and Donna asked community members to choose how often they want to meet, where they want to meet and select meeting spaces that are comfortable (for example the atrium or cafeteria as opposed to a boardroom). Every monthly meeting includes dinner, which everyone eats together. Children and youth are welcome at meetings. Brandon and Donna promote car sharing, provide gas cards and taxi chits to make it easy and affordable for members to attend meetings. LEAN members are provided with an honorarium for each meeting. When shaping each agenda, Brandon lets the community set the pace in terms of meeting frequency and topics, and alternates meeting formats to include celebrations and casual conversations.

We end the episode with advice for listeners to consider as they engage people with lived experienced. Jennifer’s advice is to “just do it”: the benefits outweigh any risks or challenges. Donna’s advice is to make the engagement authentic and be ready to implement the advice and suggestions that you receive. Brandon’s advice is see the gifts and talents that people have, as opposed to the deficits.

Thanks to the Tenfold team and Niagara’s IT folks for making this episode possible!