Lived Experience Advisory Boards
A lived experience advisory board that stays involved
Give Experts by Experience a regular place in the conversations that shape your service.
LENs can establish a standing advisory board that meets with your senior team to test ideas, review themes and agree what needs attention. Meetings can take place monthly or quarterly, on Microsoft Teams or in person. Theme summaries and follow-up checks make it possible to return to earlier feedback and see what has happened since.
What it includes
- Monthly or quarterly meetings
- Theme summaries across time
- Follow-up checks on progress
Keep lived experience close to the decisions
Feedback is often gathered for one project, one consultation or one reporting period. The people who contributed may never hear what happened next, while senior teams lose the chance to see which concerns are returning over time.
A lived experience advisory board creates continuity. The board can look at new ideas, revisit earlier advice and raise themes that may not be visible through formal reporting alone. It gives senior leaders a regular point of contact with Experts by Experience, without expecting a single meeting to answer every question.
A regular forum for advice, challenge and follow-through
01
Monthly or quarterly meetings
The meeting cycle is agreed during scoping. Sessions can be held on Microsoft Teams or in person, depending on the needs of the work and the people involved.
02
Testing ideas before they move forward
The board can review proposals, plans, communications or areas of service development. Members can question assumptions, point out practical concerns and identify where more information may be needed.
03
Reviewing themes across time
Theme summaries show what is improving, what remains unresolved and what is starting to emerge. Looking across several meetings can reveal patterns that would be easy to miss in a one-off discussion.
04
Following up on earlier feedback
The board can return to previous advice and ask what action was taken. This gives the organisation a way to show how feedback was considered and to explain where a different decision was made.
What the board does not replace
The board provides advice and challenge. It does not replace the organisation’s executive, clinical, statutory or governance responsibilities. Decision-making authority and accountability remain with the organisation unless a separate written agreement states otherwise.
A standing group of Experts by Experience and organisational leaders
LENs supplies Experts by Experience for the board. Their contribution is grounded in personal experience of health or social care, or of caring for and supporting someone who uses services.
The organisation identifies the leaders and staff who need to attend. The written scope sets the board’s remit, meeting arrangements, access needs, boundaries and how advice will be recorded and considered. The detail can be adjusted as the board develops.
How an advisory board is set up and supported
Talk through the purpose
We start with a call about the decisions, services or themes the board needs to inform. LENs will help turn that discussion into a workable remit.
Agree the board structure
Together, we agree the meeting cycle, who needs to be involved, how topics reach the board and what the organisation expects to receive after each meeting.
Put the arrangements in writing
LENs prepares a written scope covering the remit, responsibilities, practical arrangements, meeting format and outputs. We review it with you before the board begins.
Run the meetings and record the themes
The board considers the agreed topics, tests ideas and raises questions. Themes are captured in the format set out in the scope.
Return to the advice
Follow-up checks bring earlier feedback back into later meetings. This helps the board and the organisation keep track of what has moved, what has not and what needs another conversation.
What your organisation can receive
The current LENs service offer supports:
- A standing lived experience advisory board
- Monthly or quarterly meetings on Microsoft Teams or in person
- Discussion with senior leaders and relevant service teams
- Theme summaries across meetings
- Follow-up checks on earlier advice
- A written scope setting out the remit and practical arrangements
The exact meeting frequency, subjects, format and written outputs will be agreed during scoping.
Make the board workable for everyone involved
Before the first meeting, LENs will agree practical arrangements with the organisation. These can include access needs, confidentiality, meeting boundaries, preparation, support and routes for raising a concern. The level of detail will reflect the setting and the work the board is being asked to do.
Lived Experience Advisory Board FAQs
How is an advisory board different from a one-off focus group?
A focus group is usually organised around a particular question and point in time. A standing advisory board meets regularly, can return to earlier topics and can review themes across several meetings.
How often does the board meet?
LENs offers monthly or quarterly meetings. We will recommend a meeting cycle after discussing the board’s purpose and the pace of the work it needs to inform.
Can meetings take place online?
Yes. Meetings can take place on Microsoft Teams or in person. The format will be agreed during scoping.
Who from our organisation should attend?
That depends on the board’s remit. Senior leaders should be represented, and other service or programme leads can attend when their work is being discussed. The written scope will set out the expected organisational involvement.
What happens to the board’s advice?
The organisation agrees how advice will be received and considered. Theme summaries record the main points, while follow-up checks allow the board to return to previous feedback and hear what happened next.
Can the advisory board be combined with another LENs service?
Yes. An advisory board may sit alongside an Expert by Experience Programme, research project or strategic co-production work. LENs can scope the services together and explain how each part fits into the written proposal.
Other ways to use lived experience over time
- ServiceExpert by Experience ProgrammeFor regular service visits, patient and/or carer feedback and monthly insight reports.
- ServiceStrategic Co-Production & AdvisoryFor policy, pathway, governance or change-programme work.
- ServiceResearch, Evaluation & InsightFor a defined question requiring interviews, focus groups, analysis or reporting.
Related guides
- GuideHow to establish a lived experience advisory boardA practical guide to defining the purpose, membership, meetings, governance and follow-up needed for a useful lived experience advisory board.
- GuideWhat does good lived experience involvement look like?Good lived experience involvement has a clear purpose, starts early, supports people to contribute and gives organisations a route to use what they hear.
- GuideCo-production, consultation and engagement: what is the difference?Understand the difference between consultation, engagement, co-design and co-production, and choose the form of lived experience involvement that fits the work.
Give lived experience a regular place at the table
Tell us which decisions or service areas need ongoing advice. LENs will help define the board’s remit, recommend a workable meeting cycle and put the proposed arrangement in writing.