Grounded in the WHO’s 2023 Framework for Meaningful Engagement, our 4-week audit provides a focused assessment of how meaningfully lived experience is integrated into organizational programs, practices, and decision-making. It is designed to:

• Assess current programming, engagement strategies, structures, and feedback loops.

• Identify gaps, opportunities, and practical actions to strengthen meaningful engagement and influence.

• Develop a time-bound roadmap for embedding lived experience more meaningfully into future programs, services, and decision-making.

What We Do

We assess organizational engagement strategies, structures, and feedback loops to identify gaps and opportunities to strengthen lived-experience participation, reduce tokenism, foster accountability, support continuous learning, and align with relevant requirements.

Our audits examine where organizations sit along the engagement spectrum—from traditional consultation and involvement to more transformative approaches that share power, enable meaningful co-design, and strengthen the leadership and influence of Lived-Experience Contributors (LECs).

The assessment recognizes the distinct roles and contributions of lived-experience contributors, supporters, and staff, while examining whether people directly affected have meaningful representation, decision-making influence, and opportunities for shared power.

What You Walk Away With

• Eight-Domain Maturity Scores: An executive-ready assessment that clearly shows how embedded meaningful engagement is across eight domains, with scores mapped to WHO-aligned maturity tiers.

• Strategic Action Plan: A comprehensive, time-bound implementation roadmap that identifies priority gaps, recommended actions, and practical next steps to strengthen the integration of lived experience into future programs, services, and decision-making.

• Executive Debrief & Close-Out Session: A facilitated session to review findings, discuss key insights and priorities, answer questions, and align on recommended next steps.

"Meaningful engagement in policy and program development is often viewed as a “nice to have”; however, it is essential for equitable, person centered, and rights based responses to improving health outcomes."

WHO Framework commentary

WHO-Aligned Lived-Experience Integration Audit

The Challenge

Many health and social care organizations mistake occasional storytelling for meaningful partnership. Without the structures, processes, and accountability mechanisms needed to support meaningful engagement, lived experience can become disconnected from decision-making, staff can become overburdened with coordinating engagement, and organizations may struggle to demonstrate alignment with quality, regulatory, and funding expectations.

Assessment Approach

Our mixed-method assessment combines multiple sources of evidence to provide a practical, well-rounded view of current engagement practices, structures, and readiness. This includes:

• Structured desk and document review of relevant policies, strategies, program materials, engagement plans, and other organizational documentation.

• Stakeholder interviews and facilitated engagement sessions to understand lived experiences, current practices, strengths, gaps, and opportunities for improvement.

• Analysis and synthesis of findings to identify patterns, assess maturity across the eight domains, and inform prioritized recommendations and the strategic action plan.