Thera Scotland and People’s Voice Media are using lived-experience stories to open conversations about accountability, advocacy and better support in adult social care. In this blog, project manager and Head of Team and Operations, Kath Peters, tells us more.

What does accountability in adult social care look like when it is shaped by the people who experience services first-hand?

Since January, People’s Voice Media has been working with Thera Scotland to explore this question through lived-experience storytelling; gathering people’s views on what transparent accountability means in practice.

Thera Scotland supports people with a learning disability across Scotland, helping them have more control over their support and live their lives as they choose. Funded by IMPACT, the UK centre for implementing evidence in adult social care, our project forms part of a wider effort to bring research, lived experience and practice-based knowledge together to improve frontline services.

A key aim for the work is to create space for Disabled people, caregivers and supporters to share their stories, reflect on why accountability matters, and identify how adult social care could work better for the people who rely on it.

Training Community Reporters

The project began in February with online training sessions. Participants were introduced to Community Reporting techniques and supported to start meaningful conversations with others about their experiences of adult social care. The training helped people feel more confident to listen carefully, ask open questions and capture stories in a respectful way.

Members, volunteers and caregivers then spoke with friends and family about how the lack of accountability and inefficient complaints procedures affects people’s lives and what better systems could look like. These insights were brought together in a short video, which became the starting point for a Conversation of Change event on 29 June 2026.

From awareness to improvement

A Conversation of Change event is a tool that we use to progress a project from the stage of collecting stories, to using those stories to create change. At a Conversation of Change event, excerpts from stories sharing people’s lived and living experience are used as a catalyst for discussion, reflection and practical improvement. Lived experience is placed at the centre of the conversation, rather than seen as an add-on to professional knowledge. Service providers, supporters and members of the wider community are invited to actively participate in the event, learning from the stories and thinking about concrete actions towards change.

Through the video stories, Disabled people and carers were able to express what transparent accountability means in everyday life. Topics explored included:

• how decisions are explained
• how concerns are responded to
• how people can challenge poor practice without feeling ignored or powerless

Overall, the stories demonstrated that when support works well, people are more able to make choices, build confidence and live with greater independence. When it falls short, the impact can be felt not only by the person receiving support, but also by families, caregivers and wider support networks. This showed how practical issues intersect with people’s personal and interior lives.

Conversation of Change events act as a bridge between awareness and action. By hearing directly from people with lived experience, those involved in shaping and delivering services are encouraged to think beyond broad commitments and consider what accountability looks like in day-to-day practice. That might mean clearer communication, more consistent follow-up when concerns are raised, stronger advocacy routes, or better ways of involving people in decisions about their own support.

Actions for change

IMPACT will now use the video as a conversation starter at targeted events, to help partners move from reflection to practical action. These events will invite people to look closely at what has been shared, identify the actions that matter most, and consider how to make tangible change. Raising awareness of the issues is the first step, but the events create a clear route from lived-experience insight to demonstrable change in adult social care.

By continuing to share and discuss these stories, the project keeps attention focused on the people most affected by adult social care. Community Reporting and lived experience storytelling are used to open dialogue, challenge assumptions and support more accountable, person-centred ways of working. As the work develops, the conversations begun through Thera Scotland, People’s Voice Media and IMPACT’s partnership will help shape practical actions that are informed by the realities of people’s lives.