40 ‘Love is the magic ingredient’ in our coproduction relationship: an art therapist and people with learning disabilities share their experiences of coproducing research

Nicki is a clinical academic art therapist. During her PhD, she has built a coproduction partnership with The Lawnmowers Independent Theatre Company, a producing arts organisation led by and for people with learning disabilities. After co-authoring a paper exploring power, language and labels in healthcare research1, we knew our partnership was built on trust. Next, the Lawnmowers wanted to understand more about art therapy, through experiencing it, to better inform their expert input during Nicki's PhD. We used a range of arts-based techniques to explore art therapy practice and outcomes. This work to develop our coproduction partnership has deepened our relationship and forged strong connections for us as a group. We think working in this way is disruptive. Using creativity we've made the academic world more accessible for people with learning disabilities. Together, we've been able to influence system change in the NHS and to design an art therapy intervention that's relevant for this population. We want to share our ingredients for effective coproduction (and the challenges we encountered), to inspire others to engage in disruptive collaboration! 1 voices.no/index.php/voices/article/view/3391