Experience-Based Codesign (EBCD) for Sensitive Research

Abstract

In this chapter, the reader will learn to create poignant lived experience “Trigger Films” in research using Experience-Based Codesign (EBCD). EBCD is an eight-stage methodology developed from participatory action research, learning theory, and narrative-based approaches to change. It is used to improve the experience of both the people accessing a service and the staff through shared decision-making. All parties work as equal partners to understand that experience and to prioritize and codesign service improvements creating lasting change. During the HALT project, “Learning from Domestic Homicide Reviews Using EBCD,” the authors created three Trigger Films with ten victims/survivors of domestic violence and seven family members bereaved by domestic homicide. In addition to other data collected in the project, these films were shown to service providers, the Home Office, government officials, and key stakeholders to cocreate and implement service improvements to prevent future homicides. This chapter focuses on stage three of EBCD, the creation of the Trigger Films. By amplifying the victims/survivor experience through film, the staff gets to see services through their eyes. This allows victim/survivor experiences to not only inform but drive the agenda for change. It provides a platform for direct, honest conversation between the staff and victims/survivors to raise areas of concern or missed opportunities and celebrate and replicate areas of success. To do this, this chapter will demonstrate how to create Trigger Films by first identifying individual touch points in individuals’ stories that are then thematized into chapters and edited into three high-impact collective voice Trigger Films.