Let’s be honest. For many health and social care providers, Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training can initially feel like one more item on an already very long to-do list.
With staffing challenges, increasing demands and an ever-growing list of mandatory training requirements, it’s understandable to ask whether another course will really help staff do their job any better.
It’s a fair question. One of the things that makes Oliver McGowan training different is the involvement of co-trainers – our experts with lived experience. The lived experience element brings something that no trainer, workbook or PowerPoint presentation can ever fully replicate.
It brings reality.
When a co-trainer talks about their own experiences of accessing healthcare or receiving support, the conversation shifts. The training stops being about legislation, policies or theory and becomes about real people, real situations and real consequences.
We often see lightbulb moments during these sessions. Not because staff don’t care, but because hearing somebody describe their experiences creates a level of understanding that is difficult to achieve in any other way.
It might be hearing how overwhelming an unfamiliar environment can feel. It might be learning about a communication adjustment that made all the difference. Sometimes it’s simply understanding how small actions from a member of staff helped someone feel respected, valued and understood.
These stories stay with people long after the training has ended.
It’s also worth recognising the courage of the lived experience co-trainers themselves.
Some of the stories they choose to share are deeply personal. They may talk about times when they felt frightened, misunderstood, excluded or unheard. For some, these experiences are painful memories that would be far easier to keep private.
We never ask our co-trainers to share more than they are comfortable with. Yet time and again, they choose to share their experiences because they genuinely want people to understand what life can sometimes feel like from the other side of the conversation.
That willingness to be open is an incredible gift. It takes courage, honesty and a real desire to improve experiences for others.
The most effective training is not always the training that delivers the most information. Often, it’s the training that changes the way people think, helping them see situations from a different perspective and approach their work with greater confidence and understanding.
Of course, Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training is a requirement for health and social care providers. However, that’s rarely the reason people leave the session talking about it afterwards.
What they remember is the person.
The opportunity to listen to someone whose experiences may be very different from their own, and to learn from them. In a sector built on understanding people, that feels like time well spent.
So, to finish – here’s some examples of recent feedback that really demonstrate the impact this training can have:
“Very interesting and helpful course. Trainers were fabulous and to have them telling us their real-life experiences…. Just brilliant. Everyone should do this training.” JM
“Listening to C and S made me realise how little I understand about autism and learning disabilities, they’ve given me a different way of looking at things. Great course, well worth the time.” PZ
“Well done to the trainers – it can’t be easy to face a lot of strangers and talk . Very impressed” YQ
The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training goes beyond it’s title – it’s not just teaching us about lived experiences, it’s empowering and changing the lives of people with Autism and Learning Disabilities.