Why ‘What Matters to You?’ Day matters

ALLIANCE member, Catherine, shares the importance of initiatives like 'What Matters To You?' Day in promoting person centred care.

What Matters To You? Day 2026 is a global initiative which takes place this year on the 2nd of June 2026.

The main aim of this approach is to try to shift the focus from ‘What is a matter with you?’ to ‘What matters to you?’, and about having meaningful conversations, so those involved in caring for individuals and their families and unpaid carers can be fully understood. By promoting kind, caring, holistic human interactions, this approach helps achieve more positive outcomes for everyone concerned. These conversations are essential and extremely important as they assist in informing decisions about a person’s health, wellbeing and care. By positively engaging with individuals and their family and unpaid carers, this can greatly improve their wellbeing and outcomes in multiple ways.

What Matters To You Day? was initially initiated in Norway in 2014. There are many resources available online to also help to support those involved in the delivery of health and social care services in Scotland and the UK, and there is also useful free training that can be provided by the ALLIANCE by their team and the inspirational Tommy Whitelaw, who is currently the National Lead for the Person-centred voices team at The ALLIANCE.

Tommy shares his lived experience of being his Mum Joan’s unpaid carer for 5 years. Tommy received many interactions with health and social care services that were less than adequate and he was motivated to try to improve the experience of people, their family members and unpaid carers by informing health and social care professionals and others involved in people’s care so they personally and collectively could make a real difference in the care that people receive. This extends beyond the individuals accessing services and takes into account their family and unpaid carers, and how their interactions with health and social care services can be significantly improved by employing a few techniques, asking a few simple questions, and focusing on their needs and person-centred outcomes.

Both Tommy and I, as healthcare campaigners, have known each other since we met through our networking with the ALLIANCE over 15 years ago. We were motivated by our individual and shared concerns and issues regarding our personal lived experiences of trying to access care for ourselves and our loved ones. I know and I am very aware of how much work and time Tommy has personally put into trying to improve the health and social care experiences of individuals accessing health and social care services and their family members and unpaid carers, not only in the NHS in Scotland and the UK but also globally around the world. He has made a significant and positive contribution and tried to turn his adverse and negative experiences into something more positive for others. I challenge you to hear some of the stories and experiences Tommy shares personally at his training sessions, or watch and listen to the many resources he has made available online and not be moved and motivated yourself to try to improve the experiences and interactions of others you meet, either in your workplace, or even generally in your daily interactions.

Both my Mum and I have also given significant time personally over the years and over our 20-year involvement with the ALLIANCE, to try to use our lived experience to try to positively influence health, NHS and social care for ourselves and others. We have been involved in many consultations and in providing input to help develop and review the many NHS, health, and social policy documents and resources produced over the years. We have shared our experiences, advocated for others, and provided peer support to hopefully positively influence the care and interactions that individuals, family members and their unpaid carers experience. It was, therefore, to our dismay that our most recent experience in accessing care in recent weeks reminded us that these documents and policies must not be left sitting on a shelf and must be put into practice to ensure positive outcomes. It’s important to recognise and examine when issues are experienced, how they can be avoided in the future, and put in place actions that ensure the best and most appropriate outcomes are achieved for all involved.

As What Matters To You Day? approaches please consider how you and your work place will actively get involved with ‘What Matters To You? Day, and if you are unfamiliar and require training in this approach or would like a refresh, then please make use of all the various online resources that are available.

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