Someone who has first-hand experience of accessing healthcare has a very different perspective to a healthcare professional and can offer invaluable insight into how to improve a treatment or service. We often describe these voices as ‘lived experience’.
In this guide
On this page
Why is your voice important
The voices of those with lived experience are vital to all aspects of healthcare and medical research. This includes embedding the voices of underrepresented communities in our Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) conversations.
As a PPI contributor at the Academy and beyond, you may:
- Identify which research is most important to fund, as your priorities may be different from those of researchers and doctors.
- Make it more likely that the findings of a project are provided in accessible ways and communicated more widely so that more people hear about it.
- Influence the direction a project takes by being a member of a steering group.
- Inform and help to determine recommendations aimed at the government, the NHS, research funders, universities, or other influencing groups.
Range of lived experiences
The people we work with (known as our Patient Collective) includes those with lived experience come from a wide range of backgrounds. This includes:
- current or previous patients for all mental and physical health conditions.
- those who have cared for a friend or family member in a personal capacity.
- users of routine health services.
- people who have worked with health researchers.
- members of the public.
We are very open to suggestions for how we can make our work more accessible to different groups, and suggestions of different communities or organisations that we might connect with in future.
What to expect
When you become a PPI contributor in an Academy project, we ask that you bring your lived experience, ideas, skills, and challenges to a project, either in person or in writing.
When contributing, the Academy will support you to do this in a way you feel comfortable with and will provide coaching so that you can make the most of this experience.
You will never be expected to speak on behalf of everyone with similar experiences to your own. As a PPI contributor, you bring your own, individual knowledge and experience, as a patient or from other parts of your life.
The Academy staff, Fellows, and others you may work with will always respect you. If you feel this is not the case, please let a member of the Engagement team know.
There is no “right” way to contribute to a project, and everyone’s experiences will be different. Attendees at our meetings come from diverse backgrounds so may have a different life view to you but it is important to respect their lived experiences.