Sharing Lived Experience in Mental Health Interventions
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Sharing Lived Experience with Service Users in Mental Health Interventions
IRAS ID
147315
Contact name
Jonny Lovell
Contact email
Research summary
Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust employ Peer Mentors who, by their nature, are employed to share their mental health “lived experience“ on a daily basis, and are therefore identifiable within the organisation as previous or current users of mental health services by service users, colleagues, and managers.
Anecdotal evidence (from within the Trust) suggests that other professionals (such as doctors, nurses, social workers etc) have mixed views about self-disclosure (another term for sharing lived experience), with some viewing disclosure as unprofessional and antithetical to their codes of conduct and professional standards, while others use their lived experience in their work.
This project will undertake qualitative and quantitative research into self-disclosure within Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Discussions are taking place with North West Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia, to carry out similar research there for international comparison. Research will be undertaken independently, and does not rely on the cooperation or involvement of both organisations.
A survey will be undertaken with service users and with staff to gauge attitudes towards self-disclosure (sharing lived experience), asking participants to rate, on a scale, how helpful or unhelpful it is for practitioners to share different kinds of information about themselves with service users. Themes that emerge from the survey will be taken for discussion with (separate) staff and service user focus groups, to help draw conclusions about what people have said. Based on feedback from the surveys and focus groups, a mixed staff-and-service-user working group will be formed to develop training and guidance for staff. This will be delivered and evaluated, before being made available more widely. Service users will be involved throughout as researchers and facilitators.
REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/NW/0256
Date of REC Opinion
8 Apr 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion