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‘No one knows like we do’: the narratives of mental health service users trained as researchers
- Authors:
- PALMER David, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Public Mental Health, 8(4), December 2009, pp.18-28.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
This article describes a programme, financed by the Big Lottery Fund and a training grant from Bexley Care Trust, designed to empower service users to participate and contribute to a pilot research project. The projects aims were to work with, develop, train and support service users as researchers, in order to record the narratives of service users who have common experiences of mental health distress and treatment. The research development project set up an advisory group, created and developed a partnership with the University of Kent and provided workshops and training sessions to explore some of the principles of research and ethics. In addition, the group undertook a preliminary literature review, developed and refined a research questionnaire and piloted interviews with six service users. Many issues were raised and lessons learned during the planning and conduct of the project. This paper discusses the process and reflects on aspects of the project’s design and delivery. In addition, this paper highlights some of the difficulties in undertaking service user research and suggests recommendations as to how to overcome some of these complex issues.