The aim of this Toolkit is to provide those involved in developing and delivering healthcare professional (HCP) education the resources they need to embed lived experience in their teaching.
This Toolkit is the culmination of 19 years of involving people with lived experience of mental health conditions in medical education at Derby Psychiatry Teaching Unit. Patient and public involvement in teaching is required by policy, and co-production, where those with lived experience are equal developers of curriculum, content and delivery, is laid out as the gold standard of HCP education. But involving people with lived experience is not easy. There are many barriers to involvement, some of which are systemic such as policies and procedures. Some are resource-based such as having the time and the finances to adequately develop and maintain support structures. And some are personal, in breaking down stigma or navigating existing power dynamics in the classroom.
This Toolkit contains an explanation of the way in which lived experience is embedded within our teaching sessions. It contains detailed session descriptions and steps for involving people with lived experience, both as a volunteer and as an employed member of the teaching team. You will also find sample job descriptions, policies, recruitment literature and teaching materials.
Of course these are not prescriptive, but we hope these can be a helpful starting point for adaptation to your own context. By sharing our learning, we hope others can be enabled to overcome the pitfalls and hurdles that come along the way.
We hope you find this Toolkit useful and that it may help you take one step further towards coproduction with those with lived experience, and training person-centred healthcare professionals.
The Expert Patient Programme Toolkit
You can view the toolkit on the webpage below, or download the toolkit. The document's appendices can be found below the document.
