
Experts by experience
We seek to regularly involve, engage and collaborate with experts by experience in all our work.
We consider experts by experience to be people with recent lived, living and/or professional experience, knowledge and insight who directly contribute to and engage with our research.
Experts by experience include:
- members of the public;
- patients;
- carers;
- health and social care professionals;
- public health, local and regional government professionals;
- voluntary, community and faith advocates and communities;
- other interested parties.
Getting involved
Building on our well-established relationships and networks at local, regional and national levels, we proactively engage and include the experiences and voices of our citizens. By working with individuals, advocates, groups and community organisations on a project-by-project basis, we aim to ensure our research is representative and inclusive.
We offer opportunities for involvement, participation and engagement in different ways:
- By involvement we mean that our research projects are actively carried out with experts by experience. For example, working with our community partners, as members of research project advisory groups, as co-creators in the design of research projects and research materials, and/or carrying out and supporting research.
- By participation we mean experts by experience take part in our research studies as participants. For example, in focus groups, being interviewed or responding to surveys.
- By engagement we mean how we share the findings of our research. For example, attending conferences, hosting webinars and delivering workshops, but also how we work with communities in an inclusive way to build strong relationships and develop trust.
Explore the following videos to hear some of our experts by experience talking about their work within our unit:
- Jamil talks about the importance of peer-to-peer interactions to make connections with communities:
Jamil – Connecting with Communities: Peer to Peer
- Gill talks about bringing lived experience to policy research:
Gill – Bringing Lived Experience to Policy Research
- Gerry talks about contributing lived experience to research and how it built his confidence:
Gerry – Bringing Lived Experience to Policy Research
- Sarah talks about the importance of trust, her role in research and how this gave her a sense of achievement:
Sarah – Bringing Lived Experience to Policy Research
More information
To learn more about our approach please read the following documents as well as our community partners webpage:
- Public and Community Involvement and Engagement Strategy Plain English (PDF)
- Public and Community Involvement and Engagement Strategy (PDF)
For more information on our work with experts by experience, please contact: pru-manager@manchester.ac.uk.