School of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Black Dog Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
BMC Psychiatry. 2020 Sep 21;20(1):456. doi: 10.1186/s12888-020-02861-0.
Lived experience research is conducted by people who have experience of mental health issues and is therefore better placed than more traditional research to illuminate participants' experiences. Findings that focus on identifying enablers of recovery from a lived experience perspective have the potential to assist people in their recovery process. However, this lived experience research is often difficult to find, access and interpret. We co-produced user-friendly and engaging resources to disseminate findings from six lived experience research studies. This paper seeks to answer the research questions: a) Did exposure to lived experience research increase hopefulness for participants?; and b) How else did interacting with lived experience research resources influence participants' lives?
Thirty-eight participants were introduced to four resources of their choosing by peer workers over a four-week period. The helpfulness of resources was evaluated using mixed methods, including a quasi-experimental analysis of change in hope, an anonymous survey and in-depth interviews.
Findings indicated that the resources promoted hope, but that increases in hopefulness may not be seen immediately. Other impacts include that the resources: encouraged helpful activities; provided a positive experience; increased valued knowledge; encouraged people to reflect on their journey and think constructively about mental health issues; helped people to feel less alone; and assisted people to explain their situation to others.
The research suggests the potential usefulness of lived experience research resources, presented in user-friendly formats, in the lives of people who experience mental health issues and implies a need to nurture this type of research.
生活经验研究由有心理健康问题经验的人进行，因此比更传统的研究更能阐明参与者的经验。从生活经验的角度出发，关注发现恢复的促进因素的研究结果有可能帮助人们在康复过程中取得进展。然而，这种生活经验研究往往很难找到、获取和解释。我们共同制作了易于使用且引人入胜的资源，以传播六项生活经验研究的研究结果。本文旨在回答以下研究问题：a）接触生活经验研究是否会增加参与者的希望感？；b）与生活经验研究资源互动如何影响参与者的生活？
在四周的时间里，同伴工作人员向 38 名参与者介绍了他们选择的四种资源。使用混合方法评估资源的有用性，包括希望感变化的准实验分析、匿名调查和深入访谈。
研究结果表明，这些资源促进了希望感，但增加希望感可能不会立即显现。其他影响包括：资源鼓励有益的活动；提供积极的体验；增加有价值的知识；鼓励人们反思自己的旅程，对心理健康问题进行建设性思考；帮助人们感到不那么孤独；并帮助人们向他人解释自己的情况。
研究表明，以用户友好的格式呈现的生活经验研究资源在有心理健康问题的人的生活中可能具有潜在的用途，并暗示需要培养这种类型的研究。
