People who have had mental health problems are often keen to pass on what they have learnt from their experiences to others in the same situation. We spoke to people who were at different stages of their recovery, and some were more hopeful than others about the future (see ‘Recovery’). Most of the people we […]

Virtually everyone we talked to wanted to encourage others to consider taking part in a trial if it is offered. Some recommended it because they felt it would help other patients in future, and some because it could bring the individual more direct benefit, or a mixture of both. Amanda even suggested some trials could […]

We invited the people we spoke to to give messages to professional researchers about involving people in research. Given that the relationship with researchers sits at the heart of all involvement, these messages feature across the whole site. Here we draw together a few key themes that came up repeatedly. The main message was to […]

Most people tend to be private, even secretive, about their financial arrangements. Parents may never have actually told their children what savings they have, how they are invested and how they organise their money, day-to-day. So its not surprising that people with dementia are slow to admit when a problem develops with their finances and […]

An obituary has been published in the Guardian paying tribute to the life of Dr. Andrew Herxheimer, clinical pharmacologist, who died in February this year aged 90. Andrew is greatly missed by friends and colleagues at healthtalk.org and the Health Experiences Research Group, both of which he co-founded with Ann McPherson 15 years ago. Read […]

We asked researchers what organisational support they found helpful or would have liked with involvement. One of the most common responses to this was the importance of funding for involvement beyond specific grants (see also ‘Payment, expenses and funding issues in patient and public involvement‘). Help with PPI costs from the NIHR (National Institute for […]

Studies tell us that physical and talking therapies are often a better way of managing fibromyalgia than medication. Pain can affect mood and behaviour, especially if the pain has been there for a long time. Psychological therapies look at how pain affects our thoughts and habits, and how our emotions can affect pain. This includes […]

NIHR INVOLVE provides a series of briefings for researchers with practical advice and help, as do many local Research Design Services. INVOLVE has distilled the following key practical messages: involve people as early as possible be clear with the people you want to involve be accessible resource public involvement in research offer training and support […]

When someone gets a mental health problem, they can change a lot as a person. Their relationships to people around also change and mood swings or difficult behaviour can take their toll on relationships. The carers we talked to agreed that compassion and love was crucially important when someone gets ill, and that good, supportive […]

There are many sources of information and (practical, emotional) support that young people with eczema talked about. These include: medical professionals – including for ‘skin camouflage services’ and referrals for professional counselling internet – websites, forums, discussion groups, social media, blogs (including eczema charities) leaflets and posters (in waiting rooms but also from eczema charities/groups) […]