ABSTRACT

The Converge Evaluation and Research Team (CERT) is a group of UK-based researchers with lived experience of mental health difficulties. There is growing international pressure from major research funders that research projects should be co-produced with those people being researched. This article explores how CERT researchers have sought to achieve such allyship in their work across five projects, including choosing user-friendly interview methods such as photographs and music; allowing participants to decide on language; deciding which areas of research should be prioritised; and training participants in interviewing so that they can interview alongside CERT researchers. Across the projects described here, it emerged that small talk between the CERT researcher and the participant prior to, and during the interview – in particular, the sharing of mutual experiences of living with mental health difficulties – appears to be extremely important to creating allyship between them. Creating allyship is an important component of ensuring participants ultimately benefit from the research through greater validity of, and increased real-world relevance of, the findings. The author identifies as having lived experience of mental health difficulties and considers allyship from the dual perspective of both having lived experience and as a researcher.

摘要

Converge 评估和研究团队 (CERT) 是一群在英国拥有心理健康困难生活经验的研究人员。来自主要研究资助者的国际压力越来越大，要求研究项目应该与被研究的人共同制作。本文探讨了 CERT 研究人员如何通过五个项目在他们的工作中寻求实现这种联盟，包括选择用户友好的采访方法，如照片和音乐；允许参与者决定语言；决定应优先考虑哪些研究领域；并培训参与者进行面试，以便他们可以与 CERT 研究人员一起面试。在此处描述的项目中，CERT 研究人员和参与者在采访之前和期间进行了闲聊——特别是，分享精神健康困难的共同经历——对于在他们之间建立联盟似乎极其重要。建立盟友关系是确保参与者通过提高研究结果的有效性和提高研究结果的现实世界相关性最终从研究中受益的重要组成部分。作者将心理健康困难确定为有生活经历，并从生活经历和研究人员的双重角度考虑结盟。