‘Beyond the Tick Box’: Providing a Strategic Direction to Patient Involvement in Education

“My way of giving something back”: Patient and carer experiences of involvement in medical education

“…This may influence which individuals are recruited to take part, and what patients and carers discuss with students. Furthermore, the PPI Manager at Leeds has developed an induction programme, called the Patient Learning Journey which is intended to prepare and screen patients and carers for involvement to ensure that those involved are student-centred and at a point in their own health journey where they can have a positive role in medical education (O'Neill 2005, Morris et al 2010). This will therefpre limit which individuals are recruited, and consequently narrow the range of patient experiences students are exposed to.…”

“…These findings suggest involvement is not just what they do, but who they are as individuals. Issues of identity and representation are visible in other literature on patient involvement (O'Neill 2005, Rees et al 2007, Williamson 2007. There are concerns that those individuals attracted to involvement opportunities are rarely representative of the general population or locality.…”

“…There is an assumption that the majority of those involved are from white, middle class backgrounds and have prior experience and membership of committees and professional bodies. Furthermore, there is a perception that patients and carers who are heavily involved in teaching activities are out of touch with the concerns of ordinary patients, and there is the suspicion that their willingness to engage shows they have a particular 'axe to grind' (O'Neill 2005). This area is poorly addressed in the literature, although it would be reasonable to assume that patient and public involvement (PPI) initiatives in medical education experience the same difficulties as other organisations in involving a diverse range of people.…”

“…The language of involvement, collaboration and partnership became central to UK public policy following the election of New Labour in 1997 (Glendinning et al 2002, Powell andDowling, 2006) and came into focus again in the wake of the Francis report (Francis, 2012). In the UK this has led to an emphasis on patient and carer involvement in education, research and service development (Department of Health 1999, 2000, 2005. Whilst we acknowledge this is a UK study, patient involvement is a common feature of medical education internationally (Towle et al, 2010) which gives this study wider relevance.…”

“…The rationale behind many of these initiatives has been a belief that those individuals with personal experience of a medical condition are best placed to inform others (student practitioners, healthcare professionals, managers) about the day-to-day experience of living with; and being in receipt of treatment for that particular health condition (Department of Health 1999, 2005. There is also an assumption that, through involvement, patients and carers become more informed about their health and so manage their own care better, which consequently eases the economic pressures on the UK National Health Service (Coulter 1999).…”