Exploring the value of involving experts-by-experience in social work research: experiences from Slovenia and the UK

ABSTRACT

The evidence base for the methodological validity of conducting participatory research is becoming established. This article reviews the experiences of two researchers undertaking Ph.D. studies in Slovenia and UK, respectively, and considers the value of involving service users and carers in social work research. The Slovenian research involved user-researchers who developed research tools and undertook qualitative research. The first author explores the co-researchers’ impact on the research process and its outcomes, identifying both individual and collective empowerment of the co-researchers. The English study involved people from diverse backgrounds, who developed a recovery training programme for carers of people with schizophrenia. The second author describes how the steering group, and the carers who participated in the programme were impacted by the research process and experienced a sense of empowerment and how they influenced the development of new knowledge through the reflexive cycle. The authors draw out the commonalities and differences in our research that add to the existing evidence base supporting the development of participatory inquiry. We conclude by affirming the value of user participation in research in leading to the empowerment of users, the development of new research perspectives, and in contributing to theory in social work research and practice.

POVZETEK

Vključevanje ljudi z osebnimi izkušnjami v raziskovanje se vse bolj uveljavlja. Članek je pregled dveh raziskav, izvedenih v okviru doktorskih disertacij v Sloveniji in Združenem kraljestvu, ki prikažeta pomembnost vključevanja ljudi z osebnimi izkušnjami v raziskovanje v socialnem delu. Slovenska raziskava vključuje uporabniško raziskovanje: ljudje z osebnimi izkušnjami so razvili raziskovalni proces in izvedli kvalitativno raziskavo. Prva avtorica tega članka prikaže vpliv sodelovalnih raziskovalcev na raziskovalni proces in rezultate raziskovanja s prikazom tako individualne kot kolektivne krepitve moči udeleženih raziskovalcev, poleg tega pa pojasni, kako uporabniško raziskovanje pripomore k novemu znanju. Britanska študija pa vključuje ljudi iz različnimi socialnih okolij, ki so razvili program okrevanja za svojce ljudi s shizofrenijo. Druga avtorica tega članka predstavi, kako je raziskovalni proces vplival na kontrolno skupino in svojce, ki so sodelovali v programu. Pokaže, kako so udeleženci kontrolne skupine in svojci doživeli krepitev lastne moči in kako so vplivali na razvoj znanja s pomočjo refleksije. Avtorici predstavita tako podobnosti kot razlike v njunih raziskavah in pokažeta, kako nova vednost, ki je rezultat njunega dela, pripomore k razvoju sodelovalnega raziskovanja. Članek skleneva s trditvijo, da vključevanje ljudi z osebnimi izkušnjami v raziskovanje vodi v krepitev moči teh ljudi, razvija nove perspektive v raziskovanju in plemeniti teorijo in prakso socialnega dela.

KEYWORDS:

• Social work
• research
• mental health
• user involvement
• participatory inquiry

KLJUČNE BESEDE:

• socialno delo
• raziskovanje
• duševno zdravje
• vključevanje uporabnikov
• sodelovalno raziskovanje

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Petra Videmšek, Ph.D. is assistant at Faculty of social work, University of Ljubljana. My main research interests are social inclusion in the field of mental health and disability, involvement of service users in research and education, social inequalities experienced by people with disabilities, and advocacy work with disabled people or those who have mental health difficulties who have experienced sexual abuse, and supervision in social work.

Dr Joanna Fox is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Anglia Ruskin University. I have my own experiences of recovery from mental ill-health as a service user and a commitment to involving people who have used services and their carers in social work education and research. Current interests are in the development of recovery education training programmes for carers of people with mental ill-health, specifically focusing on blended learning approaches.

Additional information

Funding

Travel expenses to support carers to attend the training course and for carers and service users involved in the steering group in the English Ph.D. study was provided by Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK.