Last week I had the pleasure to live illustrate NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) South London ‘s final Knowledge Exchange event, exploring how to do inclusive applied research in turbulent times. With the raise of hostile policies making the life of people within marginalised communities increasingly difficult (to put it mildly), including patients in research from design to implementation is as essential as ever. However, this shouldn’t be just a ticking box exercise. As sociologist & mixed media researcher Cassandra Lovelock so brilliantly articulated, “I can’t just package my lived experience to fit your research narrative”. We, as a society, need to learn to listen. True solidarity can only exist in spaces where all vulnerabilities are welcome to be expressed safely and flexibly, without the need to be edited for the status quo to remain unscathed.
Researcher Stan Papoulias brilliantly held the space to such important conversations and leading the way to meaningful system change and excellent integrated care. This is a new collaboration with Stan, with whom I worked on the PPI Webcomic project last year.
