Profiles

Here, you can find any of the interviews on this site.



Helena

Helena has a long-term health condition. She first became involved in research as a participant, then as a patient advisor. She went on to do a PhD in health research and became a user-researcher.

  • Background

    Helena is a user-researcher. Ethnic background: White British.

  • Age at interview 43
  • Sex/Gender Female
  • Sharon

    After her daughter was diagnosed with arthritis, Sharon became involved in setting up a support charity for children. She successfully applied to become a consumer representative on the Medicines for Children Research Network and has been providing a parent's perspective on health and medical research for about five years.

  • Background

    Sharon is married and has three children, aged 13, 11 and 7. She currently works in education in a clinical research facility at a university, but previously was a research...

  • Age at interview 44
  • Sex/Gender Female
  • Peter

    Peter became involved as a patient advocate after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He has been doing patient and public involvement in health and medical research for about eight years.

  • Background

    Peter is married. He formerly worked as a business consultant, providing training and consultancy to large technology companies.

  • Age at interview 56
  • Sex/Gender Male
  • Helen

    Helen started doing PPI about eight years ago. She provides a lay perspective in health and medical research as well as in improving service delivery for patients.

  • Background

    Helen lives with her partner. She previously worked as an educational researcher, but recently began working as a Patient Experience Project Lead within the NHS. Ethnic background: White British.

  • Age at interview 41
  • Sex/Gender Female
  • Andrew

    Andrew became a lay member on a local research network board after responding to an advertisement in a national newspaper. He thought it would be a good use of his time and the skills he had gained in his career.

  • Background

    Andrew is retired, but he used to work as a teacher before he became assistant director of children’s services. He is married. Ethnic background: White British.

  • Age at interview 64
  • Sex/Gender Male
  • Jennifer

    Jennifer has been involved as a patient and public representative in health research for about five years. She became involved after she began caring for her mother when she developed dementia.

  • Background

    Jennifer is married and has two children, aged 38 and 36. She is a housewife. Ethnic background: Welsh/Jewish.

  • Age at interview 58
  • Sex/Gender Female
  • Anthony

    Anthony has been involved in health research as a lay representative for about seven years. He started off by volunteering as a research participant and was then invited to join groups as a PPI representative.

  • Background

    Anthony is a retired teacher and education inspector. He has two children aged 43 and 41. Ethnic background: White British.

  • Age at interview 77
  • Sex/Gender Male
  • Brin

    Brin has been involved in PPI in health research for about seven years. He became involved after he had a stroke.

  • Background

    Brin is married with three children, aged 26, 24 and 23. He worked as a secondary school teacher and took early retirement after a stroke. Ethnic background: White/British.

  • Age at interview 54
  • Sex/Gender Male
  • Hazel

    Hazel has been involved in health research as a lay representative for about 6 years. She joined the Medicines for Children Research Network after beginning a long-term campaign to encourage the health service to provide syringes for parents for administering medication to children.

  • Background

    Hazel is married and has three children, aged 36, 31 and 29. She works voluntarily with a charity for children with heart conditions and their families. Ethnic background: Caucasian/European.

  • Age at interview 67
  • Sex/Gender Female
  • Fenella

    Fenella became a PPI representative after taking part in a research project. She works with a local Mental Health Research Network and has been involved in designing and planning research proposals.

  • Background

    Fenella is single and works as a clinical audit assistant in a mental health NHS trust. Ethnic background: White South African

  • Age at interview 41
  • Sex/Gender Female