Assessing the influence of lived-experience experts on healthcare providers in a virtual community of practice: a qualitative study.
Weaver, Stephanie Sargent, Carry, Monique, Bertolli, Jeanne et al.·Frontiers in health services·2025
This study looked at whether having patients with lived experience of Long COVID and ME/CFS help teach doctors made a real difference in patient care. Researchers tracked what these patient-experts recommended to doctors through online training sessions from 2022-2024, and then asked actual patients if their doctors seemed to apply that advice. The main recommendations focused on validating patients' experiences, showing empathy, helping with referrals, and supporting self-care. Patients reported noticing positive changes in how their doctors treated them, suggesting that including patient-experts in medical education actually works.