Credibility and the ‘professionalized’ lay expert: Reflections on the dilemmas and opportunities of public involvement in health research
Abstract
Contemporary health policy in England places increasing emphasis on patient and public involvement (PPI) in health and health research. With regard to the latter, it has been suggested that PPI brings ‘different’ perspectives to research decision-making spaces, based on what has been referred to as ‘experiential expertise’. This article presents findings from a qualitative study of PPI in cancer research settings in England. We argue that participants highlighted specific forms of expertise in their accounts about involvement, above and beyond experiential expertise, which they felt legitimated their claims to be credible participants within cancer research settings. We report here on the various strategies by which participants sought to accomplish this and highlight, in particular, a concomitant process of ‘professionalization’ of some within our group of participants. We discuss the significance of these findings in the context of recent debates around the status of experiential expertise.
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Professionalisation may lead contributors to support rather than challenge researchers, highlighting the difficulty of integrating lay expertise while preserving its independent, critical perspective, particularly in long-term projects.
“As noted by Thompson et al. [44] professionalisation may lead contributors to support rather than challenge researchers, highlighting the difficulty of integrating lay expertise while preserving its independent, critical perspective, particularly in long-term projects.”
From Layering perspectives: a structured approach to meaningful patient and public involvement and engagement in the RETURN dental trial (2026) · cites this paper as [44]
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“As noted by Thompson et al. [44] professionalisation may lead contributors to support rather than challenge researchers, highlighting the difficulty of integrating lay expertise while preserving its independent, critical perspective, particularly in long-term projects.”
- Authors
- Thompson, J., Bissell, P., Cooper, C., Armitage, C. J., & Barber, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Sheffield (GB)
- University of Sheffield, UK
- Venue
- Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2012-04-25
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 602-618
- ISSN
- 1363-4593 (ISSN-L)
- 1461-7196
- OpenAlex
- W2141113773
- Cited by
- 111
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 9
- FWCI
- 10.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Health An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health Illness and Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (publishedVersion)
- University of Huddersfield Repository (University of Huddersfield) (submittedVersion)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mental Health and Patient Involvement
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Community Health and Development
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Policy Implementation Science
- Keywords
- patient and public involvement, experiential expertise, lay expertise, professionalization, credibility, cancer research, research decision-making, health policy
- MeSH terms
- England, Expert Testimony, Humans, Neoplasms, Self Concept, Qualitative Research, Community-Based Participatory Research
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