Lived Experience Expertise

Recruit lived experience expertise to your project

People with lived experience have expertise and experience that cannot be replicated by researchers and clinicians.  Lived-Experience insight and viewpoint can help researchers, clinicians and research programs develop, complete, and communicate their work in a way that resonates with those to whom it matters most.

Lived experience inclusion in research can come in many forms:

• Study participant: Individuals can participate in a study as a participant.  This may include answering surveys or attending focus groups.  The time commitment might be a single survey, or a series of interviews, and may change depending on the study. 
• Lived experience partner: Individuals can become a lived experience partner, joining the research team as an expert in their own right, and help with project design, implementation and dissemination. This may take more time commitment and can vary study to study. 
• Insight and Governance: Individuals can contribute to the research landscape by sitting on committees, participating in peer review, or telling their story.  This may not be project specific, may be an ongoing commitment, or mabe a one-time thing.

The Kidney Foundation of Canada, as well as many other funding organizations, encourages the inclusion of lives experience partners in research projects.  Lived experience partners may be included in all applications to The Kidney Foundation of Canada in any applicant category (except nominal principal applicant), and researchers are encouraged to consider how lived experience partners may add expertise and dynamic to their research teams.

Lived experience partners should be compensated for their participation in research.

If you are a researcher looking for lived experience participants or partners and you are unsure where to start, we encourage you to check out the following resources, or reach out directly to our research department.

Share a Study or recruit lived experience partners

If you are a researcher interested in sharing a study looking for participants or lived experience partnership on The Kidney Foundation of Canada website or through KidneyLink, please complete the following form and return it to [email protected]:  
Study Dissemination Application Form

KidneyLink  

The Kidney Foundation of Canada has partnered with the Can-SOLVE CKD network to launch KidneyLink, a user-friendly portal where those with lived experience can search for opportunities to get involved, learn about new research findings, and access research training and resources.  

Visit KidneyLink to see what it has in store for you.