Health Experiences

Through our health experiences research group, we research experiences of health and illness, interviewing people about what it's like to live with medical conditions such as cancer, heart failure and autism. We highlight how personal narratives can inform policy and improve services.

Findings from this qualitative, interview-based research are published in social science and clinical journals, and on HEXI - Health Experience Insights www.hexi.ox.ac.uk (which is owned and run by the Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences). 

Many of the clinical research studies across the department include an element of patient experience research, demonstrating our commitment to understanding and using patient experience in all areas of health and care delivery. For example, we are working on intervention development for the TASMIN5S trial to test a self-monitoring of blood pressure intervention for stroke and TIA patients.

As well as developing information and advice from patients for patients, health experience researchers in the department seek to shape health service delivery. A recent project, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), is currently seeking to understand how NHS frontline staff use different types of patient feedback to improve health services, and develop tools to help them make better use of this data.