Lived experience

[Thinkingaloud85]

Just say experience.
Grrr

Imagine saying "unlived experience" lol

I disagree. Lived experience is always first-hand and personal, relating to very specific situations. Experience is broad and can be second-hand and even relate to third-hand study of those situations. A cancer patient has lived experience of cancer, but a nurse (who has not had cancer) has experience of treating others and/or of cancer in their life outside of work. Lived experience came along as a term because experience was too broad and being used a catch all. I’ve worked in health and community services and was there when the term was first introduced, so this is my understanding and I think it still stands.

That doesn’t make sense - the nurse’s experience is still lived - as a nurse.

It’s also often used to shut opinion down.

All experience is lived though?

It would be far clearer and simpler (in my opinion) to say:

”In my experience as a cancer patient…”
or
”Speaking from experience as a cancer nurse…”

I absolutely cannot stand this expression! Makes no sense.

The nurse's experience is of treating people with cancer. The patient's experience is of living with cancer. The term makes sense. Is it often shutting opinion down or prioritising historically shut-down opinions?

I've never seen it used to shut other people down - that's horrible. I'm glad I've never come across it.

It does make sense - I gave the example of cancer, not of nursing. I'm not a nurse, but I have experience of nursing as I have been nursed and worked alongside nurses. Only nurses have lived experience of nursing. Can you see the difference I am trying to explain here?

Thank you - totally agree with you. I have never experienced (ha!) people using the phrase to shut down others, but I have seen it happen the other way around, that people use their 'experience' to override those who have much more significant experience of something (i.e. have literally lived it).

One has had experience of "being a nurse"
One has experience of "having cancer"

It's the verb that gives experience. Not the noun.

No one is being metaphysical here and saying that any experience is something that people don't live through, that's not the point at all. That's just daft.

Sure it would be simpler, but no one talks like that in real life do they? They go for shorthand and almost everyone, everywhere, all of the time says: "In my experience..." they don't add extra qualifiers, which is why the term was first coined, because people WITHOUT lived experience were often overriding those who DID have that experience.

To be honest, this whole thread explains why it is a valid and important term.

It's not that simple. Someone can have experience of 'having nursed' someone - and either be a nurse or not.

It's also tautology

As is so much in life.

Yes but it's still the verb not the noun

I'm not sure. If someone told me they had experience of nursing I would understand that to mean they've trained and/or worked as a nurse. Do you mean you have experience of working with nurses? Or you have experience of being cared for by nurses? Or professional expertise about the nursing profession?

"As is so much in life."

Not sure what kind of argument that is

Also the nursing one is not the same as being nursed. One is active and one is passive.

A fairly obvious one.

Obvious? Or cryptic?

And I totally agree that it is frequently used to shut down arguments. "You can't talk about this issue because you have no lived experience"

The term 'lived experience' has a value you appear to have missed. It represents a phenomenological basis to challenge the hierarchy of formal or quantitative knowledge which has previously dominated certain areas of activity.

I have experience of mental illness. That experience is professional and theoretical. I haven't experienced it first hand. I work with people who have lived experience of significant mental illness to improve our service user experience, because they can give me insight that cannot be gained without having experienced it first hand.

Indeed, and the trend is to employ those with lived experience as professionals and theoreticians themselves.

I refer you to my previous comment @BrickBiscuit

But couldn't you just say 'people who have had significant mental illness '?