John has observed that engaging patients as partners in research is new for some researchers and may involve a learning curve

Transcript

I think then you start to realize that – so for me what it does, is it creates empathy for the researchers. Because part of the movement to patient engagement – and I also see it in the little course that I helped to facilitate and tell my story about at the UofT for patient-centred care, is that often times we’re so busy attempting to do things and we’re rushing to deadlines that as soon as somebody throws something new into the works it’s like, ‘oh my God’. You know? And I just got turned down for this research grant and I’ve got to do this one and I’ve got a deadline for here, and now you’re telling me I have to figure out who this person is? So I think what it does for me, it creates a little more insight and a little more empathy in the process to say, okay. So how do I address that and if I really want to be engaged and I want to be part of this process, but I want it to be in a valid way, so I want to be a real contributor. How do I let the researcher know that I understand some of the hurdles they’re going through as a way of creating dialogue and a little more empathy?

 

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