The Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) featured Dr. Erin Michalak and CREST.BD in the latest issue of SPARK, a quarterly publication that uses digital storytelling to share the impact of MSFHR and the people and projects the organisation funds. This Spring issue of SPARK was dedicated to exploring patient engagement by looking at some of the ways researchers, care providers, and even funding agencies are empowering patients to shape health research and practice.

The article describes the evolution of CREST.BD, and team leader Michalak’s growing awareness that lived experience expertise needed to underpin all of the network’s research and knowledge exchange activities.

“Personal accounts were more than just subjective evidence – they were a road map pointing to a better way of doing research.”

The article goes on to describe the multiple hats CREST.BD team members often wear.

“We have people who are academics who live with bipolar disorder, clinicians who live with bipolar disorder, and then there are people who come in purely from a lived-experience perspective,” she says. “So even within that core group, there’s real diversity in the types of expertise they provide.”

Another group that has been vital to the network’s success is a growing cohort of “peer researchers” – individuals with bipolar disorder who play a key role in setting the research agenda. “Erin will ask us for advice on what we think is best, and she really lets us guide where the initial research question comes from,” says Natasha Kolida, a CREST.BD peer researcher.

Thank you to MSFHR for featuring our work and the stories of others engaged in the culture shift towards participatory research. Read the full article, and the other stories in this issue of SPARK, here.