My background in clinical practice is a significant part of my LEE story. Clinical Medicine practitioners in many parts of the world serve as a primary point of contact with patients and in other regions are referred to and serve as physician assistants. Further specializing in generalist Public Health opened me up to research and scientific inquiry which I would say I took with some bias. I will tell of my journey – shaped by thousands of mental health patients I served, personal breakdowns, the master’s program, and the opportunity to be part of GALENOS.
What did GALENOS look like?
If being thought-defensive is a thing, then I was! I came in with the assertiveness of top research projects and experience I have been involved in (some of which are mental health projects) and was ready to design tools, policy handouts, and things like that. There was nothing about what did I feel? How did I handle that issue? What was the cost? Basically, I never thought much of how my experience, which matches millions of others, could shape their management, implementation, and even policy.
GALENOS proffered a chance to speak from a lived experience, bring real-life to research, more like a ‘tone-up’ of the traditional mental health research. As someone with wholesome lived experience and a passion for equitable mental health research, being part of the GALENOS project ensured that the voices of those directly affected shape the future of mental health science. Through every subsequent involvement, I learnt, I got getter, and most importantly, my life shaped a life.
The prioritization model for the GALENOS studies must still be one of the most interactive sessions I had with myself and with colleagues. The deep questioning, need for sensitive responding, and the leaning to logical alignment that went into every element is spectacular. Transposing contributions from LEEs, project leads, and members of the GLEAB weaved a seamless tapestry of evidence for the global repository and project. Every single meet-up, submission, and email adding to knowledge through experience was exciting! GALENOS remains a significant milestone in my career and mental health journey. Mental health research has found an earmark likely to spring forth a whole lot of impact today and in years to come. It counts to now know that people affected by a certain medical disorder develop a certain level of expertise and now, through GALENOS, we can fetch this wealth of experience, knowledge and experience into a global scientific and evidence-based pool for mental health.
Looking Ahead
I love to draw from the life of the Jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii) to which science acclaims biological immortality and liken GALENOS to it. Lived experience research is not new but even then, the model applied by GALENOS makes it unique and “scientifically immortal”. Uniquely, GALENOS is characterized by Lived Systematic Reviews, FAIR (Found, Accessible, Integrated, Reuseable) principle, and global catchment offering longevity, efficiency, and adaptability. More lived experience research is certainly needed and we can all agree to that GALENOS is ground-breaking and ground-shaping in mental health.