Meet the HEER group — Rita Dawson

Rita Dawson is a member of the HEER group, which consists of a diverse group of laypeople who provide feedback and guidance to researchers on making their studies more accessible and understandable. She’s been involved for 9 years, particularly interested in mental health issues, especially for older adults. Rita advocates for more research into how to better treat depression and anxiety in older people, emphasizing the barriers they face in accessing help and the stigma they may encounter. She also values the group’s approach to making research less academic and more relatable to the public.

Tell us about the HEER Group, what is it really?

It’s a group of lay people with an interest in research who provide advice and guidance to researchers about their research ideas.

The good thing about the group is that there are a range of age groups from different walks of lives with their own experiences to share. We can all input in our own way so you get a variety of opinions. You learn from other people, from their views and find out things you never thought of.

Usually one or two invited researchers come to present their research to us about what they’re trying to do and get some feedback on that. They might also get ideas about other places they can go with their study to get further input and ideas. We get a range of people coming – e.g. PhD students to see if their idea is feasible and if translates to real life.

I think for researchers there are so many formal hoops for them to jump thorough, but every study needs to be accessible and understood by the people who are going to participate. Sometimes the research can be very academic or clinical and we’re a bit baffled and need to unpick it. The group tries to understand exactly what they’re trying to do. This might involve looking at the terminology or wordy phrases. I think that’s where we come in – we bring it down to the public level.

If the public are taking part in the research, then they need to be on board with it. A group like this needs to be involved from conception really.

How long have you been a member of the HEER group? And why?

I’ve been a member for 9 years. When I retired I was looking for something different and interesting to do. Some other HEER members told me about the group so I came along; it was good to be able to observe a couple of meetings before joining to see what it was like. I’ve had mental health problems so I have a vested interest in this too.

The group felt useful and worthwhile and there was an end game which I liked – it wasn’t just a nice chat for 2 hours – I felt like I could contribute meaningfully.

I like the way the meetings are run – it’s business-like but there’s an informality too; not heavy and it strikes the right balance of being enjoyable and interesting.

Do you think there’s a study subject that the HEER hasn’t seen yet?

I don’t think there have been many glaring omissions, but we haven’t seen much research in older people. With an ageing population and mental health affecting old people e.g. problems that loneliness brings such as depression and anxiety, I think there should be more research in this area.

I feel like there’s not enough weight given to this group.

What areas of mental health research particularly interests you?

I’d like to see more research into the best way to treat old people with depression and anxiety. It would be good to see what’s most effective at treating people e.g. one to one therapy or group therapy. I’m interested in looking at how to break down barriers and removing stigma for older people accessing help for mental health. It would be good to increase awareness and perhaps understanding of these issues.

I feel like it’s harder for older people to access help and talk to other people about it e.g. it’s different where younger people might use social media for support. It doesn’t seem that it’s a topic that’s been talked about much.

Finally (this question may be due to our former Patient Research Ambassador being nearly as passionate about cake as she is research, but not quite), what is your favourite cake?

This is an easy one – lemon drizzle. Every time!

More information on HEER:

If you are interested in getting into research at LYPFT, either as a researcher or a service user, please visit Research and Development. If there are questions that you would like to ask the HEER group, please include in the comments below – you may see your question in our next news article.

Thank you to Rita for sharing her time and for being a valued member of the Help from Experts by Experience for Researchers group.