ABSTRACT: Increasingly, experts as deemed by personal experience or mental health service
use, are involved in the education of nurses; however, accompanying research is limited and
focuses primarily on opinions of nurse educators and students. The aim of this study was to
develop an understanding of the potential contribution to mental health nursing education by
those with experience of mental health service use. The research was part of the international
COMMUNE (Co-production of Mental Health Nursing Education) project, established to
develop and evaluate co-produced mental health content for undergraduate nursing students. A
qualitative descriptive design was adopted with data collected through focus group interviews
in seven sites across Europe and Australia. Experts by experience (people with experience of
distress, service use, and recovery) co-produced the project in partnership with nursing
academics. Co-production enriched the process of data collection and facilitated the analysis of
data from multiple perspectives. Two themes are presented in this paper. The first focuses on
how experts by experience can enhance students’ understanding of recovery by seeing the
strengths inherent in the ‘human’ behind the diagnostic label. The second highlights the
importance of communication and self-reflection on personal values, where students can explore
their own thoughts and feelings about mental distress alongside those with lived experience.
Interacting with experts by experience in the classroom can assist in challenging stigmatizing
attitudes prior to nursing placements. These findings can be used to inform international
nursing curricula by increasing the focus on nursing skills valued by those who use the
services.
KEY WORDS: COMMUNE, co-production, expert by experience, mental health, mental health
nursing, service user.