Patient Expert Advisors: Moms with Lived Experience

We’re excited that we’re finally ready to introduce our first group of amazing Patient Expert Advisors to the MMHRC community. Late last fall we put out a call for moms to join MMHRC and put their insight as patients to good use. We learned a lot from interviewing applicants. These conversations helped to set the tone for our mom-powered research priorities for 2018.

What is a Patient Expert Advisor?

Patient Expert Advisors are women with lived experience with a maternal mental illness that are looking for ways to get involved that go beyond support groups and fundraising. While these are both important tasks, we know that moms are a huge untapped source of knowledge. Many are just waiting for opportunities to improve mental health care for other women. Others want to be involved in clinical and applied research along with advocacy and reducing stigma. Because MMHRC is a peer-led, patient-centered initiative, we made sure that we purposely created space for their involvement from day one.

What Does a Patient Expert Advisor Do?

The role of our Patient Expert Advisors is two fold. They help represent MMHRC in their social circles, both online and in their communities. They may do a lot of social sharing of our content and act as ambassadors for MMHRC. These Mamas also share their stories of recovery. This is their most important task – using their lived experience to help make mental health care better. They’re also our first go-to for feedback and involvement in research projects, product testing, and other opportunities that come our way. You’ll be able to read about their journeys here on the blog and get to know each of them a bit better.

Meet Our Moms

Blog posts written by our moms will be published weekly and linked directly back here. Take the time to read their stories!

• Celeste Chapko
• Lisa Tremayne
• Heidi Stamper
• Patricia Tomasi
• Sarah Kotranza
• Sam Nenninger
• Kristina Dulaney
• Kat Schuknecht
• Leah Anderson

How Do I Become a Patient Expert Advisor?

We’ll put out another call for more Patient Expert Advisors later in 2018. Keep checking the blog regularly or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!