Lived-Experience Interventions

Lived-experience interventions were associated with improved help-seeking attitudes, with a pooled pre-post effect size of SMD 0.62. In controlled comparisons, face-to-face lived-experience formats showed no statistically significant superiority over video-based or standard placement comparators. The evidence for lived-experience interventions is rated as low certainty due to very high heterogeneity across studies. Lived-experience interventions may work by disrupting the power asymmetry between patient and professional and demonstrating that recovery is achievable. When the lived-experience presenter is a practicing physician, their story provides concrete evidence that a medical career is compatible with having a mental illness. Video-based lived-experience formats are considered a viable scalable alternative to face-to-face delivery.