Date : 10 September 2026 (Thu)
Time : 12-1pm
Format : Hybrid
Venue : Room 532, 5/F, The Jockey Club Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
Registration link : https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=109107

Abstract:

Lived experience leadership is increasingly promoted across health and social care, but what does it actually mean to lead through lived experience?
This seminar will examine contemporary approaches to lived experience leadership, exploring examples of what it looks like in the context of health policy, health services, health research, and health education. I will discuss power relations that can shape who gets to lead, and whose knowledge counts.
Drawing on research from our lab, I’ll consider some of the challenges of moving beyond tokenistic participation towards forms of leadership in which people with lived experience have genuine influence over research, policy and practice.

About the speaker:

Dr Brett Scholz is an Associate Professor in the School of Medicine and Psychology at the Australian National University. He does not work from a lived experience perspective himself, but his research focuses on lived experience leadership. Most of this work has examined what it would look like to have a lived experience led mental health sector – but his research programme has also explored how the principles of lived experience leadership might be applied in other domains (including palliative care, intensive care, marginalised and minoritised groups). His work examines how lived experience can be recognised as a form of expertise and how power can be redistributed within research and health systems. Brett is Vice Chair of the International Society of Critical Health Psychology, Deputy Editor of the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing and Associate Editor of Qualitative Health Research.

Please contact Mr. Sam Lee at snslee@hku.hk for any enquiries