The Polio Survivor as Expert: Implications for Rehabilitation Nursing Research

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Abstract
Clients' personal experiences with illness or tragedy can uniquely qualify them as experts in many research‐relevant content areas. Nurse researchers can benefit from this expertise by involving such clients in important decision‐making aspects of research planning. The advantages of consulting with client‐experts in the early and subsequent stages of research are discussed in this article, which uses as an example the way such consultation has worked in the development of a study of coping in polio survivors. Consultation with client‐experts is especially appropriate when research involves sensitive issues or the measurement of subjects at vulnerable periods in their lives. It is advocated as a means of helping to ensure that participants are questioned in the most ethical, sensitive way possible and that the research will address the needs and concerns of the target population.

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