New National Lived Experience Awareness Day launched

A new National Lived Experience Awareness Day in Ireland was launched on 15 October. The event aims to promote the voices of people with lived experience being at the core of how services are designed and delivered. This first ever national day brought together agencies and organisations to highlight the value of lived experience. National Lived Experience Awareness Day will become an annual event on 15 October going forward.

The day was led by the HSE, with the support of the Department of Health, and in collaboration with the Strengthening Lived Experience Programme (a partnership between the HSE, Genio, and the Housing Agency).

Lived experience expertise is the unique wisdom gained through directly experiencing significant challenges – such as mental health difficulties, social exclusion, disability, or homelessness. While everyone experiences adversity, lived experience expertise comes from navigating life-changing challenges and using that insight to shape better services. The National Lived Experience Awareness Day recognises, celebrates, and promotes this expertise across health, social, and housing services.

All departments, organisations, and programmes are encouraged to promote lived experience expertise in their work. They are urged to:

• Make the voices and experiences of people with lived experience a core part of how services are designed and delivered.
• Build on or begin new ways of including lived experience in service activities and decision-making.
• Work together to make services stronger, more inclusive, and more effective.

Michael Ryan, Head of Mental Health Engagement and Recovery, HSE, said: “Lived and living experience is about the authentic voice of the person. It is the story of what happened to the person, not what is wrong with them.

“When we accept and understand those stories, it becomes a powerful piece of knowledge that can transform systems, attitudes, and above all people’s lives for the better. The value of this expertise is now firmly recognised within contemporary mental health, social, and housing services.

“Over the past eight years, Mental Health Engagement has been an invaluable resource in bringing that experience into service improvement and new recovery innovation within our mental health services.”

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