The roots of this work

This work has roots

LX work has roots in many overlapping traditions.

These include, but are not limited to, psychiatric survivors, recovery, MadPride, service user/consumer, family/carer, harm reduction, peer advocacy, disability justice, Indigenous self-determination, human rights, and participatory research.

In mental health, people with direct experience of psychiatric systems have long challenged being treated only as patients, cases, risks or diagnoses. In alcohol and other drugs, the practices of recovery, harm reduction and drug user activism have challenged systems to listen to people who use drugs, people in recovery and affected communities. In suicide prevention and postvention, people with lived and living experience have pushed services, systems and society to respond with greater humanity, safety, nuance and accountability.

The language has shifted over time: psychiatric patient, service user, consumer, survivor, carer, family, peer, lived experience, living experience, affected others, lived expertise.

Each term carries history, politics and context.

Co-production also has diverse roots.

The term was coined by Elinor Ostrom and colleagues in the 1970s and later shaped by Edgar Cahn’s work on the ‘core economy’, alongside influences from co-design and community development.

The LX Lens does not try to settle every language debate. It starts with a practical question:

What knowledge is needed for this project, who holds it, and how can they meaningfully shape the work?