Clare Dawson

Clare works with various organisations that all share the same aims: supporting people living with illness, encouraging parity in the professional/patient relationship, and striving for a system that recognises people as more than their diagnoses. Through her work with Bridges as a Lived Experience Associate, Shine Cancer Support as a Network Leader and at Age UK as a Befriender she has seen first hand the power of co-production, personalised care and peer support. Clare has been part of various co-produced pieces of research in healthcare and has delivered teaching sessions for undergraduates on the self-management of long-term conditions. She is keen to advocate for a patient centred approach not just in healthcare services but in both the research and education sectors. Clare is a cancer survivor and lives with a progressive respiratory condition, and as such can offer an insight into both the experience of living with illness and the challenges involved in being a patient representative within the healthcare system.