by Kate Johnston-Ataata, Dave Peters, Nicholas Hill, Jacinthe Flore and Renata Kokanovi

People’s stories or personal accounts of health and illness experiences online are becoming increasingly important in relation to how we think about, make use of, and design health care services. For other people experiencing similar conditions who may be trying to make sense of a new diagnosis, seek information about symptoms, or make decisions about treatment and care, accessing other people’s lived experiences online can be helpful as a complement to clinical health information. Health service providers and policymakers also value people’s health and illness experiences online as a source of evidence about what is and isn’t working in healthcare systems. One noteworthy aspect of personal accounts of health conditions online is that they reveal the ‘messiness’ of lived experiences of health and illness vis à vis neat clinical diagnostic criteria or treatment guidelines. Stories highlight the prevalence of experiencing one or more health conditions at the same time, and in particular the inseparability of experiences of mental and physical health, a critical issue for people with a diagnosis of mental illness whose physical health experiences and needs are often overlooked.
In this talk, Kate Johnston-Ataata will introduce Healthtalk Australia (HTA), the leading research-based online repository of personal accounts of health and illness experiences in Australia and briefly outline its objectives and approach to collecting and disseminating personal stories online. Next, Dave Peters, a participant in the ‘Mental Health and Supported Decision Making’ HTA project, will reflect on sharing his lived experiences online and the interconnections between physical and mental health in his own story. The presenters will then discuss key findings from the ‘Mental Health and Supported Decision Making’ project relating to the intersection of mental and physical health, and offer suggestions for future research and online resource development on this important but neglected topic.