DIPEx Home: Patient Experieces of health and illness, cancer, heart disease, screening

DIPEx is a registered charity no. 1087019 and a company limited by guarantee no. 4178865.

DIPEx was created by Dr Ann McPherson CBE and Dr Andrew Herxheimer after their own experiences of illness. Ann had been diagnosed with breast cancer and although she knew all the medical information, couldn't find anyone else to talk to about what it was really like to have the disease. This, and Andrew's experience of knee replacement surgery, prompted them to come up with the innovative idea of a patient experience website. A small group of people from various backgrounds were asked to join a Steering Group and after many meetings around Ann's kitchen table, the idea flourished with the help of Lion New Media (part of Lion Television).

A pilot site was launched in July 2001 with the hypertension and prostate cancer sites. Since then we have redeveloped the website extensively and added many new illnesses/conditions.

The charity has raised funding from a variety of sources (see Credits), including the Department of Health, Macmillan Cancer Relief, British Heart Foundation, Lord Ashdown Trust and many others. DIPEx does not accept funding from drug companies or have commercial advertising on the site.

www.dipex.org is aimed not only at patients, their carers, family and friends but as a teaching resource for health professionals. The website contains interviews with everyday people about their own experiences of serious illness, health problems or health related matters.

The site also provides reliable information about each illness, condition or health issue e.g. What is Cancer? or What is the treatment for…?, and there are answers to frequently asked questions and questions that have been raised during the interviews.

The site is a unique resource and one that we want to extend to include 100 important diseases, as well as health related matters such as pregnancy screening, immunisation, children of parents with cancer and chronic illness, amongst others.

Our Aims

To share the experience of illness or a health problem and to provide support for patients and carers who may feel that they are on their own.
Answer the questions and problems that matter to people when they are ill or have a health-related problem and to help them make informed decisions about their healthcare.
Provide reliable, evidence-based information about illnesses or advice on health problems
Be an educational resource for health professionals
Promote better communication between patients and health professionals

The DIPEx charity funds the DIPEx Research Group based in the Department of Primary Care, University of Oxford. This group carries out the majority of research published on the site, although we do work in collaboration with other Universities and organisations. The DIPEx Research Group is headed by Dr Ann McPherson, Medical Director and Sue Ziebland, Research Director and currently has 15 staff based within the department.

How Do We Do The Research (The Methodology)

Bibliography

DIPEx has put together a bibliography of relevant books and papers on personal experiences of illness and narrative methodology. Click [here] to download a PDF version. Please note this document is 48 pages and may take some time to download.