Table 1.

Patients’/caregivers’ perspectives about their involvement in HPE: themes and supporting quotations

Theme	Supporting Quotation
Patient involvement in the education of HCPs is challenging because of power-differentials between themselves and HCPs	There are some healthcare professionals who regard [patient involvement in HPE] as an opportunity, but there are many others who sort of say, well, what qualifications does a patient have to provide feedback on that and tell us what to do? A patient can’t tell the professional what to do, but they may have some say in how they do it. (P15) I think, sometimes, you know, there is a bit of a power dynamic, where, obviously, I’m not trained in medical education, but I think my opinion is valid and my views are valid, and I think there is a place for always being open to hearing from different perspectives. (P01) I think also that it’s sometimes hard to get patients and people around them to contribute because they have a preconceived notion that the trained healthcare providers know better and more than what they do and so they’re reluctant to give their input. (P16)
Patient involvement in the education of HCPs requires patient training	You have to be armed with some skill, and how to speak to a senior...You have to have the right candidate [patient] to be involved in educating HCPs (P09) There’s a kind of power-imbalance in the sense that you’re asking for help from someone who has particular training and occupies a particular role, and it’s a bit intimidating. Unless you’ve got some prior working relationship with that person…[it’s] very hard to do. Involving patients in the education of healthcare professionals is going to require some preparation of those patient partners. (P15)
Patient involvement in the education of HCPs needs to start early in the HCPs’ education process	When you bring in a patient on your very first day of five years of residency, it sends a very different message about the role that patients play in your medical education than if you just throw them in half way through ...So, I think we need to start early and normalize it. (P02) If you’re saying that patients are at the of everything we do, it has to be taken further to the education aspect because, in the education of healthcare workers, it’s better for them to learn before they get out and develop some bad habits. The only way to create a new healthcare system is involving them [patients] in an updated educational plan. (P05)
Patient involvement in the education of HCPs can improve patient-HCP partnerships	I feel more empowered when I’m in that [patient involvement] setting because I really feel like I’m being heard, I’m being understood, and I feel like it’s a two-directional conversation that we’re having... and the dialogue is much warmer. I feel like I have a better relationship and partnership with them [medical students]. (P24) We are probably at a stage now in many healthcare organizations where there is the opportunity for patients and family members to express their views, but I think that this relationship is evolving from talking to one another, to engaging with one another, and truly starting to develop a partnership of care…I do believe that (P11)
Patient involvement in the education of HCPs requires compensation for patients	Compensation is another factor...I can’t afford to, you know, spend more money, just out of my own pocket. And, I think it is something that researchers should value...If you’re going to involve a parent or a family member, you should also compensate them somehow (P01) It takes a lot of work [to be involved in health professions education], so, you know, naming this work as such, compensating people fairly for their energies, emotional labour, and time they spend in doing the work is really important (P02)