Epistemic justice in teaching co-production: a perspective from clinical psychology training

Purpose Service-User and Carer (SUC) involvement in health care education is becoming the norm. Simultaneously, voices highlighting the risks of tokenism continue. The authors critique dominant frameworks for SUC involvement and present a case study of teaching collaboration between a lecturer and SUC Advisory Group in Clinical Psychology training. The authors argue that epistemic justice gives a constructive lens for making SUC participation meaningful. Design/methodology/approach Members of the University of Surrey SUC Advisory Group and a lecturer delivered a learning session, themed around barriers to accessing mental health services. In the first academic cycle, SUC members remotely facilitated group discussion around a core barrier, e.g. social class. Following feedback, the same session in the next cycle consisted of Trainee debate stimulated by SUC videos that foregrounded intersectionality in considering barriers and solutions. Findings In critically evaluating our collaboration, processes fostering epistemic justice included ring-fenced time for planning, leadership by SUC members, creating governance mechanisms on use of videos and SUC receiving payment. To deepen epistemically just practice, SUC teaching input should be invited routinely and SUC identity explicitly contrasted to academic staff. Originality/value The authors provide a framework for evaluating the richness of SUC involvement on a post-graduate training programme. This focus on epistemic justice allowed more nuanced reflections on equitability than current SUC involvement models allow for.