[Recognizing the lived experience of the disease: the "Crossing Experiences" research program]

The action-training research project "Crossing Experiences: Towards a Transformation of Care Action in Chronic Illness" aims to offer an introduction to narrative approaches (NA), including moments of biographical narration and moments of explanation, to a mixed audience composed of patient-peer caregivers, care professionals and family caregivers interested in intervening in therapeutic patient education (TPE) programs.

To present the initial results of the training component of this research and to identify the forms of enunciation revealing traces of the construction of an emancipatory approach to care and support relationships within the framework of TPE programs.

The NAs were presented and then applied to different stages of TPE during three days of training. Collective discussions with participants were recorded. The ex-post content analyses carried out on the basis of these discussions sought to identify what interest(s) the NAs could offer, particularly in terms of experiential knowledge.

The design of the training, centred on ethics and a non-directive, comprehensive approach, made it possible to develop an atmosphere of confidentiality, favouring the learning and practice of the DAs involved. These were implemented at different stages of the TPE process, by both carers and patients and carer-partners, and were accompanied by the adoption of an educational stance conducive to the coconstruction of care.

The results show the potential of NAs to collaborate in strengthening democracy in health through the legitimisation of experiential knowledge that emerges from lived experience.

Training in NA based on the narration of experiences and learning acquired and their explicitation through a relationship based on respect provides avenues for collaborative work in TPE by bringing out forms of mediation, capable of grasping the dimensions of life before, during and after the disease, which are formative for people. The use of NAs is also a lever for transforming the educational process, by allowing patients and caregivers to become partners with TPE caregivers.