“Patient” partners improve researcher understanding of the real life priorities and impact of their work.
Few or no people define or refer to themselves as patients. They understand that a patient is less than a whole person, is less than what they are. I would prefer thinking of ‘people’ engaged in their health and health care.
“Patients” can also be experts in the lived experience of their own diagnoses, who contribute to medical research and education teams as partners in meaningful academic projects.
Lynch Syndrome Ireland 