Amanda Threlfall

I found PPI by ‘accident’ in 2019 by reading a tweet by the Carers Support Centre. As a carer the 2020 Covid pandemic was a challenge and during that time my husband’s health declined and he (and me as his carer) became housebound as he needed 24/7 care support. We fell through the cracks for support and restrictions due to Covid and so research became a way for me to learn but it soon became something I found a passion for. I now understand mental health has been something affecting my life since I was a teenager and joining PPI has given me a focus in the recent years. I also volunteer with North Bristol NHS Trust as a Patient and Carer Partner and with the Bristol and South Gloucestershire Carers Support Centre. I believe good PPI is listening to, learning from and sharing lived experience. I am passionate about raising awareness of carers and dementia as an illness not as part of old age.

I am involved with a variety of projects - health and social care, dementia, stroke, multiple long-term conditions as well as Trusted Research Environments and Secure Data Environments. PPI has given me many opportunities, chairing advisory groups, giving presentations on line and in person at conferences but also allowed me to build confidence and keep my brain active.