Understanding patient experiences

The value and benefits of patient stories are increasingly recognized. A recent editorial in this journal emphasized the importance of these stories for improving the quality of health-care services. Similarly, using patient stories for self-help and research are propagated. [...] This increased attention for patient stories has resulted in the use of many story collecting methods such as interviews, focus groups, mirror meetings and experience-based co-design. Strangely, a readily available source, written patient stories, is overlooked in much of the literature. In this contribution, we focus on the added value of these written patient stories for peer support, patient representation, quality improvement, policymaking, education and research. [...]