CURRENT PROJECTS

Accredited training for consumer representatives and health professionals engaged in consumer participation in health
Health Issues Centre with funding from the Victorian Quality Council (VQC) has developed accredited training on consumer participation in health for consumers, carers, community representatives and health service staff. In 2010 a Course in Consumer Leadership (22095VIC) and a Vocational Graduate Certificate in Consumer Engagement (22092VIC)were piloted and evaluated. Accredited training provide nationally recognised qualifications and nationally consistent competencies for this growing area of health. The training materials will be able to be customized for particular States, Territories, Medicare Locals and specific groups (e.g. culture, age, gender, disease or regional specific groups). The development of nationally accredited training has potential benefits regarding the quality and efficacy of consumer involvement in health.

Baptcare - Customer engagement project
Tere Dawson and Nicky Barry
Health Issues Centre has been engaged by Baptcare to develop policy and procedures for the establishment and management of a Customer Engagement Group (CEG) and recommendations re other consumer engagement methods including Customer Working Groups (CWGs). The project includes consultations with key staff, implementation and evaluation of a pilot stage and training sessions for the Board, staff and consumers involved in the organisation.

Anglicare Tasmania – training on consumer participation for staff and consumers
Tere Dawson
Health Issues Centre has been contracted by Anglicare Tasmania to plan and deliver training on how to build consumer participation in work plans to a selected group of management staff (champions) and on advocacy and consumer representation to consumers involved with the organisation.

Patient Centred Care and Cultural Competence project
Tere Dawson and Nicky Barry
This project has been funded by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. Health Issues Centre is acting as the leading organisation working in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Family and Patient Centred Care and Deakin University. The aim of the project is to consult with health professionals and consumers from CALD backgrounds about their understanding of patient centred care and cultural competence. The findings of this phase will facilitate the implementation of Phase Two of the project which is to develop a model for PCC and Cultural Competence in health services.

Consumers Reforming Health Conference
In late July 2011 the inaugural Consumers Reforming Health Conference was held in Melbourne, with over 400 delegates from around Australia and visitors from the USA, Canada, the UK, New Zealand and Vietnam. Widely described as an outstanding success, a notable achievement of the Conference was that speakers and delegates reflected much of the diversity found around consumer engagement in the health system. Over 60 per cent of delegates were consumers—leaders, activists, or health care users. The remainder were academics, researchers, policy-makers, service managers, healthcare providers, professional organisations, consultants, and other professionals working within the health consumer sector. Hospital, primary, dental, disability, mental health, youth, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, Indigenous, rural and aged care sectors were all represented, as were the cross-sectoral themes of patient-centred care, consumer co-design, community engagement, evaluation, professional development, and partnership building.

Consumer participation in health: understanding consumers as social participants - Discussion paper
Panayiota Romios and Tenzin Bathgate
Health Issues Centre together with Tenzin Bathgate from the Institute for Social Participation, La Trobe University prepared a discussion paper entitled: Consumer participation in health: understanding consumers as social participants. The paper examines how the concepts of consumer participation and social participation can aid in ‘unpacking’ the different components of consumer exclusion and inclusion in health in which the capacity to participate presupposes foundations of access, knowledge, information, understanding, confidence, agency, engagement and agency. The paper is available at Health Issues Centre’s web site.

Medicare Locals Forum
Panayiota Romios
In June 2011, Health Issues Centre together with General Practice Victoria convened a half-day forum on community engagement in Medicare Locals. Health Issues Centre has supported the case for health reform because there is fragmentation in the Australian health care system between public and private and state and commonwealth that influence people’s access to and experiences of health care. The forum explored the establishment of Medicare Locals as part of the broader Commonwealth plan to ensure a greater focus on primary health care and in particular tackled strategies for strengthening the practice of community engagement in these new organisations.

Consultancy and training on consumer participation within Merri Community Health Service
Tere Dawson
Health Issues Centre undertook a series of consultation sessions with management, staff and consumers to develop a consumer and community participation plan for Merri CH. Based on the Model, Health Issues Centre developed an Operational Plan outlining consumer participation initiatives to be undertaken by Merry CH within 18 months. The overall plan and the Operational Plan include evaluation indicators for each initiative.

TasCOSS - Health and Community Care (HACC) client engagement model and tool kit
Tere Dawson
Between 2010 and 2011, Health Issues Centre supported the Tasmanian Council of Social Services (TasCOSS) in the development of a client engagement model and tool kit for age care health services across Tasmania. The Model has been finaliszed and the implementation stage is being trialed. The Model is available at TasCOSS web site.

Learning and development sessions for consumers and health service staff
Tere Dawson
Between 2010 and 2011 several learning and development sessions on consumer participation were held with the following health services and organiszations: Gippsland Integrated Cancer Service consumers; Knox Community Health Services staff and consumers; Arthritis Victoria consumers and staff (in collaboration with Tony McBride); Central Hume Primary Care Partnership staff; Victorian and Tasmanian Youth Cancer Network staff and consumers; Peninsula Health Dual Diagnosis Program staff and carers; Peninsula Health Community Health Community Advisory Committee members; Department of Human Services – Grampians Region, Disability Services staff member.

Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA)
Health Issues Centre entered in a partnership with Cancer Voices Victoria and the PCFA to deliver training sessions on advocacy and consumer participation to members of PCFA. The first sessions were delivered in Sydney in February 2010 to members of the National Support and Advocacy Committee and the second session in Melbourne in March 2010 to other PCFA members.

Consumer Nominee Program
Nicky Barry
Through the Consumer Nominee Program, Health Issues Centre is working to ensure the views of consumers, carers, community members, patients and carers are heard in the design and delivery of health services and in the development of health policy in Victorian and Australia.

Consumers and community members have recently been nominated by Health Issues Centre to participate in Department of Human Service Committees for Outpatient Reforms, HealthConnect, Care in Your Community, Review of Cardiac Services and Conference Planning. Other consumers have participated in a National Oral Health Advocacy Day in Canberra, conferences in Victoria and professional development workshops for health professionals.

Additional information for consumers, carers and community members and governments and health services is available from our Consumer Nominee page.

Support to the Victorian Community Advisory Committees
Health Issues Centre supports the on-going development of 19 Victorian Community Advisory Committees (CACs) in Metropolitan and Regional Health Services.
The key role of CACs is to promote and advocate for participation across all levels of their health service. Health Issues Centre is available to support individual CACs with their own specific priorities and the whole of CAC network as common themes and issues unfold. One significant contribution Health Issues Centre makes is to the orientation of new Resource Officers as they begin their journey of supporting CACs.