What is Consumer Participation?

Consumer participation can be described as the process of involving consumers in decision making about their own health care, health and community services planning, policy development, setting priorities and addressing quality issues in the delivery of health and community support services.

Consumer participation can occur across many levels within organisations/services:

participation in treatment and care
consumers employed by services as consultants and advocates
participation in service delivery and evaluation
participation in policy and planning
participation in education and training
participation in staff recruitment

Consumer Training Package

Local Examples of Consumer Participation

b ur best Project

Secondary students and teachers involved in planning process

Student Ambassador Model – students given responsibility to plan and implement parts of the project within their own school

Contact: Campaspe PCP

One & All: Campaspe Inclusion Project

Teachers & parents involved in planning workshop

Contact: Campaspe PCP or YMCA

MEGAPHONE ThinkTank

Shire of Campaspe Youth Council – The Shire of Campaspe is committed to ensuring young people have a voice and can contribute to their community by being formally engaged in Council activities. Youth Council is open to all young people in Campaspe aged 12-25 years. Opportunities include organising events for national Youth Week, attending skill development workshops and providing leadership in the community.

Contact: Shire of Campaspe

Echuca Farmers Market

Spot surveys of shoppers regarding nutrition behaviour and shopping habits.

Contact: Campaspe PCP

Campaspe Murray Mental Health Network

Consumer representative attends meetings regularly which contributes to their mental wellbeing by providing an opportunity for them to participate and be accepted by the broader community.

Contact: St Luke’s

HACC Feedback form

The Shire of Campaspe’s HACC program provides a Client Satisfaction Survey to all consumers receiving HACC services. Services not only include services which are delivered in the home but also include consumers of Planned Activity Groups and Strength and Balance classes. The survey is sent to consumers yearly with questions regarding the Assessment Process, experience with the office staff and specific questions regarding the type of service they receive from the Shire. Clients are able to score their satisfaction along with any comments they wish to provide.

The Survey is used for Quality Improvement processes and ensures consumers are given the opportunity to provide feedback in a manner which is anonymous.

Contact: Shire of Campaspe

District Planning Groups

Community members develop and implement local plans based on community identified issues. This program sets out to fully engage people in shaping the future of their community and local economy. A public community meeting develops the plan for each participating district. The district plan takes into account the strengths of each community. The district plans' priorities cover social, economic, environmental and town planning projects. Council works in partnership with the various groups, working on projects arising from the district plan. Public appointment of a community group steers action on the district plan.

Contact: Shire of Campaspe

Diabetes Resource

Newly diagnosed diabetics have been consulted on which brochures they found most effective in explaining their condition. This has lead to consistent use of quality information by diabetes educators across the Campaspe PCP area. This initiative was supported by the Campaspe PCP Service Coordination Steering.

Diabetes Services Echuca

Diabetes Services Kyabram

Diabetes Services Rochester

Diabetes Services Rushworth

Campaspe PCP Service Directory

Developed following request from consumer representatives through various consultation forums to assist finding services when they need them. The Campaspe PCP Service Coordination Steering Committee formed a working party to develop a client friendly service directory booklet. The draft booklet was ‘tested’ with health service consumers to gauge usability and ease of use before printing.

Contact: Campaspe PCP - Campaspe Service Directory_2009

Additional local examples;