Community Participation
Bearing in mind the diverse nature of the community based projects funded by the Stronger Families Fund, the resources listed here cover a range of areas and aspects of community and consumer participation.
Community participation: principles, concepts, methods
An introduction to consumer participation
National Resource Centre for Consumer Participation in Health, 2002 (PDF 29K)
Fact sheet covering definitions, benefits, methods and models, barriers to participation,
and evidence of effectiveness.
Building consumers in: a resource manual in consumer participation for
the not-for-profit sector by Johnson, S. and McAdam, H. (MS Word 359K)
Arthritis Victoria, 2001 - Online through
National Resource Centre for Consumer Participation in Health
This manual is designed to be a resource book to assist the
not-for-profit sector to develop policies and practices that
facilitate consumer participation in the organisation.
Committees that involve consumers: issues for service providers to
consider (MS Word 89K)
National Resource Centre for Consumer Participation in
Health, La Trobe University, 2002
A fact sheet about types of committees, role and authority,
effectiveness, terms of
reference, recruitment, budget, fees, evaluation, and representation.
Community consultation - application of the philosophy (myth or
reality?) by Hall, J.
National Rural Health Alliance, 2001
This archived paper presented at the 6th National Rural Health Conference
identifies methodologies which can be used to
enhance the process of involving the community in strategic decision
making about local health services.
Education and training for consumer participation in health care:
final report of project by Global Learning Services Pty Ltd (PDF 390K)
National Resource Centre for Consumer Participation in
Health for the former Consumer Focus
Collaboration, 2000
This report looks at how training,
education and learning for consumers, health professionals and
administrators to enhance participation in health care policy,
planning, service delivery and evaluation can be made more effective.
Education and training for consumer participation in health care:
resource guide. by Global Learning Services Pty Ltd (PDF 624K)
National Resource Centre for Consumer Participation in
Health for the former Consumer Focus
Collaboration, 2000
This guide gives an introduction to the
concepts of consumer participation and outlines some of the current
thinking about education, training and learning. It introduces the
Mindmap for Education, Learning and Training (MELT) model, which
provides the conceptual basis for the Resource Guide, and explains
some of its most relevant concepts.
Enacting policy in mental health promotion and consumer participation
by Stacey, K. and Herron, S. (PDF 63K)
Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health (AeJAMH) v.1
no.1 Mar 2002
What
does a commitment to enacting consumer involvement mean for
mental health promotion practice? This article addresses this question,
identifies barriers, suggests areas to focus on.
Methods of consumer participation (PDF 37K)
National Resource Centre for Consumer Participation in
Health, 2002
This fact sheet includes definitions, levels of
consumer participation (degrees of control within different domains),
and a table reproduced from a case study which provides an overview of
methods of consumer, carer and representative participation, the
benefits of each of the methods, the drawbacks and difficulties
experienced and recommendations to improve the process.
Participation resource kit for area health service managers and
project leaders
NSW
Health, 1999
Covers: What is consultation? Techniques available; How to work with
different techniques; Planning for consultations; Working with
target groups; Evaluating consultations; Case studies; One stop shop
for resources.
Planning partnerships with families by Bland, R. and Craft, C. (PDF 19K)
Australian Institute of
Criminology, 2001
This paper presented at the Children, Young People and Communities: the Future is in Our Hands
Conference addresses the need for partnerships with parents in the area
of child protection, listing fifteen essential
principles for working in partnership.
Primary care self assessment tool for community and consumer
participation (PDF 331K)
National Resource Centre for Consumer Participation in
Health, 2002
This self assessment tool provides a framework to
guide primary care organisations
that are interested in assessing their community and consumer
participation activities.
Questions to ask before involving consumers (MS Word 74K)
This fact sheet
provides an overview of questions for providers to consider before
trying to identify consumers; when ready to begin involving
consumers; and evaluation questions.
National Resource Centre for Consumer Participation in Health, 2002
This fact sheet describes a sequence of steps to consider in developing a consumer participation strategy and relevant resources that can be used to assist to develop the strategy.
Community participation in action
Beyond place management: why partnership matters by Randolph, B. (PDF 75K)
Urban Frontiers Program, University of Western
Sydney, 1999
Presented at National Housing Conference 'Reform and Renewal in Social Housing', 1999,
this paper provides an introduction to Operation 2168, a community renewal initiative
which aims to involve the local community in both the specific
initiatives it helps to facilitate in the area, but also in the
management of the project itself.
Building consumers in: final project report for the Consumer and
Provider Partnership Project by Arthritis Victoria (MS Word 189K)
Arthritis Victoria, 2001, Online through
National Resource Centre for Consumer Participation in Health
The Arthritis Victoria Consumer Participation Project aims to document the extensive
experience of consumer
participation in the planning, delivery, and evaluation of AV
services; and to document the AV model of consumer partnerships.
Community consultation the easy way! by Craighead, P., Allen, G. and Maclean, R.
National Rural Health Alliance, 1999
Presented at the 5th National
Rural Health Conference, this archived paper outlines the focus of the National Rural Health Strategy 1994,
and considers the results
and benefits of community consultation.
Consumer and provider partnerships in health project: improving
consumer participation in the health system in Central Australia:
final report (MS Word 109K)
Outlines the process of the establishment of
the Central Australian Division of General Practice Consumer
Reference Group, how it was established, and its role.
Consumer involvement
AusEinetter no.8 Mar 1999
This article explores how the AusEinet project is encouraging
meaningful consumer participation. Why consumer involvement is
needed, what it is and what strategies facilitate effective consumer
involvement are discussed, particularly in relation to clients of
mental health services.
Enhancement of consumer and provider collaboration in the metropolitan
health service in Western Australia by Brittain, J. (MS Word 422K)
Health Consumers' Council of WA, 2001, online through National Resource Centre for Consumer Participation in Health
A description of a project involving Community Advisory Councils in Perth,
which provide an opportunity for
consumer perspectives to be considered by the management of a health
service/ hospital.
Implementing consumer feedback into a continuous quality improvement
framework at Alice Springs Hospital by Scott, T. (MS Word 681K)
National Resource Centre for Consumer Participation in
Health, 2001
A project is described which aimed to identify the most culturally appropriate
methods of receiving Aboriginal consumer feedback about the services
at Alice Springs Hospital to improve Aboriginal health outcomes and
health services. Aboriginal consumers and consumer groups, and staff
from Alice Springs Hospital and Remote Health were continually
involved in the design, implementation and evaluation of this
project from start to finish during the consultation and
communication process.
Inter-agency responses to sexual assault by Brazier, J., Killey, C., and Promnitz, J. (PDF 19K)
Australian Institute of Criminology, 2001
Paper presented at The Character, Impact
and Prevention of Crime in Regional Australia Conference. It
describes the The Sexual Assault Response Reference Group in Townsville,
established to co-ordinate an
integrated approach for survivors of sexual violence; provide
input into, and feedback on, government policy and legislation; and
to work pro-actively on prevention strategies.
Local health planning to meet the needs of communities by
Wilson, M., Bennett, N., Grosvenor, J. and Jones, T.
National Rural Health Alliance, 2001
Presented at the 6th National Rural Health Conference,
this archived paper aims to give an overview of the strategies and processes
used to engage local communities and service partners in rural health
service planning.
Talk, be loud and be heard by Mitchell, P. (PDF 220K)
Youth Suicide Prevention Bulletin no.3 May 1999
'Make-A-Noise' is a youth suicide prevention program based in the
Greater Murray Area of New South Wales. This article is an
interview with the people involved in managing this program in which
they reflect on the strategies they use of employing a community
development approach and involving young people.
The experience of developing a consultation process with parents in a
child and youth mental health service by Geraghty, K., O'Brien, T. and Lee, E.
Australian Infant, Child, Adolescent and Family Mental
Health Association, 2001
Over the past five years the South Brisbane Child and Youth Mental
Health Service (CYMHS) has been exploring a collaborative approach to
providing a comprehensive mental health service to a population of
400,000 people. This
paper describes the role of the Parent Advisory Group.
