Alan Jones V Humankind:Alan Jones V Humankind:The case for consumer The case for consumer participationparticipation

Nicky BarrySenior Project Worker &Consumer Support Coordinator

What is participation?What is participation?

Participation occurs when consumers, careers and community members are meaningfully involved in decision making about health policy and planning, care and treatment, and the wellbeing of themselves and the community Department of Human Service, Doing it with us no for us

Strategic Direction 2010-13

Key principles of participationKey principles of participation Trust Respect Openness Equal opportunity Advocacy and support Responsiveness Shared ownership and accountability Dissemination Evaluation

Health and Human RightsHealth and Human Rights The Declaration of Human Rights recognises the right of

every individual to live with dignity. The Victorian Charter of Human Rights also recognises

these rights for residents of Victoria. The Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights has been

developed to identify the rights of citizens using the healthcare system.

The participation of consumers in the planning, design, delivery and evaluation is the best way to ensure the inclusion of a Human Rights perspective in healthcare.

The Social Determinants of The Social Determinants of HealthHealth

Not all issues connected to a person’s health are related to their physiology.

The World Health Organisation has articulated the “Social Determinants of Health” as also being critical in defining a person’s health status and ability to access healthcare.

What are the social determinants of health?????

Benefits for the consumerBenefits for the consumer

Increased knowledge about health care and treatment : able to make better informed decisions

Recognises the consumer’s human rights Assists to improve individual and

population health outcomes

Benefits to the organisationBenefits to the organisation Provision of services that are based on

needs and issues relevant to the needs of the consumer.

Better clinical outcomes Increase in quality and safety of service

provided Improved client experience Opportunities for innovation Creates community connections

Examples of community participation in healthcareExamples of community participation in healthcareIndividual Program Organisational

Consumer led care plans

Provision of clear information about patient rights/responsibilities, etc

Options for communication/decision making

Opportunities for feedback

(all of these processes supported)

Community needs analysis regularly undertaken in regards to service provision/delivery

Involvement of consumers in program planning, program review/evaluation

Consumers involved in the development of clinical guidelines and research projects

Community needs analysis in relation to strategic planning

Consumer involvement in advocacy

Community Advisory Committee

Consumer involvement in staff recruitment

How does this relate to “our” How does this relate to “our” consumers?consumers?

What is the one common element that unites every individual we are dealing with in terms of there issues and there recovery process?

Recovery is also a continuumRecovery is also a continuum

While we can use models as a starting point, the experience of each consumer (and each worker) will be different.

Using a participatory model allows us to be inclusive of perspective and to work in partnership towards meaningful “success”.

What does an inclusive program What does an inclusive program look like?look like?

An inclusive program:•builds capacity for participation•listens to the community/individual and responds to what they need•works together with the community/individual to create change•is dynamic

Inclusive program designInclusive program design

What do we take in to account when designing a individual and community program?

Why?

When and where do we include the consumers in this process?

“Life is not just a series of calculations and a sum of total statistics, it’s about experience, it’s about participation, it is about something complex and more interesting than what is obvious.”Daniel Libeskind

ChallengesChallenges

““Conflict cannot survive without your Conflict cannot survive without your participation.”participation.”Wayne Dyer

More information on Consumer More information on Consumer ParticipationParticipation

Health Issues Centre website

http://www.healthissuescentre.org.au/

How to develop a community participation plan

http://health.vic.gov.au/consumer/pubs/howto.htm