The Telethon Institute for Child Health Research is building
partnerships with health consumers and the community through its
joint consumer and community participation program with the School
of Population Health at The University of Western Australia.
The Consumer and Community Participation Program, which is unique
in Australia, is focused on increasing consumer and community
participation in the research programs at the Institute.
Consumer and Community Participation is about:
- Consumers, community members and researchers working together to shape decisions about research priorities, practice and policies.
- It is an active partnership that is sensitive to changing needs and priorities.
- It is about being part of the process as well as observing or commenting.
- Conducting research that is with the community rather than to or for the community.
- It is about consumers and community members being part of the process as well as observing or commenting, it is not about them being participants (taking part in) of the research.
The Consumer and Community Participation Program includes:
- A Consumer and Community Advisory Council
- Training on consumer and community participation for researchers and community members
- Involving consumers and community members in research decision making processes
- A Consumer and Community Participation Policy
- Resources and website: www.involvingpeopleinresearch.com
Find out more about our program here
Resources
The Telethon Institute, in conjunction with The University of
Western Australia's School of Population Health, has developed a
number of resources to support increased consumer and community
participation in health research.
This is in direct response to requests from researchers, consumers
and community members who have attended our training programs and
have requested more support for involving people in research.
All of our resources are written in plain language so that they
can be easily understood by any reader.
- The Fact Sheet Series is a resource that has been developed in response to requests from researchers for short simple 'tools' to support the implementation of consumer and community participation in health research.
- McKenzie & Hanley, (2007) Consumer and Community Participation in Health and Medical Research, A practical guide for health and medical research organisations. Also known as 'The Green Book', this comprises a practical guide to establishing consumer and community participation at an organisational level as well as providing guidance and sharing experience of involving people in individual research projects.
