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Enriching health research through consumer involvement – learning through atypical exemplars
Author(s) -
Saunders Carla,
Girgis Afaf
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
health promotion journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 2201-1617
pISSN - 1036-1073
DOI - 10.1071/he11196
Subject(s) - population health , competence (human resources) , documentation , public relations , medicine , marketing , public health , psychology , knowledge management , business , nursing , political science , social psychology , computer science , programming language
Objective The goal of this exploratory study was to identify and describe notable cases of consumer involvement in Australian health research to generate insights and concepts, and assist others to develop and build capacity in this area. Methods In‐depth interviews were conducted with nine organisations known to be active in this area. The interviews were supplemented with content analysis of relevant documentation to further examine involvement strategies. Results Key attributes that aid consumer involvement competence and contribute to success in this area are identified, including the availability of time, resources and supporting policies, principles and attitudes that securely back opportunities for consumers to be involved in meaningful ways. Conclusion This study provides an important contribution to our knowledge and understanding of consumer involvement practice in Australian health research. The examples do not offer definitive approaches but rather highlights and lessons drawn from experiences in consumer involvement across a diverse range of organisations. So what? Accessing the valuable reserve of knowledge that can be found within the context of lived experiences and felt need, with the aim of improving the relevance and translation into the practice of Australian health research is timely, given the heightened political importance of reducing health care costs and the need to support growing numbers of people with chronic illness.