Consumer and Community Involvement
WAHTN is committed to advancing consumer involvement across health and research sectors. The value of involving consumers in health and medical research cannot be underestimated. Consumer Involvement brings a unique perspective to all areas of research including planning, policy, funding, evaluation and reporting, as well as participation in the research project. Extensive research in Australia and internationally provides compelling evidence that the involvement of consumers in health and medical research achieves many benefits.
WAHTN Consumer and Community Involvement Program (CCIProgram)
Governments, funding bodies and research organisations across the world are increasingly recognising the importance of including the lived experiences, values and priorities of consumers and community members into research policies and practice. This supports an aim of increasing translation of research evidence to improve health outcomes. The Consumer and Community Involvement Program (CCIProgram) supports consumers, community members and researchers to work in partnership to make decisions about health research priorities, policy and practice.
Led by Deb Langridge, the CCI Program team works to facilitate and develop numerous workshops, meetings, training programs and resources for researchers, consumers and community members alike. The CCI Program team works closely with Western Australia’s five universities, six medical research institutes, hospitals and health service providers to encourage and facilitate partnerships with consumers and community members. The CCI Program team is excited to see growing opportunities for consumers and community members to be involved in health research, such as major research funding groups like the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) including guidelines which encourage and ensure involvement and participation through the research process.
The CCI Program was established in 1998 through The University of Western Australia’s School of Population Health and the The Kids Institute (founding partners) in response to community concerns and interests regarding the utilisation of linked data for health research purposes. Over the past 22 years, the initiative has evolved into a state-wide platform that is recognised nationally and internationally as a good practice model.
If you are an interested researcher or community member who wants to find out how to be involved, please contact us or join our network.
Australian Health Research Alliance (AHRA) CCI Initiative
AHRA’s Consumer and Community Involvement (CCI) Initiative is a national program of work which aims to embed the involvement of consumers and the community in health and medical research policy and practice.
The Health Research Hub is a digital hub to guide consumer and community involvement in health research. It offers access to practical, high-quality resources and tools for researchers, consumers, community members and healthcare professionals. It is designed to guide implementation of meaningful and effective consumer and community involvement.
The Health Research Hub is an initiative led by Monash Partners, the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, Monash University and the Western Australia Health Translation Network, in partnership with the Australian Health Research Alliance (AHRA).
CCI Handbook
WAHTN has developed a CCI Handbook as part of an Australian Health Research Alliance national initiative funded by the Medical Research Future Fund, with additional support from our partners. It complements the rich suite of consumer involvement research, frameworks, policies and toolkits that have been developed by governments and organisations Australia-wide and internationally, and addresses a key barrier to embedding CCI: how to start.