Consumer engagement

Working together with consumers is a fundamental part of person centred care.

Effective consumer engagement isn’t limited though, to involving clients in decisions about their own care. Agencies need to create a range of opportunities for consumers to participate in meaningful ways, including decision making about service planning, delivery and evaluation.

Evidence demonstrates that effective consumer engagement delivers a range of benefits for consumers, staff and organisations including improvements in:

• client and carer satisfaction, engagement and outcomes
• staff’s understanding of the impact of current services and opportunities for ongoing improvement
• accessible and appropriate service design that is responsive to the needs and priorities of the local community
• the communities sense of ‘ownership’ over their health and confidence in the system and services available to support them
• service efficiency and effective use of finite resources, achieved through informed resource allocation

While the benefits are clear, developing effective consumer engagement strategies requires a thoughtful approach.

Browse our
Resources Tailored
Training

Our experience

We have significant skill and experience working with health and community services to support, encourage and facilitate effective consumer engagement. We work with organisations to build their capacity to:

• engage and partner with a diverse range of consumers in meaningful ways
• understand the enablers and barriers of effective consumer engagement
• create the systems and skills required to utilise input and ideas from consumers empower and upskill diverse consumers to participate effectively

We also work directly with consumer and community groups to collect feedback (e.g. via community forums, focus groups and surveys). Please refer to our Evaluation & Planning page for more information.