Sector Engagement
About Consumer/Survivor Perspective and our Work
The word ‘consumer’ is commonly used to describe people who have used mental health services. The term is not wholly accepted by all people who access mental health services, however, there was agreement by local Victorian consumers in the 1990s to use this term. (VMIAC, 2018). We use this term as it came from the consumer/survivor movement, which sprung from a socio-political movement at the time of other Civil Rights movements in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Consumer/Survivor perspective is a perspective acquired through accessing services in the mental health system. It is based on a belief that individual consumers are ‘the experts’ about their own life and carry the wisdom to best articulate their own needs when accorded the time, space and means to do so. It is an idea that developed out of a collective consciousness and political solidarity that grew from the consumer/survivor movement and provides a way of looking at the world from the point of view of a group that has been marginalised and discriminated against (CMHL, 2018; Our Consumer Place n.d.).
Consumer perspective work means the active utilisation of personal lived experience of distress, crisis, and/or service use as well as an understanding and utilisation of the “collective knowledge” of the consumer movement: Decades of dedicated thought, debate, study and work has generated an alternate, empowering way of viewing ourselves and our experiences outside the bio-medical lens” (Byrne & Wykes, 2020, p.2).
The Ladder of Participation.
The Arnstein Ladder of Citizen Participation (1969) was developed to demonstrate the different levels of participations impacted communities can have in approaches to systems change.
“The ladder is a guide to seeing who has power when important decisions are being made. It has survived for so long because people continue to confront processes that refuse to consider anything beyond the bottom rungs” (Dobson, 2016).
We adopt a consumer-led or co-production approach to system change; however, we understand that this isn’t always possible. We encourage transparency around the level of participation that different initiatives can reasonably undertake. We are always happy to support organisations in striving for the next level up.
Work with us:
We welcome opportunities to work with non-lived experience partners. The diversity and level of experience of our team means that we can provide excellence in consultation and participation in research and project outcomes. We encourage you to read the following Department of Health guidelines around remuneration for engaging with lived experience stakeholders. Link to Department payment form.
Our sector partners include:
- Consumer lived experience workforce
- Other researchers within The University of Melbourne
- Researchers external to The University of Melbourne
- Stakeholders from the wider mental health sector
- State government departments
Current offerings:
- One off or ongoing consultations with lived experience consumer academic expertise
- Introductory training for organisations in what consumer perspective is and how to meaningfully work with consumers and the consumer lived experience workforce – 4-hour training
- Training for organisations in utilising co-production approaches – half day training
- Consumer lived experience approaches to mental health care service delivery – one day training