Here you will find a number of resources that may be useful to you.
They are grouped in categories as follows:
The Youth Health Forum, a network of young health consumers and leaders, held a major Summit on 15 Sept 2021, as a virtual event.
Throughout the day, the 180+ delegates discussed the issues that young people face in the healthcare system and what they need from it in the future.
These issues and solutions were then compiled into a call to action for governmental stakeholders, service providers and health professionals.
This call to action is a timely reminder that younger people need to be treated as the leaders in their health journey, and this cannot be achieved without support from decision-makers and service providers.
In August 2021 the Australian Digital Health Agency commenced planning on the next National Digital Health Strategy to be launched in 2022. This began with a National Survey and CHF was invited to provide additional input in the form of a written submission to help further develop the detail needed to underpin the Strategy.
CHF's final submission to this consultation is below.
The Consumers Health Forum has called for an enhanced focus on the central role of consumers in its submission to the Review of the National Medicines Policy.
That is a development in which CHF has played a leading part and we are now urging that this momentum is maintained in the NMP Review. The interests of the patient and consumer provide an anchor and compass when it comes to policy directions involving clinicians, industry and government.
That is why we have recommended in our submission that rather than merely including consumer-centricity as one of the principles it should be an overarching focus of the entire policy.
This Statement of Collaborative Intent reflects a partnership that respects the roles and responsibilities of the Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF) and the Health Consumer Advocacy Network of South Australia (Health CAN SA). It underpins how CHF and Health CAN SA work collaboratively in our commitment to shared values, goals, beliefs and practices that act to place consumers at the centre of health, care, research and policy, that prioritise consumer-centred care to achieve quality outcomes.
The Consumers Health Forum of Australia is the national peak body representing the interests of Australian healthcare consumers. CHF works to achieve safe, quality, timely healthcare for all Australian’s supported by accessible health information and systems.
The Health Consumer Advocacy Network of South Australia is a group of health consumers who believe the people, who pay for, fund and use health services in South Australia, should be able to inform and influence how those services are designed and delivered. The Network provides an independent health consumer voice in South Australia to inform government, service providers and policy makers about the experiences, issues and concerns of health consumers and contribute to shared planning and problem solving.
Healthcare policy, services and research must reflect genuine and active partnerships between health professionals and providers, and consumers. Consumers are best placed to decide what health care and services they need to meet their health goals, preferences and values. Engaged consumers have more information and better understanding of their health and how to manage it. Engaging with consumers improves health outcomes, reduces adverse events, increases staff wellbeing and retention and reduces costs through better resource use and more targeted services. The lived experience and expertise of consumers contributes to building a sound evidence base and educating researchers and care providers on effective consumer-centred care practice.
CHF will recognise Health CAN SA as the state-based consumer network and provide opportunity for its members to participate in national policy consultations, opportunities to nominate consumer advisers to national committees and Consumer Link, our skills development and knowledge translation webinar series for consumer representatives.
The Australian Medical Research and Innovation Strategy (Strategy) is determined by the Australian Medical Research Advisory Board (AMRAB). The Strategy ensures a coherent and consistent approach is adopted in the funding of medical research and innovation from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF). The current Strategy covers the period 2016-2021, with the next Strategy (2021-2026) to be registered before 8 November 2021.
The Medical Research Future Fund Act 2015 (MRFF Act) required AMRAB to undertake a consultation process before determining a Strategy. The consultation opened on 20 September 2021 and ended on 11 October 2021.
This consultation was an opportunity to ensure that an updated Strategy is meeting its purpose as described in the MRFF Act, accounting for critical current and future issues and factors (e.g. primary prevention), and will continue to allow the MRFF to fund research to address national health priorities and deliver practical benefits from medical research and medical innovation to Australians.
The Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF) is the national peak body representing the interests of Australian healthcare consumers and those with an interest in health consumer affairs, including health-based research. We have over 250 members reflecting a broad spectrum of organisations including state-based consumer peaks, condition-specific groups, volunteer patient groups, professional associations, Primary Health Networks (PHNs) and the research community.
We work in collaboration with our members, national partners and research collaborators to influence policy, programs and services to ensure they are in the consumer and community interest. CHF is pleased to make this submission in to this AMRAB Consultation on developing the MRFF 2021-2026 Strategy.
Note that this consultation was administered as an online survey and this document has been adapted from the CHF submission to that survey.
In the Oct 2021 edition of Consumers Shaping Health, we discuss the high level Policy advocacy positions CHF is taking during Policy and Strategy Reviews for Medicines Policy and for Australia's largest Medical Research Fund, the MRFF.
The presentation slides for the webinar with;
In the September 2021 edition of Consumers Shaping Health, we .....
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