Community participation in health ensures that individual, families and communities have input into decisions that will affect their health and wellbeing. HealthWest recognises the rights of consumers and communities to be included in the decisions which impact on their health.
Read more about HealthWest’s commitment to Community Participation in Health in our position statement on the subject.
Community Participation Resources from HealthWest
HealthWest developed a number of resources to support community participation within our organisation. They were developed according to the needs of HealthWest and our community participants, and draw on good practice examples from our partners and broader literature. We are sharing them in the hopes that they are useful to others.
Stories of Participation: Partnering With the Community to Improve Health and Wellbeing: Community participants discuss what it’s like to partner with an organisation and give advice to community members and organisations alike. This video was developed with our partners and community participants. Watch Stories of Participation here.
Community Participation Policy Template: This policy template is based on HealthWest Partnership’s Community Participation Policy and on the lessons learned during development and review of the policy. It has been created as a practical example for health and community organisations who do prevention and project work.
Download the Community Participation Policy template (Word or PDF document).
Community Participant Role Description: A clear role description will help both community participants and staff understand the role, and is important for recruitment and for ongoing work.
- Download a community participant role description template (Word or PDF document).
- Download an example role description with flyer.
Community Orientation Manual and Process: An effective orientation will provide a community participant with the information they need to partner with your organisation. HealthWest developed a community orientation process through consultation with our commnity participants.
- Download HealthWest’s Community Orientation Manual for ideas for your own orientation process.
- The staff checklist ensures staff are prepared to conduct an effective orientation.
Checklist for Written Information: Communication with community members should be straightforward, appropriate and easy-to-understand. This checklist provides information on how staff can do this and acts as a visual reminder.
- Download the HealthWest Checklist for Written Information.
Community Participation in Staff Recruitment: Working with community is a key part of many staff roles in the health and community sectors. Including community members on interview panels is one way to seek community input in hiring decisions, however this is not always possible or appropriate. HealthWest trialed a new process to enable effective and relevant input by community members into our recruitment process.
- Visit the HealthWest blog post about the process for a short case study and supporting resources.
Organisations are welcome to use these resources directly or to inform development of their own resources. We simply ask that you acknowledge HealthWest Partnership.
HealthWest would like to acknowledge the contributions of our partner organisations and community members to the development of these resources.
Community Participation in Melbourne’s West
HealthWest identified community participation as a key priority in our Strategic Plan 2013-17. We successfully worked at a systems level to increase participation of individuals and communities in decision making at an individual, program and organisational level, with a focus on health literacy and community participation.
Consumer Participation Mapping report: HealthWest explored how health and community organisations facilitated consumer input into organisational planning and decision making in Melbourne’s west. Read the key findings and recommendation in the full report and summary report.
- Health Literacy and Community Partnership Program Report 2013-17: Read about HealthWest’s activities and outcomes in our program report.
