Summative evaluation of participation policy

Key messages

A summative evaluation of the ‘Doing it with us not for us’ participation policy and strategic direction along with the Cultural responsiveness framework: Guidelines for Victorian health services was conducted across 2013-14.
The findings were released in four separate reports which can be accessed from this page.

In 2012, the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office undertook a review of consumer participation in the health system. It made five recommendations related to the integration of consumer participation policies and activities across the department including undertaking an evaluation of the impact of the current policy.

The summative evaluation of the ‘Doing it with us not for us' participation policy and strategic direction along with the Cultural responsiveness framework: Guidelines for Victorian health services was conducted across 2013-14.

The evaluation found that:

while the policy and the frameworks had been strong influences in public health services, the key influence for change in consumer participation had been the introduction of the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards
the role of the consumer was changing with a greater emphasis on person and family-centred care and shared decision making
the alignment between diversity, equity and consumer participation needed to be strengthened.

The evaluation also outlined the components for the development of new equity and participation policy.

The evaluation findings and recommendations are outlined across four reports:

A desktop review and a stakeholder survey were the two key evaluation methods employed in the project. The two evidence reports outline the results of these.

The current state report outlines the current state of the consumer participation policy and practice in Australia and selected international jurisdictions.

The discussion paper provides high-level recommendations and rationale to inform the development of Victoria’s new consumer participation policy.