Strengthening and empowering the community and consumer voice is important for many reasons.

• It strengthens health literacy enabling them to have a say in what’s important for them
• It allows communities to have a say in what health services are important to them where they work and live
• It builds capacity of communities, governments and service providers to work together, understand each other and build partnerships.

Health Consumers Tasmania provides training on

• Health Care Rights
• How to host a Kitchen table discussion
  Codesign
• How consumer representation can work on committees, Boards etc.

Over the last 12 months to June 2023, Health Consumers Tasmania has trained

• 129 consumers
• 47 health staff
• 78 kitchen table hosts

We have now trained 263 consumers and 212 health staff, a total of 475 participants, with places like Neighbourhood House in Ravenswood and the Migrant Resource Centre.

“One of the best consumer / community design engagement sessions that I have ever come across. Excellent! Future looks positive – Thank you for caring.”

“I have learned substantial amount of knowledge on how to engage with consumers in my work and home life.”

“I will spend more time with consumers – clients talking about the ‘complaints/feedback side of things’ dispelling myths and creating a safe space for this critical lens. I will encourage their feedback and suggestions for better service delivery and assure them that a ‘complaint’ is not a negative, but a positive opportunity for change.”

Tasman Peninsula

Health Consumers Tasmania was asked to undertake a health needs assessment of those living on the Tasman Peninsula. We said yes but for it to work, we asked for three things to occur:

• We wanted the community to do it
• We wanted the community to be empowered to take ownership of the process and outcome
• We wanted to support the community long term, not be another drive in – drive out consultancy.

The result was Health Consumers Tasmania trained 7 people to host a kitchen table, and after 13 tables, 81 people participated including youth, at risk women under 35, walking and book groups and kitchen table conversations occurring in the smaller towns like Koonya and Eaglehawk Neck.

As a result, the community decided to form its own group called ‘Tasman Voice for Health’ and is now providing their views into all three levels of Government.

Together with the partners in this project, Tasmanian Health Services and Primary Health Tasmania, a service providers group was also formed and we are collectively influencing GP services, sourced additional mental health services for young people, a podiatrist and psychiatrist, and providing a focus on women’s health and the roll out of information support services – called Tasman Connect. Areas of focus for the two groups are highlighted in the following diagram.

Tasman Peninsula, a collaborative effort – community placed health care