Cancer Action Victoria developed and led the project which was funded by Cancer Australia and supported by Cancer Council Victoria. Barwon South West, Grampians, Loddon Mallee and Hume Integrated Cancer services were engaged in an advisory capacity and to assist in recruitment of interested consumers. It was conducted over 2012-2014.
The aim was to develop competencies for consumer involvement in advocacy in rural areas of Victoria by encouraging them to become involved in their local services.
The focus was on consumers from a diverse background who lived in rural/remote areas of Victoria such as consumers with a disability, aboriginal, or had a CALD background. A train the trainer manual was developed to use in preparing a small group of consumers to lead the training with other consumers from a nominated group e.g. disability in Barwon South West, rural and remote in Loddon Mallee and Indigenous in Hume.
The program focused on consumer engagement, diversity, governance and advocacy. Each stage of the program was evaluated with both qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Key achievements included the production of two comprehensive manuals – Train the Trainer and one for Participants; programs were presented in 4 regions with 33 participants with a combination of consumer and health professionals; 5 consumers were invited to join their local ICS Consumer Advisory groups; the formation of a consumer network across a region and ongoing mentoring for the participants.
Lessons learned from conducting the project will be presented to guide future projects. These include the need for strong governance, open communication channels, selection of a project officer and consumers to participate and early involvement of key people in rural areas.