Authors: Alisha Bourke, Debbie Hamilton
Year: 2019
Event: 2019 TheMHS Conference
Subject: 'Talkin' Together' - how to practice meaningful co-design.
Type of resource: Conference Presentations and Papers
Abstract:
Biography:
ALISHA BOURKE | PROJECT COORDINATOR | BEING
Alisha’s recent works at Being include collaborating with NSW Fair Trading on co-designed workshops across NSW; leading the NSW Mental Health Consumer Peer Workers Forum; developing Being’s upcoming peer training and employment programs. Alisha has a living experience of mental health issues and this understanding underpins everything she works on.
DEBBIE HAMILTON | LIVED EXPERIENCE PEER | TALKIN’ TOGETHER PROJECT
Debbie works as peer advocate to improve the NDIS for people with a psychosocial disability. She is a member of the 'National Register of (mental health) 'Consumers and Carers' and is enrolled in a masters by research on the NDIS at Uni of Sydney. She has a B.Med (Hons) Dip. Bioethics.
The Talkin’ Together project was an innovative state government and NGO collaboration in 2018 involving a series of peer led and designed workshops on consumer rights for people with psychosocial disabilities navigating the NDIS. The project also included redesigning some of NSW Fair Trading’s disability-geared written resources, as well as designing a series of brand-new resources to ensure that consumer voices were leading the conversation.
The project was delivered in Sydney, Newcastle and Broken Hill ensuring that a diversity of mental health, community and NDIS experiences were shared. Talkin’ Together recently placed second in the 2018 NSW Department of Finance, Services & Innovation – Secretary’s Award in the category of Excellence in Regional Community Contribution
Although this project was overseen by BEING & NSW Fair Trading, the project planning, design and facilitation was entirely led by a group of lived experience peers in each location – several of whom had no experience in speaking, presenting, research and workshop design prior to the project.
This paper will explore the co-design framework of the Talkin’ Together project; discuss the innovative workshop techniques that our team of lived-experience peers employed and hear perspectives and experiences from those peers who led the charge – particularly the impact that this project had on their confidence, capacity and skillset.
Learning Objectives
Learning Objective 1: WHAT WILL PEOPLE FROM THE AUDIENCE GAIN FROM ATTENDING THE PRESENTATION?
A thorough understanding of the Talkin’ Together co-design framework and how peer involvement must be in every aspect of project delivery for co-design to be meaningful.
Learning Objective 2: HOW IS THIS TOPIC/ISSUE RELEVANT TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES AND MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES?
This project shows how imperative the perspectives and experiences of people with mental health issues are to the design of resources and the delivery of services, as evidenced by participant engagement and peer satisfaction.
References
1. Smith-Merry, et al. (2018) Mind the Gap: The National Disability Insurance Scheme and psychosocial disability. Final Report: Stakeholder identified gaps and solutions. University of Sydney: Lidcombe
2. Donetto, et al. (2015) Experience-based Co-design and Healthcare Improvement: Realizing Participatory Design in the Public Sector, The Design Journal
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