Engaging our community and consumers helps ensure we provide safe , effective and person-centred care that responds to the needs of our diverse communities .

We proudly partner with consumers ( clients ) and community members on committees , in working groups , research , programs and events to better understand their needs ; and design , deliver and promote our services .

Community participation and engagement is embedded across all levels of our organisation .

Building staff capacity , resuming more in-person activities and launching a Merri Health Consumer Advisory Committee were priorities this year .

Reporting our performance

We report our community engagement activities quarterly to track our performance . Merri Health has embraced ( and slightly adapted ) the Public Participation Spectrum developed by the International Association for Public Participation ( IAP2 ), to monitor how deeply we engage along the spectrum of inform to empower .

Engagement Power

Consumers / communities

Following a 26.5 % bounce in 2021 , the total number of recorded engagement activities returned to 2020 levels . COVID-19 significantly impacted engagement . Many in-person events were cancelled and some online activities were paused in response to ‘ online fatigue ’. Pleasingly , activities with deeper community involvement increased .

PARTNERING WITH CONSUMERS AND COMMUNITIES

* Note , reporting is by calendar year . Currently we do not collect individual participant data . One person may be represented multiple times , particularly where activities are re-occurring .

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