Our Expertise
We have expertise in all areas of consumer participation and consultation, health service infrastructure and design, policy review and development, consumer driven research, and health literacy.
Consumer Participation and Involvement
We can provide information and advice about how to effectively involve consumers and facilitate consumer participation in health service organisations. Please contact the Consumer Participation team on 6230 7800 to discuss your request.
Training for Consumer Representatives
We offer training for consumer representatives for health service organisations. Our list of upcoming trainings can be found on our training page. Please contact the Consumer Participation team at HCCA for more information, or to discuss a custom training event for your organisation.
Health Infrastructure
HCCA has expertise in consumer needs in health infrastructure. We can advise on new building work or retrofit/ renovation projects and assess existing infrastructure for consumer issues and improvements.
Consultation
We can advise on and facilitate consultation with consumers for health service organisations and non-government organisations. This can include consumer focus groups, interviews and surveys.
Training for Health Service Staff
We can provide training for health service staff and students on all aspects of consumer participation and involvement. Please contact the HCCA office for more information and how we can customise training for your organisation.
Research
We undertake research into consumer experiences of health care. You can see some of our research publications on our publications page.
HCCA supports consumer participation in research and conducts research into the consumer experience of health and social care. We promote and share opportunities for consumers and community members to participate in research – this includes in governance and advisory roles, as co-researchers and as participants in research projects.
We offer good practice advice to researchers seeking to involve consumers and community members.
HCCA also supports the translation and dissemination of research findings to consumer and community audiences.
HCCA can provide consumer experience research and consultation activities on a consultancy basis. Our areas of focus include qualitative research design, co-design processes, consumer interviews, focus groups and workshops, and the design, promotion and analysis of consumer surveys. We can also assist with plain English translations of research documents.
For more information contact our Manager Research and Projects at [email protected] or phone 02 6230 7800.
Advice on Health Literacy
We provide health service organisations with advice about improving health literacy for consumers and staff. We can review health information such as electronic and printed resources, and assess environmental health literacy such as wayfinding and signage. Please contact the HCCA office to discuss your needs and how we can help.
Consumer resource review
HCCA’s staff and consumer representatives can review health information resources such as consumer handouts, booklets, forms and webpages. This service is free to ACT government health services, not-for-profit health organisations and community organisations. Federal and interstate inquiries are welcome, but may be subject to capacity.
Before you ask us to review a consumer resource
We strongly recommend:
- Check it against the tips in our Writing Clear Health Information factsheet or use the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT)
- Check the readability score of your text and edit it to be as close as possible to Grade 8. You can use a tool such as Hemingway app or the SHeLL editor.
- If you are part of Canberra Health Services , please make sure you have followed the internal handout development guidelines, tone of voice guide and templates – this avoids multiple rounds of review.
Handouts with a very high readability grade or significant formatting issues may be sent back to be edited before we can share them with consumer reviewers. This is out of respect for our reviewers’ time and to ensure that you get meaningful feedback from consumers with different health literacy levels.
How long does it take?
HCCA staff can usually provide editing and suggestions on early drafts within 2-4 weeks. Consumer review (by volunteers from HCCA’s membership) can take 4-6 weeks depending on the complexity of your resource.
What do we need to know?
When sending us a resource to review, please tell us:
- The length of the resource,
- The intended audience,
- When you need the feedback,
- Whether you are seeking review/advice from our staff only, or
- If you want consumers to review it and if so, how many?
Please send your request and these details to [email protected] or call 02 6230 7800 and ask to speak to our Health Literacy Officer.