Alfred Health, Ramsay Health Care and Goulburn Valley Health
The challenge at hand
The Royal Commission in Victoria’s Mental Health System recommended the establishment of a state-wide women’s inpatient mental health service. A public-private partnership between Alfred Health, Ramsay Health Care and Goulburn Valley Health (referred to as the Partnership) was commissioned to design and run this service across Victoria.
Impact Co. was engaged by the partnership to co-design the new service with women (including individuals who are trans and gender diverse) to ensure that commissioned service would be fit-for-purpose.
“It has truly been a cathartic process to reflect on a consumer experience that I had to date not fully allowed myself to explore, nor considered that I would have the opportunity to improve for others.”
How we helped
Impact Co. undertook an intensive 12-week co-design process with women with lived experience, health professionals, architects and peak bodies in the mental health sector to determine the design parameters for the new service.
The co-design process commenced with sessions dedicated to providing the space for the co-design participants to get to know one another and the facilitators involved, and for Impact Co. and the partnership members to be transparent about the scope, timeframes and limitations of the co-design process. This was critical in demonstrating authenticity and building trust with the people involved,
The impact
The output from the co-design process was extensively validated with the people involved. And the insights from our workshops and focus groups were provided to the partnership organisations and integrated into the model of care underpinning the new service.
Some quotes from the our design workshops with people with lived and living experience(s) are provided below to highlight the experience of participants:
“I'm taking away a sense of hope for future developments and real impacts and I'm leaving feeling honoured to have met so many strong women, despite their trauma.”
“I think this group has given me some closure of my psychosis experience. It’s nearly coming up to the 1-year anniversary. Nice to end it on a positive note. And hope to help with these types of things in the future.”
“I'm taking a full heart and the knowledge that everyone's journey is different but we can all make a positive contribution to women’s mental health.”
*Names have been changed for privacy reasons.
Impact Co. acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which our offices stand, and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge their continuing relationship to this land, its waterways and seas and the ongoing living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia. This land always was and always will be the land of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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East Melbourne VIC 3002