Part 6.
Important Resources, Templates and Examples
Resources and Templates
Co-Design and Engagement:
- Lived Experience Engagement Framework – Shelter WA
- Working Together Toolkit – Mental Health Commission WA
- Co-Design and Action Kit – WA Alliance to End Homelessness
- Co-Design Review: Literature and Practice – WA Alliance to End Homelessness
- Co-Design Toolkit – WACOSS
- Co-Design Toolkit – People with Disabilities (PwDWA)
- Co-Design and Mental Health Policy – Mental Health Australia
- Lived Expertise Practice Framework – Mission Australia
- You Matter: A guideline to support engagement with consumers, carers, communities and clinicians in health – WA Department of Health
- Principles & Best Practice Strategies for Consumer Engagement in the Alcohol and Other Drugs Sector – Health Consumers Council WA.
- Minditj Kaart-Moorditj Kaart Framework: A Spiritual Journey of Change is a guide for understanding and working together with Nyoongar people – Telethon Kids Institute
- Lived Experience Engagement Toolkit – Homeless Hub Canada
- Youth Participation Kit – Department of Communities WA
- Service User Involvement and Co-Production Guide – Clinks UK
Support and Trauma:
- Talking About Trauma Guide – Blue Knot (trauma helpline and referral service on 1300 657 380 or via email on helpline@blueknot.org.au)
- Peer Workforce Development Guidelines – Mental Health Commission WA
- Mental Health First Aid Resources – Mental Health First Aid Australia
- Empathetic Co-Designing Together – Wina Smeenk
- Activating Lived Experience – Sunny Dhadley
Auditing:
- Co-design Audit Tool – NESTA and New Economics Foundation
Readiness Check:
- Readiness Check Resources – Lifeline
Risks and Mitigation:
- Community Services Risk Workbook – Department of Finance WA
Remuneration:
- Consumer, Family, Carer and Community Paid Partnership Policy – WA Mental Health Commission
- Lived Experience Partnership Payments Policy – Western Australian Association for Mental Health (WAAMH)
- A Guide to Consumer Remuneration – Safer Care Victoria
- Working with our Patient and Public Voice Partners – NHS UK
Training and Practices:
- Co-design, mental health, and other training – Western Australian Association for Mental Health (WAAMH)
- Peer work, support, and other training – Consumers of Mental Health WA
- Accidental counsellor, team building and other training – Relationships WA
- Public speaking, mental health, team building and other training – Evolve
- Mental Health First Aid Training – Mental Health First Aid Australia
- Youth-focused training – YACWA
- Consumer involvement training – Health Consumers’ Council WA
Exercises and Activities:
- Co-Design and Action Kit (Storyboards, journey and system mapping, concept exercises, and more) – WA Alliance to End Homelessness
- Co-Design Workshop Techniques – North Cott Innovation
Evaluation:
- Outcomes Measurement and Evaluation Framework – Western Australian Alliance to End Homelessness
- User Guide for Measuring and Evaluating Partnering with Consumers – National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS)
Examples of Lived Experience Co-Design
Below are examples of lived experience co-design and engagement undertaken by agencies:[1]
NEAMI National: Way2Home / Street to Home
NEAMI programs support people with complex needs who are sleeping rough in Sydney and Melbourne. The service adopts a housing first approach, which focuses on helping people access and sustain long-term supported housing solutions. NEAMI decided to establish peer support and mentor worker programs for people with lived experience advocates to act as peer advisors, supporting the project and the people on the streets, achieving better outcomes for people and NEAMI’s services. Outreach workers also directly engage with people on the streets offering assistance and case management. NEAMI co-designed the development of this program with people who have lived experience where possible to ensure it was people-centred and of high standards in its operations.
This is one of the first peer support programs for people experiencing homelessness in Australia, and programs such as this are highly recommended to undertake for organisations seeking to improve their services and support for people and achieve better organisational outcomes by working with people who have lived experience of the issue.
More Information: https://www.neaminational.org.au/homefulness
Western Australian Association of Mental Health WAAMH (WA): Lived Experience Partnership Practice
Over the last few years, the Western Australian Association for Mental Health (WAAMH) has been working closely with consumer and carer partners to improve their lived experience partnership (LEP) practice. This work has included:
- Governance and Leadership: Lived Experience Partnership WAAMH Board Subcommittee
- Policy: Lived Experience Partnership Payments Policy, plus WAAMH have a Lived Experience Partnership Operational Policy in development.
- Practice Integration: This has included strengthening consumer, carer and family input into WAAMH operations such as Steering Committees.
- Projects with a strong lived experience component (i.e. Increasing Member Participation: Advocacy and Co-production Training (IMPACT) project.)
More Information: https://waamh.org.au/sector-development-and-training
City of Melbourne – StreetCount
The City of Melbourne in partnership with a variety of community organisations have conducted ‘StreetCount’, a local Government program with the intention of improving the understanding of the population of people experiencing homelessness in the City of Melbourne and to assist the local Government in developing new pathways into secure housing.
The Council to Homeless Persons Peer Education and Support Program (PESP) team were crucial to the project as they worked as key advisors throughout the StreetCount from both a practical and philosophical standpoint, as well as sharing their stories of rough sleeping with volunteers during training, which helped give meaning and purpose to the StreetCount. Their generosity and honesty helped give meaning and purpose to the StreetCount. PESP members also worked to promote the event with homelessness support agencies and participated in the StreetCount itself.
More Information: https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/community/health-support-services/social-support/what-we-are-doing/Pages/streetcount.aspx
RUAH and WACOSS: Voices for Change
The Voices for Change advocacy program amplifies the voice of people with lived experience of domestic violence, mental health issues and homelessness through quality three-day training and subsequent support in sharing their personal stories about the experience and impact of these issues in the media, at forum, and beyond.
More information: http://www.wacoss.org.au/wp- content/uploads/2019/01/Ruah-Voices-For-Change.pdf
Beyond Blue – Speaker’s Bureau
Beyond Blue have a lived experience volunteer speaker’s bureau that offer services free of charge to organisations and the community. The sharing of personal stories of anxiety and depression from Beyond Blue speakers are a powerful means of raising awareness, reducing stigma and encouraging people to take action. Speakers are provided comprehensive support and training, selecting speaker requests received by Beyond Blue that they feel comfortable enacting.
More Information: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-involved/our-speakers-bureau
North West Aboriginal Housing Fund
The North-West Aboriginal Housing Fund is a $200 million initiative that aims to create pathways towards social and economic independence and wellbeing for Aboriginal people in the Pilbara and Kimberley. As part of this project, government-owned houses will be project will be repurposed as transitional housing. Support services for the houses are being co-designed with local Aboriginal organisations.
More information: https://regionalservicesreform.wa.gov.au/pr/north-west-aboriginal-housing-fund
Vinnies WA Consumer Committee
St Vincent de Paul Society have an active “Consumer Committee” that includes clients with lived experience of homelessness. This committee contributes to the ongoing improvement of services at Vinnies and is involved in design projects like the creation of a new brochure. The Vinnies Consumer Committee initiative won the Tenant Led Initiative Award at the 2019 Professional Excellence in Housing Awards.
More Information: https://www.vinnies.org.au/
Government of Western Australia – Assisted Rental Pathways Pilot
The Assisted Rental Pathways Pilot explored an innovative, service-focussed package to offer eligible social housing tenants and waitlist applicants supported opportunities in the private rental market. In 2016, the Housing Authority (Housing) partnered with the Western Australian Council of Social Service (WACOSS) and Shelter WA, to work with community services organisations to co-design the Pilot, drawing on the sector’s expertise in delivering tailored support services for different client groups. The co-design process involved a series of three forums with these organisations to develop an understanding of the best way to support participants to become self-sustaining in the private housing market by the end of the Pilot”.
More Information: http://www.housing.wa.gov.au/SHIPPilot
Lifeline (WA)
The Lifeline WA ‘Lived Experience Hub’ exists to provide a centralised peer network and accessible collective of lived experiences across Western Australia, consisting of Lived Experience Ambassadors, Lived Experience Speakers and a Lived Experience Advisory Group.
More information: https://www.lifelinewa.org.au/About-Us/Your-Stories
Groundswell (United Kingdom)
Groundswell have been supporting homeless people to be directly involved in delivering solutions to homelessness – including peer research, client involvement, and tackling the health inequalities associated with experience of homelessness. They support organisations to take peer led approaches to design and delivery of services and participatory methodology. Their work includes the ‘#HealthNow’ approach to tackling homeless health inequalities. Their award winning Homeless Health Peer Advocacy service supports homeless people to address their health needs, and their Insight and action programme that takes a radical grassroots approach to uncovering the issues faced by homeless people and crucially, develops achievable solutions.
More Information: https://groundswell.org.uk/
SANE – Peer Ambassador Program
SANE Peer Ambassadors are a group of people with lived experience who work with SANE to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and provide hope to Australians affected by complex mental illness by sharing their personal experience of living with, or supporting someone with a complex mental illness. They also help develop, deliver, and evaluate SANE’s programs and services. SANE provide comprehensive support and training to ambassadors so they can contribute their unique voice and authentic perspective to SANE’s work by speaking at public or workplace events, and engaging with corporate, government and non-government organisations, the media and broader community. There is a full time employed lived experience ‘lead’ co-ordinating the program and supporting ambassadors who are also regularly invited to contribute to advocacy and research projects, review resources and provide their insights through co-design or research projects.
More Information: https://www.sane.org/services/peer-ambassadors
St Mungo’s (United Kingdom)
St Mungo’s provide accommodation, outreach, health, recovery, and skill training services with a mission of ending homelessness. They work to significantly involve and co-design with clients and people who have lived experience of homelessness in their services, policy and advocacy, projects, and research. This has been achieved through a Client Advisory Group and other formalised groups of clients who are involved with the day-to-day running of our services.
More Information: https://www.mungos.org/?s=lived+experience
Ask Izzy (Australia)
Ask Izzy is a mobile website that connects people who are in crisis with the services they need right now and nearby. . “We worked with people with lived experience of homelessness, every step of the way and now they are at the centre of the promotion phase as well.”
More information: https://www.infoxchange.org/au/news/2019/03/ask-izzy-launches-new-features-help-people-affected-family-violence-find-support
[1] Western Australian Alliance to Ending Homelessness. 2020. ‘#EndHomelessness Review of Literature & Practice: Co-Design’. Perth: Centre for Social Impact.