Page 135 - Experience Based Co-design - a toolkit for Australia

and semi-structured interviews were conducted with providers. Themes were extracted from the transcripts and a short film was created depicting the consumer experience. A joint co-design workshop was conducted with regional service providers and consumers in partnership in which the short film was viewed and priorities for improvement were identified. Surveys of all participants regarding the EBCD process were conducted. Response times and referral patterns between services were monitored before and after the intervention.
Three main projects were developed from the joint workshop
Design and develop consumer information
Design implement and evaluate a consistent post discharge follow up process Increase awareness and understanding of the role of the community mental health integration project
What was the impact?
Reflections
The project provided a forum in which consumers and staff collaborated to generate service improvements. The experience in this project was that EBCD is an effective means of capturing consumer and staff experiences, as it provided a framework for understanding the impact of duplication and fragmentation of care. It provided valuable insights into the experiences of consumers with complex mental, medical and social health care needs.
Approximately 50% of consumers approached agreed to participate in the EBCD project and positive consumer response was supported by evaluation survey results.
Those involved in filming, reviewing and editing the consumer interviews also reported how powerful it was to be directly involved in capturing consumers’ experiences and seeing them as ‘real people’.
Several staff who attended the joint workshop reported that it had been confronting to see the film for the first time. While the main purpose of the film in EBCD is to trigger discussion the result in this project was that most staff participants at the workshop spoke very little during the post-film discussion. A second workshop was held with staff to review the film and debrief the experience. Future projects might benefit from
All consumers reported
the new brochure would have improved their understanding and would be useful for new clients
a post discharge phone call would be useful (one raised the need for a readmission process if required)
the EBCD process was effective in involving them.
Analysis of referral patterns appeared to indicate improvements in appropriateness and timeliness.