Consumer participation audit tool

Did you know that at their core, the principles of consumer participation relate to human rights, health outcomes, relationships, service delivery, as well as accreditation and legal issues?
NADA has developed the ‘Consumer participation audit tool: User guide & tools’, to support membership with gauging where they are currently situated in relation to consumer participation in service delivery, policy and program development, access and equity, and capacity building.
Download this resource [DOCX]

NADA is committed to supporting members in applying principles of best practice when working with people with a history of drug and alcohol use. This practical resource supports consumers, workers and organisations to improve the inclusiveness of service delivery in order to provide balanced and equitable services.
The importance and benefits of participation for consumers and services alike cannot be over emphasised. Benefits are inclusive of improved outcomes for individuals, staff, organisations and the broader community and can be categorised into health-related, socially beneficial and organisationally supportive.
Consumer participation is beneficial on a variety of levels and for a range of stakeholders. Examples include:

inclusion in decisions which impact on an individual’s health and wellbeing are both an ethical and human right

improvements in the quality of the services available, lead to increases in service users’ satisfaction with, subsequent retention in, and adherence to treatment
improvements in relationships between consumers and staff leads to greater degrees of trust, satisfaction and morale.

Evaluation
Download NADA’s Consumer Participation Project evaluation [PDF]
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