Development of a Self-Advocacy Resource for Consumer's Mental and Physical Health Needs

Introduction: People living with mental and physical health concerns are less likely to have their health needs met, resulting in preventable morbidity and mortality. To address this problem, Equally Well Australia have been funded by the federal government to co-produce a health resource to support people living with mental and physical health concerns to have their healthcare needs met.

Methods: Over 12 months, the research team recruited and met regularly with a co-design group of people living with physical and mental health concerns. The co-design group was responsible for making decisions related to the conduct and direction of the research. The co-design group co-constructed a brief for a professional web developer to develop the resource.

Results: The resource developed by the consumer group focuses on prompts for users to identify and speak up about their health needs to clinicians. Members of the co-design group identified regular health checks, medication review, and broad socio-cultural wellbeing as integral to managing physical and mental health needs and consequently, these have been reflected in the resource. Strategies were also included to manage difficult interactions, or to manage not having needs met during appointments.

Discussion: The co-production process resulted in a resource that reflects the needs of those intended to use it. This may increase uptake, authentically reflect needs and gaps in care for individuals living with physical and mental health concerns, and promote better health outcomes and collaborative care.

Conclusion: Consumers engaged in the project shared their values and challenges and made decisions about how these should be reflected in the resource. For this reason, the resource and the associated research should be considered a meaningful contribution to resolving health inequality for people living with mental illness.