Lived Experience Engagement
We amplify and celebrate lived and living experiences of mental health challenges and recovery – we make sure that diverse experiences are seen.
A key part of the engagement strategy was establishing a Lived Experience Advisor (LEA) Network, which consists of people with lived and living experiences from across Victoria who are interested in using their expertise to work alongside us in improving services, research, and education across the Campus. Recruiting people for the Network involved a lot of partnership and relationship building, and we are excited to say that we now have over 1300 LEAs in our Network. In the first four months of engagement, the Network has facilitated over 3000 applications to collaborate with family centred care, research, guideline development, care pathways, trauma informed preventative care, and evaluation.
“My role as a Lived Experience Advisor is supportive and validating and I particularly appreciate the diversity and eclectic voices of other Lived Experience Advisors, health professionals, and researchers. Together, I truly believe we are a force and can make a sustainable difference at the Campus in creating inclusive, holistic and meaningful change.”- Lived Experience Advisor.
“My sincere thanks to the Lived Experience Advisors for sharing their experiences and expertise. They provide clinicians with a different lens through which to reflect and learn. Therein we can continue to know better and do better for the children and families we work with. Together, we can action authentic, positive change, which could not be achieved without lived expertise.” - Campus Staff Member.
Language
It is important to use chosen language of people with lived and living experience of mental health and recovery so we can communicate clearly and respectfully with each other. The Strategy uses the term of “people with lived and living experience” or “people with LLEx” to describe people who identify as:
- someone with personal experience with mental health challenges and recovery; and/or,
- someone with experience in caring for and supporting a person with mental health challenges and recovery.
Putting LLEx at the very heart of the work of Mental Health Strategy ensures we develop, implement, and evaluate services and policies that best support children, young people, families, and carers to be healthy, safe, and able to lead a life they value.
The engagement opportunities vary in frequency, area of interest, and along the engagement continuum.
Examples of our LLEx work
The Children’s Mental Health Gallery showcases creative expressions of mental health experiences. This includes visual, audio, and written expressions.
We believe in the power of creativity to raise awareness and create hope. From managing triumphs and hurdles, to bringing attention to little-known experiences – we want to make sure that diverse experiences are seen.
The Gallery was established in 2022, with an inaugural online exhibition.
In 2023, we hosted an exhibition in-person at the Royal Children’s Hospital. With a select group of 20 artists, we curated an exhibition to explore lived and living experiences.
The 2023 exhibition is available for online viewing, and includes podcast episodes that feature interviews with each artist.
Childhood Anxiety Guide that was developed first as an evidence-based Clinical Practice Guideline for clinicians, which is the first of its kind. Our LEAs were involved in the Advisory Group and Guideline Development Group that championed this. From this, we ran a series of Co-Design workshops to co-design a guide for families and carers, which distilled the most important parts from the over 80-page Clinical Practice Guideline into an accessible and empowering guide for carers by carers.
We co-produced the LEA Rights and Responsibilities, which are based on lived experience values and human rights practices.