How to develop a community participation plan

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Introduction

A community participation plan is the key way that a community advisory committee provides strategic advice to their board. It shows how consumer, carer and community views will be integrated into the health service’s operations, planning and policy development. The plan is a partnership between your health service and the community. It is steered by your community advisory committee and approved by your board. Your plan is your blueprint for participation.

The plan needs to be based on three key actions:

1. building your capacity for participation
2. listening to your community and finding out what they need
3. working together to make it happen.

Using these three actions, this guide explains what should be included in your plan, when reporting to the Department of Human Services. You can also include other areas within your plan, but the sections outlined below should form the basis. This guide expands on the information provided in the Community advisory committee guidelines: non-statutory guidelines for metropolitan health services (Department of Human Services 2000). It also gives you tips and indicates where to find resources to help you develop your plan.

Your plan should be owned by the whole health service. It should be built on the principles of participation, and set in a quality and safety improvement framework. It is an expression of the health service’s commitment to consumer, carer and community participation, and will outline to the community:

• what participation means to the health service
• how the plan will be achieved
• who has responsibility for implementing activities within the plan
• how the outcomes of the plan will be reported.

This guide has been developed to assist Victorian public health services achieve the above aims.

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How to develop a community participation plan (233kb, pdf)

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