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UOW Health Innovations Consumer and Community Research Network

Register your interest

Have you experienced health issues and healthcare as a patient or carer?

At UOW Health Innovations Research Centre, we are committed to better understanding health issues and healthcare by partnering with consumers (that is, members of the public) and the community. That is why we have created the UOW Health Innovations Consumer & Community Research Network.

We would love to hear about your lived experience — it is the starting point for achieving our vision to enhance the wellbeing of people and communities worldwide. Register Your Interest to become involved, so your valuable input can make a difference.

Your role as a consumer

If you sign up to join our network as a consumer, you may be invited to assist with:

Being informed by researchers. Information provided may be about health conditions, rights and responsibilities, health services or programs. This may be in the form of brochures, videos, community stalls or websites.

Giving us feedback. This could be about services, experiences, resources or programs.  Feedback may be via conversations, focus groups or surveys.

Providing advice about what is working and not working, and plans for the future. Topics may include research priorities and how to recruit participants and disseminate results via workshops or forums.

Being partners in shared decision making about your care and health services via committees, workshops, forums and working groups. 

Working, learning and reflecting together to plan and deliver activities, resources or services. This can be referred to as 'consumer-led’ research.

Trialling a new program, service, product or treatment type. This allows researchers to collect data on new ways to deliver health care or methods of treating certain health conditions.

What happens when you register your interest?

Step one 

Register via our online form - you will be added to our secure database 

Step two

You will receive a confirmation email - Welcome to the UOW Health Innovations Consumer and Community Research Network 

Step three

If an opportunity becomes available we will contact you directly using the details you provide when you register 

Step four

You can keep in touch by signing up to our newsletter. This is optional when you register your interest. 

Hear from our consumers and community partners

Jo Spicer

Jo Spicer

“Two separate cancer diagnoses and treatment became the catalyst for my involvement as a consumer in research. By adding my voice to others who have lived experience, we can together provide the perspective and knowledge to help improve the lives of everyone in our community.”

Channah wears a pink and white checked shirt

Channah

"Consumers in research bring such a meaningful contribution to each project. In a space that is usually reserved for the collection and analysis of data, the human voice needs to heard.

If someone has personal (lived) experience and they are able to identify and offer real world examples to help the research team, the benefits are boundless. I know my voice as a consumer holds value and assisting in research enables change, growth and continued striving toward excellence.”

Judith

Judith

"I have always had an interest in health research and after I retired, I became a health consumer rep. During this time an opportunity came my way to be a co-researcher on a project that related to my lived experience of a health issue. 

I would highly recommend consumers to take the opportunity to participate in health-related research that interests you, as you can provide a different way of looking at the research project that can benefit the safety and quality of patient care.”

Frequently asked questions

Your opinion matters to us. It is your right to share your experiences and contribute to improving the quality of health care and services. Being involved as a consumer provides you with an opportunity to partner with researchers and engage in conversations. This will guide improvement to how health care and services are provided to you and your community.

Register your interest via our online form. When you sign up you will also have the option to subscribe to our newsletter and respond to any project that is of interest to you.

No, registering as a consumer is free. There are no costs associated with joining or using the UOW Health Innovations Consumer & Community Research Network.

The information you choose to provide will be collected and securely stored in line with our privacy policy. This information will only be accessed by relevant members of the Health Innovations team to contact you regarding opportunities. We will not share your information with anyone outside our organisation unless we have your permission. Researchers will only be provided with your name and contact details. No further information will be provided without your permission.

For further information about UOW's commitment to protecting your privacy, please visit the UOW Privacy webpage.

It is your choice on how you want to become involved.  Different projects involve different roles. You will be provided with an overview of the role and responsibilities when you contact a researcher about participating in a project.

The time commitment depends on the project. Some projects involve a one-off commitment while others involve an ongoing regular commitment. The researcher will provide you with an estimated time commitment when you contact them about participating in a project.

You can be involved in as few or as many projects as you would like. 

This depends on the project. We have various opportunities available, both in person, online, or a mixture of both. The researcher will provide you with this information when you contact them about participating in a project.

No, we are interested in partnering with consumers from across Australia. However, please ensure you understand the location and/or travel commitments of a project before agreeing to participate.

Sometimes – it depends on the project. The researcher will provide you with this information when you contact them about participating in a project. 

No. However, some projects may require specific skills which will be outlined by the researcher.

Yes. The researcher will provide you with this information when you contact them about participating in a project.

We understand circumstances outside of your control can happen. Please contact us with as much notice as possible to let us know of your absence. You can do this via emailing the researcher who organised the commitment with you.

Please email us at uowhi-network@uow.edu.au and a member of our team would be happy to help provide you with further information or answer any questions you may have. 

Please email our team at uowhi-network@uow.edu.au and request to be unsubscribed and your information removed from our platform.

Partner with us

We have a large team of people working towards better health and healthcare. Discover some of our wonderful researchers to find out more about their work and reach out to our team with your enquiries.

uowhi-network@uow.edu.au
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