Welcoming diverse consumer and survivor views and voices into mental health

About this Event

The mental health system is not good at welcoming diversity. Many groups who are disproportionately impacted by the mental health system have their voices left out, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices, people from culturally diverse background, and older people. However, there is another aspect of diversity which is frequently forgotten: people with diverse experiences of the system.

Increasingly, consumers and survivors are being included in mental health sector projects. However, despite some positive shifts, engagement processes often employ the tokenistic curation of ‘convenient’ consumer/survivor views and voices, while other views and voices are excluded.

In this talk, Indigo Daya will present a conceptual model which explains how diverse experiences of treatment and care often map onto distinctly different views about the nature of experiences, services, and reform. Indigo will explore ways the model can be applied in practice, including in the context of the recent Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.