Lived Experience Forum

[chibam]

I thought I ought to share this link:

https://consultations.health.gov.au/mental-health-access-branch/nationalmentalhealthlivedexperiencec... 

It leads to a survey being conducted by the government to help them design their new "Consumer Peak Body" for mental health patients.

This will be the official organization that (hopefully) will speak for us in the highest tiers of mental health policy design and management. Those of you who have been watching the state of mental health policy know how important this is and how long we've been waiting for such meaningful recognition. So I think it's really important that we try to insure that it's set up right.

This survey is your chance to let the government know what you expect from this very important organization that, once established, will claim to be speaking on your behalf!

Don't leave it too long, though. The survey closes on the 27th of October!

[NatureLover]

Hi @chibam , this sounds great. I just have once concern: they ask to publish your name along with your answers.

I went through the initial pages of the survey, looking for where to opt out of having my name published. They asked for my name but didn't give an option of not having it published on the department's website. So I clicked out of the survey. 

[chibam]

That is a concern, @NatureLover .

I haven't done the survey myself yet. The front page does indicate that there are ways of indicating that you don't consent to having your name published alongside any answers you provide, and indeed that you may not even consent to having your answers published at all. Maybe those consent preferances are buried later in the form? I think I've filled out numerous forms over the years where publication consent questions have been right at the very end.

I'll let you know once I've gone through the form myself.

[Dimity]

I'll be interested in what you find re anonymity @chibam @NatureLover as potential publicity would deter me from responding/contributing too

[NatureLover]

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@chibam wrote:

The front page does indicate that there are ways of indicating that you don't consent to having your name published alongside any answers you provide, and indeed that you may not even consent to having your answers published at all. Maybe those consent preferances are buried later in the form? I think I've filled out numerous forms over the years where publication consent questions have been right at the very end.

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I thought this too, @chibam , but it hadn't popped up by the time it asked me for my name. Maybe it's possible to go through the whole survey but not have it saved if you click out at the end. I'll be interested to hear what you think when you do it...

I've had an unlikely thought - maybe it's made this way to discourage people? 

[Appleblossom]

I found something wrong with the website... @NatureLover @Dimity @chibam I clicked link, selected ... no publication of my name .... and then the next pages went on to gather a few personal details but NO QUESTIONS and then it signed me out as if I had completed the survey... now I have an official number in my email inbox for doing survey ... but the survey is empty ... weird!

[chibam]

@NatureLover  @Dimity  @Appleblossom  Just finished it. Right at the very end there's a multiple choice selector where you can choose to have your submission
1. Published with your name.
2. Published without your name.
3. Not published at all.

So if you want to remain anonymous, or even if you don't want your answers to be published at all, you can choose either of these options. 😁

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@Appleblossom wrote:

I found something wrong with the website... @NatureLover @Dimity @chibam I clicked link, selected ... no publication of my name .... and then the next pages went on to gather a few personal details but NO QUESTIONS and then it signed me out as if I had completed the survey... now I have an official number in my email inbox for doing survey ... but the survey is empty ... weird!

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Not sure what's gone wrong for you, @Appleblossom .🤔 I got the completion email. It included a link (down the bottom) to a PDF copy of my full submission. Did you get a similar link? Does your PDF contain your responses?

If there's been some sort of error filling out your form, the front page of the survey includes an email address. If you write to them, I'm sure they'll assist you in sorting the bug out.

[Appleblossom]

Thanks for getting back to me about it. @chibam I appreciate it.

I want to do both Lived Experience and Carer Surveys.  

Will go back and have another try when I have spare time.

[NatureLover]

Thanks @chibam , that's good to know! 👍