Just in time for Christmas, we were thrilled to hear that Carli Sheers, one of our health consumer members, is a co-author on a recently published article in the Medical Education journal.
Through the Consumer and Community Involvement Program, Carli has been working with Associate Professor Gabrielle Brand on the Depth of Field: Exploring Minds, Hearts and Voice project (funded by Healthway) for several years.
This stream of the Depth of Field research program explores the lived experience of being diagnosed with a mental health issue. The works provide a reflective learning resources for mental health practitioners, students and others to surface unexplored stereotypes in order to move beyond diagnosis to a more humanistic model of care.
Carli and Gabrielle continue to work on the project to deepen this collaboration between health consumer and researcher, including Carli as a facilitator of the Depth of Field Workshops and now also co-authoring an article with the research team.
“I have delivered workshops for UWA Podiatry, Social Work and Pharmacy students as part of their curriculum in 2020. Feedback from participants has been positive and early research data shows that the educational resource is shifting attitudes and promoting empathy and reflective practice within students,” says Carli.
The article: A research approach for co-designing education with healthcare consumers, explores a methodological approach to embedding consumers and community in health professions education, with a particular focus on how this approach is being used to improve mental health education and practice in Australia.
“The research team co-designed the paper and effectively engaged and worked together as equals to achieve better outcomes for people whose lives are affected by mental health issues,” she says.
“Involvement in this projects has been life-changing for me. I feel proud to be published for the first-time in a peer-reviewed journal, and achieve my long term career goal of becoming an educator.”
Congratulations to the team involved in the article’s development: Associate Professor Gabrielle Brand, Carli Sheers, Steve Wise, Assistant Professor Liza Seubert, Professor Rhonda Clifford, Pamela Griffiths and Associate Professor Christopher Etherton-Beer.
The article can be found online at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/medu.14411