A $3.2 million grant from Lotterywest will allow the highly successful Consumer Involvement Program of The Kids Research Institute Australia and UWA School of Population Health to be expanded to 18 other WA organisations.
The grant to the WA Health Translation Network (WAHTN), announced yesterday by Minister for Health John Day, will see the program rolled out to the WAHTN's 18 partner agencies.
Program Manager Anne McKenzie was thrilled with the grant announcement and thanked Lotterywest for the opportunity it provided to share the Program's success to more health organisations across WA.
"Many people have contributed to making the Consumer Involvement Program the great program that it is today," said Ms McKenzie.
"I'm really excited that we can grow it further by establishing the world-first Consumer and Community Health Research Network within WAHTN and its partner agencies which includes universities, hospitals and medical research institute.
"This new network will give consumers a greater voice in the direction of health research and it will really make a difference to research and health outcomes."
The UWA School of Population Health and The Kids Research Institute Australia supported and championed the development of an Involvement Program back in 1998. Today, it is recognised as a best-practice model across Australia and in other countries such as the UK, Canada and the USA.
The Consumer Involvement Program brings together consumers, community members and researchers to make decisions about health research priorities, policy and practice.
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