What We Do

  Lived experience not only fosters empathy and deep understanding, but it also helps drive innovation... It brings a patient-centred perspective to new initiatives... and, shared with others, it can improve experiences of care in the future.

Voices for Palliative Care is a consumer-led collaborative of people with lived experience of serious illness or caregiving. Each member has a personal story, and a desire to make a difference, that has led them to this group.

Together, Voices is committed and passionate about improving care for people with serious illness, broadening community awareness about the benefits available from the early referral to and involvement of palliative care and advocating for change to enhance experiences at the end of life.

Voices partners with various stakeholders to contribute consumer perspectives to initiatives across research, clinical practice, education, policy, and media.

Our goal is to amplify the voice of lived experience to improve experiences with palliative and end-of-life care.

Voices was established in 2022, co-developed with researchers from St Vincent's Hospital and The University of Melbourne. Voices now works with several clinical and academic partners to successfully provide consumer perspectives across a range of initiatives.

The Voices current program is supported by a grant from the Wicking Trust and is overseen by a partnership between The University of Melbourne and St Vincent's Hospital.

Why Consumer Involvement?

There is growing recognition that consumer and community involvement improves the quality, relevance and impact of health research and health services. While varying definitions exist, consumer and community involvement (also known as public involvement) broadly requires an active partnership between researchers and community members who have a lived experience relevant to the phenomenon under study.

Voices responds to evidence which highlights the need to transform current health systems in line with consumer and community priorities, to empower the workforce with the knowledge and skills needed to integrate consumer voices; translate research into tangible outcomes, amplify consumer voices within the policy setting; and drive culture change across our community to deliver more positive experiences of wellbeing and personhood for those with serious illness.

How to Engage with Voices

You can choose to work with individual Voices members based on their expertise and experience or engage with the entire group for a more global perspective. The group holds a consultation workshop approximately every two months, which you are welcome to attend to pitch an idea and seek potential input from members to help inform your research project or initiative. Voices members are also available for individual consultations and ongoing partnerships on projects.

Our Principles of Engagement

• Engaging with Voices represents a collaborative partnership built on mutual respect between consumers and researchers, while fostering a bilateral exchange of perspectives.
• Engaging with Voices signifies a mutual commitment to meaningful collaboration. This group will provide you with their detailed and well-considered feedback, as well as their intellectual property, to assist you with your project design, on the understanding that their contribution will be acknowledged.
• Initial engagement with Voices marks the commencement of an ongoing relationship, allowing for continued involvement from the start of your project until its completion.
• Consulting Voices can help connect you with the most appropriate consumer(s) for your project, while fostering an ongoing partnership between the consumer and researcher.