Abstract
User participation has been embraced worldwide as a means to provide better consumer outcomes in health and community care. However, methodologies to achieve effective consumer engagement at the programme design level have remained under-explored. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a Participatory Action Research (PAR)-inspired methodology used to develop a consumer-directed community care/individualised funding service model for people with disabilities. A retrospective analysis of case notes and internal reports for the first 6 years of an ongoing project were examined. The findings suggest that PAR methodologies need to take into account community development, group support, and capacity building as well as succession planning and risk management issues in order to facilitate the often lengthy policy and project development process. Drawing on these findings, this article discusses five lessons and their methodological implications for PAR in a health or social policy/programme design context.
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Notes
Programmes based on the philosophy of CDC, a term that emerged within the North American context, are elsewhere known under names such as flexible funding, individualised funding, self-management, cash for care, and independent living.
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The authors would like to thank an unnamed reviewer for her/his constructive comments on a previous draught.
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Ottmann, G., Laragy, C. & Damonze, G. Consumer Participation in Designing Community Based Consumer-Directed Disability Care: Lessons from a Participatory Action Research-Inspired Project. Syst Pract Action Res 22, 31–44 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-008-9110-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-008-9110-z