Office of the Public AdvocateEmpowering people with disability to participate as fully as possible in making decisions about their own health is now an additional focus for OPA's Healthy Discussions Project, aimed at improving communication between health practitioners and people with disability.
While the voice of people with lived experience has always been at the heart of the project, most of the resources and information sessions so far have been aimed at health practitioners, social workers and those studying to work in the sector.
This work continues, with the Healthy Discussions Project working collaboratively with the University of Melbourne, OPA's Lived Experience Advisory Committee and others to develop a training module to pilot with health students. It is also reaching out to other tertiary institutions and health networks.
In addition, the project team is now focussing on developing presentations and resources to empower people with disability to participate as fully as possible in making decisions about their medical treatment. It presented at this year's Having a Say conference, an annual event run by and for people with disability, and is reaching out to disability advocacy organisations.
In addition to the Healthy Discussions Project, OPA is running a Supported Discussions Project aimed at promoting less restrictive alternatives to guardianship to social workers, support coordinators and other professionals.
It has been extremely heartening to see the level of interest in this. The feedback from these sessions highlights the chronic need for properly funded individual advocacy and supported decision-making services to ensure that guardianship is only resorted to when there is no other way to safeguard the human rights of a person with disability.
If you would like more information or to get involved, please contact the Healthy Discussions and Supported Discussions teams at [email protected]
