Why Undertake Community Engagement
In the Divisions context, Community Engagement refers to the connections between Divisions and our ‘communities of interest’ i.e. our GP members, general practices, other organisations as well as our local communities and citizens. Division's can undertake community engagement for many reasons including consulting on a range of policy, program and service issues. Community engagement encompasses a wide variety of interactions, ranging from information sharing to community consultation and, in some instances, active participation in decision-making processes.
Community engagement occurs within the Divisions context at many different levels, for example at the project level, i.e when a one-off community engagement process is conducted such as obtaining consumer input into the developement of a project pamphlet. It also takes place at the program level, when a sequence of community engagement activities contributes to the development or delivery of policies, programs or services.
A variety of terms and concepts are associated with community engagement. 'Communities of interest' refer to:
A group of people, wherever and whoever they are, who might have some role to play in making a better decision. It includes those from inside an organisation (internal stakeholders) and those from outside (external stakeholders) (Reference - IAP2).
The Commonwealth government is “committed to encouraging a stronger, more active role for consumers at all levels of the health system”. Divisions are required to report against it as a national indicator.
(Ref – GPDV policy paper no. 20 Consumer – Community Connections & DGP’s)
The IAP2 Spectrum of Public Particpation provides a framework for determining what level of particpation you are aiming to achieve.
