This page has information for people leading and taking part in engagement activities.

Find out how this guide was developed.

Watch video: consumers, carers, community and staff explore access and welcome.

Check you've covered the essentials.

On this page

What we mean

We* make everyone welcome. We’re hospitable and caring in physical and virtual spaces. We communicate in ways we all understand. We understand what’s getting in the way of people taking part and remove those barriers.

Without accessibility and welcome

When people don’t feel welcome, they don’t stay involved. If we make it hard for people to take part, we lose out on many views and ideas.

What to expect: consumers, carers and communities

As consumers, carers and communities, you can expect to:

  • be warmly welcomed
  • be asked about what you need to take part
  • have facilitators make changes so you stay included
  • have your correct pronouns[1] used 
  • have a few choices on where, when and how to engage
  • have time to think and prepare ahead of activities and meetings
  • have an accessible place way to meet (in person or online) [2]
  • have digital meetings use captions, transcripts and sign language where needed
  • have different ways to contribute (writing, pictures, speaking, SMS or something else)
  • not feel like you’re a problem asking for more access.

What facilitators and meeting Chairs can do

Here are some actions you can take across the engagement process. We share a few resources below.

When planning:

  • Use the Plan questions and Essentials checklist.
  • Talk with advocates and community organisations about what you need to plan for.
  • Consider facilitating with a consumer, carer or community member who knows more about accessibility than you do.
  • Know how to access Auslan and other interpreter services.
  • Use different ways to get information, make things and make decisions.

When inviting and supporting people to be included:

  • Use the Explore access and inclusion questions. 
  • Do your homework about different communities’ access needs.
  • Let consumers, carers and communities know what you’re putting in place for access, provide other options and invite them to share other access needs. Here’s an example of how to do this.
  • Make it a part of all processes to ask about access needs. Here’s an example.
  • Talk with consumers, carers and communities about what they need to take part. Don’t assume.
  • Give people permission to do what they need (for example, leave the room, turn cameras off, bring a support person/pet).
  • Use technology to enable participation by people who can’t attend in person.
  • Consider what you can share with people in advance so they can come prepared to contribute.
  • Consider a rough welcome video introducing yourself, the project and what people can expect. Here’s an example from the design process that created All of Us.[3]

When doing and deciding:

  • Start slow. Build relationships and trust.
  • Respect Aboriginal cultural protocols and ways of being. [4][5]
  • Create a safe space away from the main activity (for example, a quiet room separate from a large forum or a quiet virtual room)
  • Give people permission to access the safe space whenever they need to.
  • Give people choices about how to participate (for example, individually or in groups, using writing, drawing, speaking or something else, taking time away from a session/meeting to think).

When reviewing and learning:

  • Ask for feedback from participants – for example, who had access and who didn’t? What helped people feel welcome?
  • Use what you hear to build your practice and improve next time.
  • Review how welcome people felt. What helped or got in the way? What could be done to improve?

What’s not okay

What’s not okay is:

  • only thinking about one kind of accessibility (such as physical access)
  • expecting consumers to dress, act, participate or talk like staff to be welcome
  • making consumers feel like they’re a problem asking for more access
  • putting the costs of access (such as live captioning) onto communities or individuals
  • only communicating in one way with no other options (pictures, a rough video, a chat, something else)
  • shaming people who use fidgets, knit, move around, need time off camera or stim. [6]

Resources to support you

References

  1. ACON (n.d.). Transhub -What are pronouns?
  2. Consumer Leaders in Health Collective. (2022). Statement of Aims. Unpublished.
  3. Beyond Sticky Notes. (2022). Welcome to the Design Crew. 
  4. Agency for Clinical Innovation NSW. (n.d.). Working together with Aboriginal communities.
  5. Emerging Minds. (n.d.). Principles to practice: Beginning to see the door
  6. New South Wales Department of Education. (2020). Our disability strategy: An  advocate's tips to engage better with those on the spectrum.

*We: Includes consumers, carers, staff, volunteers and anyone else working in local health districts (LHDs) and specialty health networks (SHNs), at the Ministry of Health, across the NSW pillar agencies and other NSW Health organisations. The use of this language is deliberate to show the collective effort required by all of us

Current as at: Monday 17 April 2023
Contact page owner: Patient Experience