— Lived Experience Research Initiatives
Innovative actions and or enterprises that support participatory research.
About
ACACIA is the ACT’s Consumer and Carer Mental Health Research Unit. We were established in 2013 with funding from ACT Health. We aim to undertake research which is relevant to and benefits the lives of mental health consumers and carers in the ACT. All of our research is conducted in partnership with consumers and carers. Our staff members and students are mental health consumers or carers with academic expertise and qualifications.
ACACIA also has an Advisory Group comprising local consumers and carers as well as the heads of the key ACT consumer and carer organisations. We work together with ACT consumers and carers to conduct research on the issues that are important to the ACT consumer and carer community.
About
The centre is a collective effort that harnesses the creative potential and research excellence of individuals, universities, primary and community care organisations to improve experiences of care and address life expectancy gaps of priority populations. We bring research, implementation and translation together.
The ALIVE lived-experience research collective will:
- Support research career development pathways through tailored training and mentor programs.
- Integrate lived-experience knowledge and expertise within mental health research and translation activities.
- Strengthen lived experience led research and leadership in the mental health research and workforce sectors.
Summary
A new national collaboration to transform the way mental health treatment is developed and tested will be led by Deakin University and key partners, with $12 million support from the Federal Government's Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
The Mental Health Australia General Clinical Trial Network (MAGNET) will start as a five-year project that will be funded through the MRFF's Million Minds Mission, as recently announced in the Federal Budget.
MAGNET includes researchers, consumer and carer groups, practitioner Colleges, research peak bodies, health systems and industry partners, insurers and Government agencies across all mental health conditions, from psychosis to eating disorders to addiction.
Community partnerships, enabled by a Consumer and Carer Participation Framework and First Nations, Cultural and Linguistically Diverse (CALD), and LGBTQIA Advisory Groups, will help put the lived experience of people with mental health conditions at the centre of research efforts, ensuring the clinical outcomes from that research are truly effective.