A new approach to mental health education is giving power to those who have been "consumers" of the local system.
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Four short films give a powerful voice to people participating in a client-based theatre group at Gateway Health which are to be used as an online learning resource for education and training of others in the mental health workforce.
The project, titled Listening to Voices, was developed in collaboration between the participants, experts in health, education and the arts, and three partner organisations; Gateway Health, Charles Sturt University and the Three Rivers University Department of Rural Health.
And for Gateway Health's project manager Kate Fiske the new educational resource is a "real example of collaboration and listening to one another".
"Having people with lived experience at the centre of professional learning makes a valuable contribution toward services and systems that are helpful and recovery focused," she said.
"This time, their words matter, their experience matters. There's a power shift."
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The resource was launched on Thursday by a Zoom video conference, watched by more than 160 people, which included people from the education, health and human services sectors across Australia.
Performers in the series, which are given the title experts by experience, share their stories of navigating the mental health care system and include Ben Pearson, Kelly Bayley, Jain Thompson and Sarah Sewell.
"This is a message of hope and recovery and humanity to people who are going to be the healthcare professionals of the future," Mr Pearson said.
Charles Sturt University academic Dr Tracey Parnell said the resource offers the opportunity to expose students to perspectives that cannot be learnt from a textbook.
"Educators can positively engage students in contemporary conversations about mental health issues, provide them with an appreciation of the importance of the consumer voice, and prepare them for respectful, collaborative, strengths-based, and person-centred practice," she said.
Visit listeningtovoices.org.au to register for the free resource.