To help shape maternity care together, we appointed eight Consultation Champions who engaged directly with community members from across the Mackay, Whitsunday and Isaac communities.
Our Consultation Champions played a key role in the Maternity Co-Design Project, helping us capture and understand the views from their already established networks.
The Consultation Champions were chosen after an extensive expression of interest process which was promoted across social media, our stakeholder networks and though our Mackay HHS Maternity Community Reference Group.
Our eight Consultation Champions represented our diverse community having strong connections to consumers and community, including people who identify as Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander, people living with or caring for someone with a disability, our LGBTQIA+ community and people living in our rural and remote communities. They also represent a broad age group from 25 to 70 years across our wide geographic footprint, with networks within the Mackay, Whitsunday and Isaac communities.
Our Consultation Champions helped us gather information and insights from their established community networks by hosting kitchen table discussions or yarning circles. The experiences and contributions gathered are now being considered, along with all other feedback we received, and will help in identifying opportunities for how we can enhance maternity care now and for the future.