Lived Experience Advisory Group
THE WHOLE-OF-SELF AFFIRMING CARE PROJECT
Young people who are trans and gender diverse (YTGD) experience disproportionate structural and interpersonal stigma, leading to high levels of psychological distress. This is further exacerbated for YTGD from historically disadvantaged groups. Despite the high need for mental health care, YTGD face serious delays in seeking help and services are not designed to meet their needs.
A specialised gender service for YTGD aged 12-25 was established within Orygen in 2022. The service was co-designed with people with lived experience and 70 per cent of team members have lived experience. The service provides care to YTGD from five headspace Centres in culturally diverse northwestern suburbs of Melbourne.
This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the service by measuring the degree to which it meets the needs of YTDG from historically disadvantaged groups. For services to be effective, YTDG need to be able to safely share all parts of their identity (e.g., gender, culture, neurodiversity).
- Register your interest in joining Orygen's Lived Experience Advisory Group below
For this to happen, services must provide ‘whole-of-self’ affirming care. We will use a co-design approach informed by implementation science with qualitative and quantitative methods to: 1) obtain consensus on what constitutes ‘whole-of-self affirming care’ and develop a novel patient-reported experience measure and fidelity checklist; and 2) evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of Orygen’s service.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
We are looking for young people from all over Australia aged 12-30 who identify as transgender or gender diverse, and who also belong to a group that is historically disadvantaged or marginalised, which may include but is not limited to:
- being culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD),
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals,
- having a disability or chronic health condition (physical and/or mental),
- being neurodiverse,
- having a refugee or asylum seeker background,
- having lived experience/experiencing mental ill health,
- having lived/ living in out of home care/homelessness, and
- living in a regional, rural or remote area.
Ideal Lived Experience Advisory Group (LEAG) members are people who are:
- committed to being actively involved in the LEAG for at least one year,
- confident in communicating ideas and opinions in a group (or would like to be),
- willing to provide constructive feedback, opinions and advice to other young people, Orygen staff and managers, and
- keen and willing to collaborate with a broad range of people from different backgrounds.
WHAT IS THE OPPORTUNITY?
We are looking for eight LEAG members to be involved for four hours per month (two hours per meeting and two hours of preparation time) for the duration of the project (3.5 years, with flexibility of involvement, i.e. LEAG members can leave at any point). Meetings will be held online.
Two members will be invited attend each monthly Project Advisory Group (PAG) meeting (four hour commitment, two hours per meeting and two hours of preparation time). This will ensure LEAG input will directly inform PAG decision-making.
LEAG members will be reimbursed $120 per monthly meeting, with members who attend the PAG meetings to be reimbursed a further $120.
Preparation time is inclusive of any reading that may be required before a meeting, or thinking about action items and decisions to be made from the previous meeting. It is expected that LEAG members bring their lived experience as a trans young person to inform their decision making in the project. It is also expected LEAG members respect and give space to the lived experience of other members, even if it differs from their own.
LEAG members will also have the opportunity to use their lived experience, both positive and negative, to contribute a project that hopes to improve outcomes for trans and gender diverse young people across Australia and even internationally.
WHAT SUPPORT WILL I HAVE ACCESS TO?
Alex Dalton (he/him) is the main support contact and can be reached here: [email protected].
We will also work with LEAG members to create a support and wellbeing plan tailored to the individual.
Other staff will also be available for clinical and non-clinical support as necessary, such as members of the Youth Participation team.
HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED?
Please complete the expression of interest survey HERE.
Expressions of interest close 5pm AEDT 5 April 2024.
Please Alex Dalton at the above address if you have any questions or if you need assistance in completing the survey.