About the webinar
CP-ACHIEVE, a Centre of Excellence in cerebral palsy (CP) research, has been driving authentic consumer involvement in health and disability research for five years. In this webinar, they will share their journey—detailing how they built their consumer involvement program, the successes achieved, challenges faced, and the strategies employed to make research accessible, safe, and genuinely inclusive for adolescents and young adults with CP – some of whom use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) – and their families.
Many of their stories and strategies have broad application to health and disability research. These have been documented in a resource, developed to inspire and strengthen practice, titled Navigating consumer involvement in health and disability research, available here
Hosted by WAHTN CCI Program and facilitated by Deb Langridge, Head, CCIProgram.
Keynote presentation by Claire Rowland, CP-ACHIEVE’s Knowledge Translation Fellow for consumer involvement PLUS a chance to hear from members of the CP ACHIEVE team and people with lived experience of cerebral palsy. Q&A session.
About CP-ACHIEVE -CP-ACHIEVE was a five-year program of research working to find ways to help adolescents and young adults with cerebral palsy live a full and healthy life operating between 2020-2025. CP-ACHIEVE undertook research aiming to support people with cerebral palsy aged 10 to 30 years to achieve good health, access to excellent health services, and to participate in relationships, work, leisure, physical activity and the community.
CP-ACHIEVE’s Consumer Involvement Program – CP-ACHIEVE collaborated closely with adolescents and young adults with cerebral palsy—including those who use AAC—and their families throughout its five-year program. The Centre established a consumer network of 400 members, with 40 actively participating as consumer research partners or as part of one of its four Advisory Groups. To drive meaningful consumer engagement, CP-ACHIEVE appointed a dedicated Theme Leader for consumer involvement, employed two part-time consumer coordinators, and offered small grant funding to researchers to support consumer involvement, particularly during the early stages of research. CP-ACHIEVE gained significant insight and skills in involving consumers with CP in this program, with many insights translatable to health and disability research more broadly.
