Lessons Learned:Consumer Involvement in Step Ahead and First Steps
The concept of consumer involvement is strongly rooted within the broader context of citizen participation, from which comes the basic principles of democracy: government of the people, by the people, for the people. As far back as the early days of our country, the importance of citizen involvement in decision making was recognized. This thread has continued throughout our history to the present time, where it is resurfacing as "consumer involvement." This newer concept involves a major change in thinking. It is an extension of the idea of citizen participation in that it moves the voices of consumers into the planning and decision making process of agencies, communities and service-delivery systems. There are many rewards when consumers are actively involved. Programs and policies are stronger and more responsive to the needs of families. The involvement of consumers brings new information, broadens perspectives, increases accountability, and steers direction. We also know that there are considerable benefits to an individual when he or she is involved in a meaningful way in the public arena. Yet even though citizen participation is at the base of our democratic principles, it is not always widely found. Consumer involvement will not automatically happen just because it is a good idea. While there are benefits to programs, communities and individuals when consumers are involved, there are also significant barriers to their involvement. Some of the barriers identified in the consumer involvement project included working within a pre-existing structure, clarity about what consumer involvement is and why it is wanted, changing ideas about roles and power, attitudes that get in the way, negative meeting experiences, the need for information, and a lack of visibility. Surmounting these barriers requires intentionality, information, time, and--most importantly- -commitment. Though the barriers can be discouraging, we found that identification of the difficulties illuminated the strategies which could be utilized to increase the involvement of "ordinary" family members in these collaborative processes. Among the strategies we explored were addressing barriers, seeking alternative methods of involvement such as focus groups and surveys, providing training, and convening a consumer group. Hopefully, the learnings presented here will move us further towards the meaningful involvement of Indiana families in the planning and decision making processes of Step Ahead and First Steps. If we are serious about collaboration and systems change, we can make it happen.
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