The Challenge
In February 2019, on advice from the Victorian Government, the Governor of the State of Victoria formally established the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. This signalled that the state’s mental health system was failing to support those who needed it.
In carrying out an intensive engagement and policy design program, the Royal Commission highlighted Human-centred design as a crucial approach in their reform agenda. They sought to hear directly from Victorians about their experiences and further understand the desired mental health service system experience from consumer and carer perspectives
The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System contracted ThinkPlaceX to facilitate a human-centred design process to give Victorians with lived experience of the mental health system an opportunity to share their experiences, desires, and needs, and produce a clear set of insights to inform the process of mental health system redesign.
The Response
ThinkPlaceX undertook an extensive series of stakeholder engagements to validate the Commission’s understanding of the current state experiences, and uncover future desired experiences and needs of those engaging with Victoria’s mental health system. We conducted 13 focus groups across 5 locations spread across rural, regional and metropolitan Victoria, as well as an additional youth workshop in Melbourne. In total, we engaged 115 participants across 8 different cohorts.
ThinkPlaceX used a variety of engagement tools within these focus groups to help validate and drive a deeper understanding of the scale and nature of the pain points in the current system. We also used live-scribing techniques to capture participants voices authentically and in real-time.
Through these engagements, we were able to produce rich qualitative insights, which we then supplemented with qualitative analysis using a custom build Power BI dashboard that analysed the common pain points across the system.
Analysis of pain points, needs, and aspirations were captured through 14 separate conversation trackers and an extensive insights report.
The Impact
The ThinkPlaceX report was well received and withstood rigorous scrutiny from the Commissioners, ultimately becoming a key piece of evidence for the Royal Commission. Our work directly informed the Commission’s final recommendations for system reform. More importantly, by applying a human-centred design approach, we created a safe and authentic space for Victorians to share their lived experiences and aspirations for the future. Their voices were not only captured—they were championed, shaping the foundation of the Commission’s policy reform agenda.
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