cARN | community and research network
ABOUT US
The Community and Research Network (CARN) is a network of health professionals, health consumers, researchers and lived experience community members, seeking to share their expertise and experience to promote good health and wellbeing for the community of Geelong, regional and rural Victoria.
CARN is all about connection. We aim to bring together community organisations, research groups and health providers with the common goals of learning, collaboration, and sharing. This may include research, news, events and lived experience. In the past CARN and its members have;
- Delivered presentations on exciting, cutting-edge research happening in Geelong and facilitated discussions about benefits for the local community.
- Provided opportunities for community and lived experience voices to be heard in research.
- Provided a research perspective and/or evidence base to programs or policy development.
- Advise on program evaluation strategies.
Incorporating the lived experience perspective into research design can help develop a project that has direct relevance to those experiencing the condition(s) being studied. Discussions with the lived experience community can help researchers formulate research questions and identify issues in design that don’t accurately reflect experiences of a health condition.
CARN is here to help facilitate connections between the research and lived experience community. Need help? Contact us via carn@deakin.edu.au
What is ‘lived experience’?
A person with lived experience (when referring to mental and physical health) is someone with a personal experience of a health condition, or is a family member and/or carer of someone with a health condition.
OUR TEAM
Kumkum, Eslam, Carly, Olivia, Bonnie, Delyse
Current Committee Members
Olivia Dean Founder, Co-Chair
Carly Botheras Co-Chair
Sarah Healy McIntosh CARN Engagement Officer
Kumkum Ravish / Bonnie Beasant Student Liaison
Delyse Shu Yun Tien/Eslam Ahmed Student Liaison
CARN Central Committee
The CARN Central Committee is comprised of predominantly volunteers, passionate about connecting the lived experience and research communities.
The McIntosh CARN Engagement Officer is a part time employed position supported by Western Alliance and the McIntosh family.
In addition to weekly Central Committee meetings the committee hold two CARN Network Meetings a year and invite all members to participate. If you would like to be a CARN member please contact us here
CARN POSITIONS VACANT
The CARN Central Committee are currently creating a strategic plan for 2024. Watch this space for new opportunities!
CARN NEWS AND EVENTS
Student Seminar Series
Returning in 2024 renamed as
CARN Seminar Series
Register below!
Community of the Minds
To celebrate Mental Health Week, the Community and Research Network (CARN) in partnership with the Art of the Minds Festival, held a “Community of the Minds” event. Thursday the 12th of October, our Art of the Minds Event ‘Community of the Minds’ was attended by several enthusiastic community members.
The event showcased the work that CARN had been doing for the last 12 months highlighted by a presentation by Prof. Alison Yung. We discussed the importance of the lived experience in research and community design, as well as how CARN can help facilitate the co-design process. We heard from Professor Alison Yung, Deakin University, Carly Botheras and Olivia Dean, CARN Co-Chairs and Art of the Minds Founder Jules Haddock about their interactions with CARN and how lived experience has helped shape their careers and life experiences.
The event was organised by the McIntosh CARN Engagement Officer, Sarah Healy, and the CARN Central Committee. The yummy food was provided by sponsorships from Ray White Lara and DUSA – Deakin University Student Association. We had great feedback from the event and look forward to holding it next year! We are open for CARN membership and keen to have additional feedback from Members on how to improve the event.
CARN Seminar Series - 2024
Registrations open - Thursdays 12 pm - 1 pm
MARCH
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NOVEMBER
COMMUNITY NEWS
Geelong Music Community Collective
The first GMCC event of 2024 - Rock Goddess, paid tribute to some of the great songstresses of the rock age. Such an entertaining and successful GMCC night of music raising a further $750! All money goes to the GMCC Dean McInnes Student Travel Award. Thank you to the Geelong Music Community Collective and everyone that came along to show your support.
GMCC is a group of musicians from Geelong and surrounds, dedicated to bringing you live music performances and raising awareness around mental health.
All CARN members are invited to share your Community News here.
Please contact us at carn@deakin.edu.au
SCIENCE IN REAL LIFE
Carly Botheras
The History of Lived Experience
Hello everyone,
I thought I’d start of this year’s science in real life blog by exploring something we at CARN mention all the time but don’t really explain and that is lived experience.
We all talk about it and how important it is for research and the term has exploded in local society in recent years, but what does it actually mean and how has it come about?
The term ‘lived experience’ comes from the philosophical thought of phenomenology (1). This late 1800’s philosophical view was that consciousness is always intentional and is always directed towards an object. This phenomenon is also individual or subjective. Now that sounds a bit difficult to understand but using an example: I have a biscuit tin filled with ribbon. Now I see this tin and the ribbons, and it brings me joy as it reminds me of embroidery, you might see it and think a biscuit tin filled with scraps that needs to go in the bin. I might discuss why the tin is important to me and you may change your perception of the tin, or not. All of these thoughts, feelings and opinions are equally valid, and all relate to the same object. Differences in perception occurs with anything, including health. A group of people can have a similar disease, but experience different symptoms, and require different treatment plans.
So why is lived experience important for research and how and when did it get started? In the 1960s-70s, what’s known as the consumer movement began (2). This was a movement of looking to protect consumers from dodgy practices, improve transparency from organisations, governments, and companies. The healthcare sector was not immune to this. This movement is why patients are currently called consumers in the healthcare system.
The first consumer organisation in Australia, the Campaign Against Psychiatric Injustice and Coercion (CAPIC) was established in this period (3). These consumer groups were activist groups rather than the co-involvement of lived experience members within healthcare, but over the 90s to now, consumer groups and committees were included into various hospitals and organisations.
For research, it has only been in the past 10 years that the importance of lived experience in the development of research has occurred. The voice of lived experiences allows for a more nuanced approach to disease issues and potential outcomes. It can help researchers understand issues that are most important for people affected by a disease or condition and identify if initial designs are relevant or appropriate. One example of this may be the design of a study that requires many visits to the hospital for a group of people who it’s unrealistic to make frequent hospital visits.
So, if you think you may be interested in aiding in the development of research, consider joining CARN.
- Neubauer BE, Witkop CT, Varpio L. How phenomenology can help us learn from the experiences of others. Perspect Med Educ. 2019 Apr;8(2):90-97. doi: 10.1007/s40037-019-0509-2. PMID: 30953335; PMCID: PMC6468135.
- Marsden, Fiona & Brown, Jane & Consumers Federation of Australia. (1996). A history of the Australian consumer movement / from a paper by Jane Brown; edited by Fiona Marsden. Braddon, A.C.T. : Consumers' Federation of Australia
- My Mental Health, “The consumer and carer movement”, https://mymentalhealth.org.au/consumers-and-carers/further-information-about-the-consumer-movement; Accessed 7.3.2024
“The promotion of good health and wellbeing is often a community effort. CARN provides an opportunity for the community to both connect and be heard by a wide range of other community members, including researchers who are undertaking or planning cutting edge research.”
Tara Johnson
Former CARN Student Liaison
CARN MEMBERS
We'd love to add your organisation or community group to this list! contact us to find out how
Who can become a member of CARN?
Anyone! CARN is for researchers, health workers, community groups, workplaces, those with lived experience of health conditions or with an interest in research and involving the lived experience. If you are not sure if CARN is for you please feel free to contact us at carn@deakin.edu.au
CARN SUPPORTERS
McIntosh Family
The position of the McIntosh CARN Engagement Officer has been supported by philanthropic funding through the McIntosh Family in response to the loss of their son and brother Mr Mishka McIntosh in 2020. Mishka was committed to bringing together consumer priorities, clinical services, and research opportunities. He was an active member of CARN, reliably updating the Carers and Friends monthly newsletter published by his mother Pamela McIntosh from 2005-2020, in addition to numerous other activities. Mishka was always open-minded, kind-hearted, helpful, and pragmatic. The many contributions he made to the research being conducted at IMPACT was highly valued.
Pamela McIntosh continues to work towards better opportunities for carers of people with mental illness.
Western Alliance
Western Alliance is the first Australian academic health science centre to focus on regional health outcomes. Through a program of training, education, funding and advocacy, Western Alliance supports its members to improve the health of their communities through research-based and evidence-informed health care. Western Alliance have provided financial support to fund the McIntosh CARN Engagement Officer. CARN would like to acknowledge and thank the McIntosh family and Western Alliance for their contribution and support.
Acknowledgement of Country
As we gather in this meeting, let us take a moment to reflect the meaning of place and in doing so recognise the traditional owners of the lands on which we do our business today. We acknowledge the Elders – past, present, and emerging of all the land we work and live on and their Ancestral Spirits with gratitude and respect. We extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today
Acknowledgement of Lived Experience
We also wish to acknowledge all people who have personal experience of mental or physical illness. The voice of people with lived experience is essential in the development of our network.