Managing consumer transition from committees: a how-to guide

The role of consumers in healthcare and medical research has grown substantially in recent years, leading to formalised consumer roles on committees, steering groups and advisory groups.

How a consumer transitions away from committee duties has significant implications for both organisation and consumer, so how do we as a sector ensure this transition process is as smooth as possible for all involved?

The VCCC Alliance Cancer Consumer Advisory Committee has created a new resource – the Consumer Transition Guide – to help navigate the challenges in the transition process and address these three key needs:

1. Consistency in approach within and between organisations
2. Appropriate acknowledgement and recognition
3. Support for everyone involved in the transition process (both managers and consumers)

Consumers who want to stay engaged

The key benefits of overseeing positive consumer transitions from committees are two-fold: 1) consumers feel recognised, seen and valued and are more likely to continue advocacy efforts, and 2) organisations can more easily retain consumer knowledge, expertise and experience by embedding consumer leadership in their processes.

Long-time VCCC Alliance consumer Paul Baden stressed the new guide’s importance in encouraging ongoing relationships between organisations and consumers.

“The guide is a map for consumers to transition to other roles and for organisations to continue to benefit from their knowledge and experience."

Consumers who want to end their involvement

There are many reasons why consumers may leave a committee. The end of a membership term is only one example; a consumer may also leave due to a change in circumstances or leave voluntarily for personal or professional reasons. Inconsistencies in how organisations respond when members finish on a committee – from little or no recognition to broad acknowledgement – can impact whether a consumer decides to continue advocacy efforts.

Sonia Mailer, Manager, Melanoma Research Victoria said it’s equally important to consider that some consumers leave a committee and don’t want to be contacted again.

“It’s about respecting people’s privacy. Some consumers leave for personal reasons and no longer wish to be involved at all, and it is the responsibility of the organisation to appropriately respect these wishes.”

The Consumer Transition Guide has been deliberately designed to be adaptable to a range of situations, for example, consumers leaving projects or organisations. The guide can be branded and tailored to use for committees across an organisation.

Explore the guide and our other resources in the Consumer Engagement Toolkit to find out more.