“When you experience something, especially if it’s a negative experience, you want to do everything possible to change that system and stop it from happening to other families. That is why I joined People Bank. It helps people get some degree of meaning and closure.”
Robyn Jewell, long-time member of North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network’s (NWMPHN’s) People Bank, recently shared how much she appreciated and enjoyed the experience of taking part in several activities.
People Bank is a register of residents willing to help us to improve the health of people in the north, west and central Melbourne area.
Members take part in a range of different activities, including:
- forums, events, workshops
- committees and working groups
- online activities
- support groups and wellbeing sessions
- and tender evaluation panels.
In 2022, for example, Robyn agreed to sit on a tender evaluation panel to help us decide suitable services to deliver new programs to assist locals to navigate the aged care system.
“There are amazing people to work with and I can’t speak highly enough about how they responded to me and encouraged me.”
She and her fellow community participants were generously reimbursed for their time, receiving $145 per hour for attending meetings and $80 an hour for reviewing documents.
“Taking part in the activities was an endorsement that I can still think and learn and take on a lot of information,” she said.
People Bank is part of NWMPHN’s mission to draw on the wisdom and insight of lived experience.
If you would like to get involved, please register using the online form here.
