What is a shared focus?

This element means that to have effective consumer involvement in cancer control, consumers are active participants, actively supported by organisational systems and processes, working as members of a team to achieve objectives. This element draws all elements together to focus on outcomes.

In order to have a shared focus, consumers may be actively involved in the following areas:

  1. Development of accessible information and support:
    working together, consumers and professionals develop accessible information and support for people affected by cancer
  2. Delivery of quality services and best practice:
    consumers join with health professionals to ensure the delivery of safe and high quality cancer services based on best practice
  3. Research and evaluation:
    consumers are involved in the design, conduct, translation and evaluation of research
  4. Policy development:
    consumers participate in policy development to improve cancer outcomes
  5. Benchmarking and linkages:
    ​consumers and professionals develop performance measures to help determine the effectiveness of consumer involvement and facilitate benchmarking opportunities for quality improvement.