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The University of Melbourne Primary Care Mental Health Research Group established the Co-Design Living Labs program in 2017. There are more than 2000 people with lived-experience of mental ill-health and ongoing distress and trauma, including a smaller number of carers, family and kinship group members in the program. The program has grown over the five years to embed end to end research design to translation activities with people with lived-experienced. There are now has eight co-design leads who meet monthly with Network lead and postdoctoral research fellow, Dr Jennifer Bibb. The Network is overseen and supported by Professor Victoria Palmer and activities are coordinated through the University of Melbourne.
Scroll down to see The Co-Design Living Labs Operational Model, Our Services, Case Stories and The Co-Designer Handbook (current members access only).
As the year draws to a close, we invite you to reflect on the achievements and milestones of the Co-Design Living Labs network in 2024. This year has been filled with collaborative innovation, impactful initiatives, and meaningful contributions to mental health research and practice.
Discover the highlights of our journey, including key projects, partnerships, and the voices of lived-experience researchers shaping the future. Looking ahead to 2025, we’ll share what’s next at The ALIVE National Centre, including upcoming events, priorities, and ways to stay involved as we continue to drive transformation in mental health through co-design.
The network recently had a celebratory meeting for catching up and reflecting on 2024. Click here to see the slides. We recommend listening along to the song ‘Black Smoke’ by Emily Wurramara which the group listened along to while we watched. ‘Black Smoke’ by Emily Wurramara a First Nations artist from Lutruwita. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_PUJ2S4uww
This Quick Guide was created by current Co-Design Leads: Tricia, Pam, Rose, Sam, Ali, Amit, Elise, Gregor, Nargis, Brenton, Julia, Kris, TomCia and previous co-leads Ann and Josie as a Lay Summary for a Philosophy of Practice Paper for Co-Design.
The Co-Design Living Labs program was established in 2017 as an example of a community-based embedded approach to bring people living with trauma and mental ill-health and carers/family and kinship group members together with university-based researchers to drive end-to-end research design to translation in mental healthcare and research sectors.
We operate an end to end research design to translation model (as shown to the right). This means that we undertake co-design activities across the continuum of research that includes priority setting, ideation on a topic or product, co-designing a new model of care or technology or digital tool and adopting co-researcher models within research teams. We’re proud of our five-year journey to embed lived-experience within our mental health research program.
This handbook is by, for and about working with Co-Designers in Living Labs program. It includes self-care, preparation and tips for what to expect in co-design. It shares our Principles of Participation and Working Together Agreements including the story of where we have come from – new members receive a copy of this handbook when they join. This handbook is only available for our Co-Design Living Labs network members.
Our Co-Design Living Labs members (co-designers) represent over 2000 people living with mental ill-health and carers, family, kinships group members. The Network can support co-design that delivers new models of care, pathways for improving care experiences, service re-design, systems transformation and all things health care improvement related. Read the Co-Design Living Labs Pathway for Engagement and Shared Principles here.
Email us below to co-partner on co-design or to simply share a co-creation idea today.
Read more about our experience co-design work by clicking on the case stories below.
No current co-design activities are underway but please email the alive-codesign@unimelb.edu.au team to express interest for our National Centre Public Co-Design activities.
The ALIVE National Centre is funded by the NHMRC Special Initiative in Mental Health.
The ALIVE National Centre for Mental Health Research Translation acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work, and pay our respects to the Elders, past and present. We are committed to working together to address the health inequities within our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this site may contain images and voices of deceased persons.
This map attempts to represent the language, social or nation groups of Aboriginal Australia. It shows only the general locations of larger groupings of people which may include clans, dialects or individual languages in a group. It used published resources from the eighteenth century-1994 and is not intended to be exact, nor the boundaries fixed. It is not suitable for native title or other land claims. David R Horton (creator), © AIATSIS, 1996. No reproduction without permission. To purchase a print version visit: https://shop.aiatsis.gov.au/
The ALIVE National Centre for Mental Health Research Translation is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Special Initiative in Mental Health GNT2002047.
ALIVE Next Generation Researcher Network Application Form Click here
For University based research higher degree students, early/mid-career mental health researchers
ALIVE Lived Experience Research Collective Application Form Click here
For University and community based lived-experience or carer-focused mental health researchers at all career stages
ALIVE Collective Application Form Click here
For any individuals or organisations with a general interest in supporting the special initiative in mental health
ALIVE Implementation and Translation Network (ITN) Application Form Click here
For sector, service delivery organisations in mental health serving people across the life course and priority populations
If you have a general enquiry about The Alive National Centre for Mental Health Research Translation, please submit an enquiry below
ALIVE Next Generation Researcher Network Application Form Click here
For University based research higher degree students, early/mid-career mental health researchers
ALIVE Lived Experience Research Collective Application Form Click here
For University and community based lived-experience or carer-focused mental health researchers at all career stages
ALIVE Collective Application Form Click here
For any individuals or organisations with a general interest in supporting the special initiative in mental health
ALIVE Implementation and Translation Network (ITN) Application Form Click here
For sector, service delivery organisations in mental health serving people across the life course and priority populations
If you have a general enquiry about The Alive National Centre for Mental Health Research Translation, please submit an enquiry below
