Health Consumers Queensland is partnering with Griffith University in a new national consumer-led research study looking at people’s attitudes and resulting behaviours to the government’s containment measures imposed from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. Take part in the survey now.

Dr Joan Carlini, who is leading the study, is a Lecturer in Marketing and Discipline Leader at Griffith Business School specialising in the intersection of business, government and society with a particular focus on consumer behaviour. She is also Chair of the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service Consumer Advisory Group and a long-standing member of Health Consumers Queensland’s state-wide consumer network.

She said, “This is a unique study because it has been guided by Health Consumers Queensland’s Consumer Conversations. In fact, the story behind this research is as powerful as the research itself. I have been attending Health Consumers Queensland’s weekly COVID-19 Consumer Conversations since the start (wearing my non-expert health consumer hat) and I was struck by the diversity of views and experiences that were shared in this forum. They gave me an insight into what people from all walks of life were grappling with as restrictions tightened. I also realised that there was a huge gap between what was being said by health consumers and what I was hearing on mainstream media and academic forums I’ve also been attending.

The circumstances of this particular pandemic are unprecedented and this project offers researchers a rare opportunity to survey a vast cross-section of people across Australia and seek to understand a person’s individual circumstances and their sense of personal threat of COVID-19, and link it to their actual behaviours.”
 
Joan has assembled a research team which includes experts from infection diseases, social marketing, consumer behaviour and health consumer engagement to tackle this lack of access to ‘’hard to reach’’ voices which is a substantial concern for public health. It is hoped that the research will:

  • provide an explanatory framework for current individual behaviours and influencers
  •  identify groups of people who have found it difficult to comply with current restrictions thus enabling information, influencers and communications to more effectively target these audiences
  • provide policy makers with evidence for future decisions about reducing transmission during a pandemic.

Melissa Fox, CEO of Health Consumers Queensland said, “This project is a unique example of consumer-led and co-produced research.  Through our COVID-19 Consumer Conversations, the consumer input and lived experience expertise has laid the foundation for a new way of thinking about this pandemic. We’re delighted to partner with Joan and Griffith University to ensure that the most vulnerable members of our society are supported and protected as we all continue to respond to COVID-19, and plan the response to future pandemics.

This project is about finding patterns across society and its success depends on large numbers of people across all communities in Australia taking part.

Thank you for finding 20 minutes to fill in the survey and please do share it with your networks, family, friends and colleagues.”