VILLAGE – Valued Individuals Living and Learning About Growing Equity

VILLAGE is a national network of parents and carers of children aged 0 – 17 years, who share a common goal of advancing equity in health, education and social services. The insights and contributions of Lived Experience Experts (LEEs)* are integral to shaping research that is inclusive, impactful, and reflective of real-world experiences.

Our approach is grounded in a commitment to authentic engagement, ensuring that all collaborations with VILLAGE are mutually beneficial, built on principles of equity, partnership, and shared purpose. The broader SEMPRE team involves, respects, and learns from VILLAGE from the outset, and across every single step of program and research planning, design, implementation and evaluation.

Our aim is for every researcher and research institute to embed community defined and non-traditional forms of evidence into research and practice, to genuinely and authentically hear and incorporate the voice of those affected by research, to ensure positive health and wellbeing outcomes.

*Please note our VILLAGE has chosen to use the language of Lived Experience Experts over consumer, patient, community, or public as they feel this is the most reflective terminology to describe our real-world experiences and impacts.

Get in touch with us: VILLAGE-Network@monash.edu

Resources

From tokenism to togetherness – VILLAGE's first peer reviewed publication

The V.O.I.C.E. framework for safety-centred lived experience involvement in perinatal and parenting research: VILLAGE collaborated with the early- and mid-year researcher collective, HiPPP EMRC, and lived experience conference collaborator Renee Tome, to turn a conference workshop on meaningful and safe lived experience involvement into a peer-reviewed publication. The paper aims to support researchers navigating these complexities with practice-informed principles to guide LEE involvement.

Read it here (PDF)

Authentic Inclusion of Lived Experience Experts in Health and Social Care Research

This report provides an overview of how we established our network and recommendations for those wishing to do the same

Read it here (PDF)

Meet our VILLAGE experts