An outline of consumer participation in health.

Awareness about the importance of consumers' participating in decision making in health is being increasingly advocated as a way of improving the safety and quality of health care. This article briefly describes some of the key international and national health directions and research that support a more active role for consumers in decision making in health. In addition, it proposes four key dimensions of consumer participation as a framework to describe the scope for consumers to participate in decision-making in individual care processes, health services and the broader health system. Finally, a new Commonwealth Government funded initiative, the National Resource Centre for Consumer Participation in Health, is described which aims to increase the access of service providers and consumer organisations to information about the various methods and models of consumer feedback and participation and provide support to enhance their application of the methods and models to practice.