In 2024 Dr Justin Chapman who brings his research and lived experience perspectives, will be joining us as our event correspondent. With the good humour and expert knowledge of the field, Justin will be sharing stories in blog and video posts from the event on our Equally Well website newsletters and in our socials, showcasing groups and individuals who are out there doing great work to support our collective mission.
In this first blog post Justin previews the event which you can also follow on the Equally Well social media channels Instagram, Facebook, X and LinkedIn.
An event preview by Justin Chapman
We’re now less than one month away from the 2024 Equally Well Forum – Embedding Lived Experience and we can confirm the event will be at capacity with over 120 participants attending at the Storey Hall at RMIR in the heart of Melbourne. I’m personally a big fan of events that result in something meaningful and from what is being planned, the Equally Well Forum will not disappoint. Besides hearing about the latest and greatest initiatives from leaders in the field and having the space to connect and reflect as a community, one of the end-goals is to produce a Call to Action based on the Forum discussions with the aim of advocating for systemic change in the sector. The only way to develop such Calls is collectively, and each day will include a participant-led panel about actions needed to shift the sector toward a future that better supports the health and wellbeing of people with mental health challenges. We encourage you all to bring your positive vibes and out-of-the-box thinking to the table to shape these recommendations.
To stimulate innovation and creativity, national and international movers-and-shakers will set the scene and ensure we’re building on contemporary developments. We’ll be hearing from Deb Hamilton, Simon Kozak, Danilio Di Giacomo, Emily Unity, Taimi Allan, Catherine O’Donnell, De Backman-Hoyle, Anna Love, Eric Brymer, Chris Maylea, Tessa Zirnsak, and others in a focussed program. In this list of headliners are Lived Experience advocates, Commissioners, Equally Well representatives, researchers, and leaders in workforce development and systems change. As well as presentations and open discussion panels, there’ll be training and education workshops available about holistic care, peer workforce, and lived experience research and leadership. One thing for sure is that there’ll be something for everyone at this Forum and it’s looking to be a vibrant event. You can find out more about the speakers and check out the full program on the Forum website.
Make sure you have access to all the latest information about the Forum and any other events and activities by subscribing to the Equally Well newsletter.
