The bushfires ravaging Australia are taking our environmental health challenges into uncertain territory, making it more vital that we are kept up to date about the health consequences and for there to be a proactive, comprehensive plan for prevention and management.

Today Australia’s Health Panel is basing its first survey of the year on the issue of health and climate impact in order to gauge community thinking and concerns.

The Consumers Health Forum has established Australia’s Health Panel to take the pulse of Australian opinions on contemporary health issues. These responses to the survey help us not only to keep our supporters aware of community attitudes but also to influence the policies we take to government.

Advocating for consumer needs and concerns is central to CHF’s work so your responses are important for decision-makers in government and health administration to hear.

The Consumers Health Forum was established 33 years ago to put forward the consumers’ concerns and interests in health care.

Given the cost, complexity and rapid advances in health care, the value and need for consumers to be involved in decision-making is more important than ever.

The range of topics covered since Australia’s Health Panel began surveys 18 months ago illustrates the wide variety of issues that confront health policy.

Our first survey, for instance, explored implications for the use of increasingly prevalent health apps and found the vast majority of respondents want stronger regulation of health apps.

Since then Australia’s Health Panel has conducted surveys on subjects including the Federal Election (showing health care costs were voters’ biggest health concern), Consumer Medicine Information leaflets (more than a third received no information or leaflet about medicine), My Health Record (showing low utilisation ), and shared decision-making (suggesting people believe doctors should more actively engage in shared decision-making with their patients).

All of these responses in some way, have, or can be expected to have, influence over Australia’s health care.

Consumers are assuming a growing role in health care. Here is your chance to join the trend.

Sign on to Australia’s Health Panel and here