Stakeholder Phase
The aim of the stakeholder consultation was to gain views from a broad range of stakeholders with expertise in relation to depression, about health care services for people experiencing depression. A range of stakeholders were consulted in order to gain broader insight into perceived ‘key ingredients’ for effective depression care. A systematic search for stakeholders was conducted and from this scoping exercise we categorised stakeholders into the following groups:
- Government and related organisations (federal, state and local)
- Non-government and related organisations (peak bodies, social support services, migrant and refugee services, carer and consumer groups and legal services)
- Health sector (health services and professional organisations for community health, general practice and mental health)
- Academics (psychiatry, general practice, nursing, psychology, social work, and mental health related social science, health policy and organisation)
The Delphi method of consultation was adopted in order to reach over 300 stakeholders via email. We posed a small number of carefully constructed questions towards the stakeholders which included:
- How should General Practice/Primary Care respond to people experiencing depression?
- What are the barriers for best practice in General Practice/Primary Care when faced with people experiencing depression?
- How would we know if General Practice/Primary Care is meeting the needs of people experiencing depression?