This week from 12–18 October is National Carers Week 2025, an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the invaluable contributions of carers who provide unpaid care to a family member or friend.  

Kirsty Rosie is the College’s Lived and Living Experience Advisor (Carer). She shares her thoughts on why carers' voices are essential to the mental health sector and the critical role carers play in improving our mental health systems. 

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your role? 

I’m currently the Lived and Living Experience Senior Advisor (Carer), supporting the implementation and evaluation of the College’s Lived and Living Experience Strategy. A key part of my role involves working alongside community members who contribute to College committees, ensuring carer perspectives are embedded in decision-making. 

I’ve been involved in advocacy for over a decade, starting with advisory committees and moving into the lived experience workforce. My personal experience as a carer, combined with academic training in public policy, informs my collaborative approach to co-designing systems that improve outcomes for consumers, carers, and clinicians. 

I’m committed to applying evidence-based practices to strengthen the mental health system and ensure lived experience is central to its evolution, while practicing what I preach and including wellbeing strategies into my own life such as joining my local astronomical society to check out the stars and the planets on a monthly basis, fascinating!!  

2. What inspired/motivated you to take on the role of Lived and Living Experience Advisor (Carer) at the College?  

I’ve always been passionate about education and learning and am currently completing a Master’s in Health Professions Education. I believe learning has the power to transform individuals and systems, especially when it includes lived experience expertise. 

This role offered a unique opportunity to contribute to a learning organisation that values lived and living experience. The College not only trains future psychiatrists but also advocates for trauma-informed, patient-centred care and multidisciplinary collaboration. Being part of a movement that recognises whānau and carer perspectives as essential to mental health is both meaningful and motivating. 

3. How can mental health professionals and organisations better include carers in their work and policy development? 

 Recognise whānau/carers as partners in care

• Acknowledge their expertise: Carers often have deep, lived knowledge of the person they support. Recognising this as valuable clinical insight can improve outcomes.
• Involve carers in care planning: Invite carers to contribute to assessments, goal setting, and discharge planning where appropriate and with consent.

Embed carer-inclusive practice in policy

• Co-design policies: Include whānau/carers in policy development processes, working groups, and advisory panels.
• Reflect carer needs: Ensure policies address whānau/carer wellbeing, rights, and support needs, not just their role in supporting others.

Training and support  

• Carer-inclusive training: Engage in training to understand how to respectfully and effectively interact with whānau/carers.
• Reflective practice: Reflect on your assumptions and biases about whānau/carers and their roles.

Structures for whānau/carer engagement

• whānau/carer advisory groups: Continue to build formal mechanisms for carer input into service design and evaluation.
• Feedback loops: Regularly seek and act on whānau/carer feedback about services and experiences.

Support whānau/carer wellbeing

• Access to resources: Provide whānau/carers with information, peer support, and referrals to carer-specific services.
• Flexible engagement: Recognise whānau/carers’ time constraints and emotional load; offer multiple ways to participate (e.g. online, in-person).

Monitor and evaluate inclusion

• Measure impact: Track how whānau/carer involvement influences service outcomes, satisfaction, and policy effectiveness.
• Continuous improvement: Use data to refine approaches and ensure whānau/carer inclusion remains meaningful and not tokenistic.

4. Why is it important that whānau/carers perspectives and voices are heard and included in mental health care and policy development?  

Whānau/carers bring unique, lived expertise: Whānau/carers often have deep, day-to-day insight into the experiences, needs, and challenges of the person they support. Their knowledge complements clinical perspectives and can lead to more holistic, person-centred care. For example, whānau/carer may notice subtle changes in behaviour or mood that professionals might miss during appointments, helping to prevent an escalation of unwellness or guide early intervention. 

Inclusion improves outcomes for all: When whānau/carers are actively involved, services are more responsive and recovery oriented. Research shows that collaborative care involving whānau/carers can lead to better engagement, reduced hospitalisations, and improved wellbeing. 

Whānau/carers are affected by the system too: Mental health policies and services directly impact whānau/carers, emotionally, financially, and socially. Including their voices ensures that policies consider their needs, rights, and wellbeing, not just their role in supporting others. 

Ethical and human rights imperative: Whānau/carer inclusion aligns with principles of dignity, respect, and participation. It acknowledges whānau/carers as stakeholders with the right to be heard in decisions that affect them and those they care for. 

Builds trust and collaboration: When whānau/carers feel valued and included, relationships between families and services strengthen. This trust fosters better communication, shared decision-making, and continuity of care. 

Supports system improvement: Whānau/carers can identify gaps, barriers, and opportunities for innovation in service delivery. Their feedback is essential for designing policies and practices that are truly effective and inclusive. For example, whānau/carer-led advisory groups have influenced reforms in areas like discharge planning, peer support models, and culturally safe care. 

5. What are the unique insights that whānau/carers bring to the mental health system and what are the benefits when carers are actively engaged?  

Lived experience of support

• Whānau/carers understand the day-to-day realities of living alongside someone with mental health challenges.
• They can identify early warning signs, causes, and coping strategies that may not be visible in clinical settings.

Continuity across systems

• Whānau /carers often navigate multiple systems (health, housing, education, justice) and can highlight gaps, overlaps, and barriers in service coordination.

Cultural and family context

• Carers bring knowledge of cultural values, family dynamics, and community expectations that shape the person’s experience and recovery journey.

Impact of services on whānau/families

• Whānau/carers can speak to how policies and practices affect the broader family/community unit, including emotional, financial, and social impacts.

Benefits of active whānau/carer engagement 

Improved service design 

• Services become more person- and family-centred when carers help shape them. For example, a co-designed discharge planning processes often result in smoother transitions and reduced readmissions.

Better outcomes for consumers

• When carers are involved, consumers often experience more consistent support, better engagement with services, and improved recovery outcomes.

Enhanced system responsiveness

• Carer feedback helps identify service gaps and drive innovation. For example, whānau/carer-led advocacy has led to the development of peer support roles and trauma-informed care models.

Reduced carer stress and burnout

• Inclusion validates whānau/carers’ roles and provides access to support, reducing isolation and emotional load.

Stronger collaboration and trust

• Engaging whānau/carers fosters mutual respect and shared decision-making between us all.