Editorial   Research into consumer issues in health   Chris Peterson and Debra O'Connor School of Public Health La Trobe University Bundoora, Victoria For quite some time the importance of a consumer perspective in health issues, and in particular debates around public health policy development, has been recognised by government, many academics and a number of practitioners in the health field. The federal government has maintained consumer representation on many of its health boards and the Consumers' Health Forum, Health Issues Centre, and Western Australia Health Consumers' Association, and other bodies have been active in providing and vigorously promoting that representation. There have been a number of important studies and publications presenting a consumer perspective and approach to health issues ranging from the effects of casemix on consumers and its effects on the hospitalisation experience to individual consumers experiences of mental health and related services. While the consumer perspective and experience of health services has been regarded by some, including government, as an important component of the political processes involving the design, development, delivery and evaluation of health care there are some important reasons why the consumer perspective and input has not had the impact that many proponents believe is necessary. Some of these reasons are social and structural regarding the consumer in the health care hierarchy as equated with the patient, the final, passive recipient of services. Some reasons are socio-cultural and relate to the culture of the healthcare system in terms of dominance, subordination and compliance. Importantly in the current environment which is an outcome of rational economic planning, the consumer, as equated with patient may be viewed in dollar value terms as a commodity which if controlled effectively will result in cost containment approaches in health care that can result in effective budgetary cuts, thereby satisfying the diminishing purses of some policy makers. There is also anecdotal evidence to suggest a belief that by including consumers the process of service development and delivery is slowed down, and frustrates a rational planning process. Our concern here, however is not with systemic issues which often relegate the consumer perspective to a "voice" to sometimes listen to but seldom act upon, but a very practical matter. That is, improving the flow of consumer based information so that it can be more effectively used in practitioner, sociological, psychological and medical research, and have a more informed and research base for the number of reports that need to incorporate a consumer approach and perspective. This represents one small step towards a more consumer focussed research process. There are large differences in the types and quality of consumer information and perspectives available to researchers and report writers accessible through the common research databases such as Medline, Sociofile and Psychlit. One aspect to consider is the extent to which consumers have been active participants in the origins, design, and dissemination of research, or have played a more passive, subjective role. The libraries of organisations such as the Health Issues Centre and Consumers' Health Forum also contain a large number of reports and consumer based studies. In addition there is a plethora of information on consumer sites on the World Wide Web. What is needed is some systematic research and evaluation of the consumer information sources to provide graded selections of sources, which can be used by researchers in all health disciplines, and writers of reports for citing consumer perspectives and experiences. This research and evaluation activity would provide researchers who wish to include relevant consumer material with a framework for accessing consumer literature which could enhance the quality of consumer input into current health research. It could also provide an incentive for health researchers to incorporate quality consumer information into their own research projects. While better access to available consumer literature will not solve some of the political and socio-cultural problems associated with increasing consumer influence over health care policy and practice, it would provide an improved research and resource base which may help to empower the consumer position in research and policy analysis.