- Community best placed to deliver human services
- Praise for hospital models of care
- Child removal Catch-22
- Life with Archie
- Social media racism affects mental health
- Ngarrindjeri woman awarded grant
- Cultural support for hospital patients
Community best placed to deliver human services
Earlier this week (Wednesday 25 November) NACCHO CEO Pat Turner appeared as a panelist the ABC’s The Drum. Pat Turner described why the NACCHO COVID-19 communication strategy was so successful “it was done at the local level through NACCHO’s 143 members because they know the community and know what sort of messaging will resonate in the community and they know the behaviours of people, there were things that we said like ‘don’t share your smokes and don’t share your drinks’ because we know people do that. It was a way of making sure the messaging that was going out was really going to resonate with the people in those regions and that’s why we did it ourselves, our members did a great job and we were able to do it because we have a long established relationship with the communities and therefore they trust the messaging that comes from us.
The interviewer asked Pat Turner “how do you say to government ‘you’ve had a crack at closing the gap, let us have a try – how do you shake the cage of government and say ‘look you’ve got to let the community do its own delivery of human services because frankly with the best will in the world, Commonwealth government you’re rubbish at it.'”
NACCHO CEO Pat Turner AM. Image source: ABC The Drum.
Praise for hospital models of care
The St John of God Midland public hospital, which has just celebrated its firth birthday, has been praised for developing models of care in providing Aboriginal health services and building a strong relationship with local community groups. Aboriginal engagement and cultural advisors work across the hospital’s wards to assist patients and their families and assist with post discharge planning. St John of God Midland Public Hospital has created significant links with the local community, and works closely with local health agencies, community service providers and patient support groups and provides important outreach and in-reach services to patients.
To view the Government of WA’ s media release click here.
Image source: St John of God Midland Public Hospital website.
Child removal Catch-22
Indigenous parents are likely to score higher on risk assessments, resulting in increased contact with the Queensland Department of Children, the disability royal commission has heard. Parameters include the number of children living at home, whether the primary parent has a history as a child of abuse or neglect, and prior mental health issues.
Thelma Schwartz of the Queensland Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service said that when she began her role in 2015, failure to protect children from exposure to domestic and family violence contributed to removal. A history of contact with the child protection system was also cited as a reason for child removal, Thelma Schwartz told commissioners. “You can see that by coming forward and making the disclosure that you’ve been a victim, which is all of this advertising and the whole genesis of the Not Now, Not Ever report, this is now used as a Catch-22 for this mother and used against her to remove her kids,”
Image source: SBS NITV website.
Life with Archie
Laugh and cry as you listen to Aboriginal mum Carly and her husband Luke talk about raising their beautiful little four year old boy Archie who has a number of disabilities. Carly talks about her pregnancy, the birth of Archie, learning of his various disabilities, therapy, navigating the NDIS and more. Listen here to the interview on an episode of the Too Peas In A Podcast podcast.
Archie as a baby. Image source: carlypuck Instagram.
Social media racism affects mental health
In her 2015 book, The Internet of Garbage, Sarah Jeong writes: “The internet is experienced completely differently by people who are visibly identifiable as a marginalised race or gender. It’s a nastier, more exhausting internet, one that gets even nastier and even more exhausting as intersections stack up.” When it comes to racism (and all of its intersections), the exhaustion of experiencing it in our own lives is being increasingly compounded by its visablity online. To be clear: as a person who is victimised by systemic racism, it’s never your responsibility to adapt. But there are ways to take back control when things feel overwhelming.
To view the article on ABC Life click here.
Image source: ABC Life website.
Ngarrindjeri woman awarded grant
Murray Bridge woman Brooke Vanzati has been awarded a grant to support her study by Flinders University Rural Health SA. Funded and awarded by the rural health departments of the three SA universities – Flinders University, the University of Adelaide and the University of SA, the bursary is open to any Aboriginal Health Professional, Practitioner or Worker who is currently working in an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service in rural or remote SA.
To view the article in full click here.
Brook Vanzati. Image source: The Murray Valley Standard.
Cultural support for hospital patients
Around 3% (more than 10,000) of the NSW Central Coast’s population is of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, with numbers steadily rising as more people move to the region to be close to family and to access better employment opportunities and healthcare. The region has one of the fastest growing Aboriginal populations according to data from the last two Censuses.
Nunyara Aboriginal Health Unit provides an important service to local hospitals and the community. Aboriginal liaison officers Jody Milson and Wayne Merritt have explained, “We work out of all hospitals in the Health District and at Woy Woy we concentrate on patients in rehabilitation, sub-acute and transitional care,” Milson said. “We provide cultural support to Aboriginal patients and help them in engaging with staff. “Some of them have been newly diagnosed and need that one on one support.”
To view the full article in the Coast Community News click here.
Image source: Unique Building Partners website.