- ACCHOs can reduce health disparity
- What is our path to health for all?
- Monitoring cultural safety in health care
- High rates of preventable hospitalisation
- Targeted early years support essential
- Calls for enforced aged care nurse ratios
- Push back against NT youth bail crackdown
- Save the Date – International Day of the Midwife 2021 – 5 May
ACCHOs can reduce health disparity
Yesterday proud Yorta Yorta woman Dr Summer May Finlay, Public Health Association of Australia Vice President for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander Health Lecturer at the University of Wollongong spoke with Dr Norman Swan on the ABC Radio National On Health Report about the importance of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) being run by and for Aboriginal people. Dr Finlay said this element was often missing in mainstream health settings with policy being developed at the Primary Health Network, state or commonwealth level by non-Aboriginal people who don’t know Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities or culture.
Dr Finlay said “what we actually need is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people leading the way in this space like we’ve got with the Coalition of Peaks around the Closing the Gap framework – the new Closing the Gap Framework has strong Indigenous leadership right at the top, and that needs to be emulated throughout the entire health system if we are to take a true cultural determinants of health approach. We need to make sure ACCHOs and other Aboriginal organisations are appropriately resourced to meet the needs of their communities and also trusted to be able to deliver to their communities, because they know their communities best.”
To listen to the interview click here.
Image in feature tile sourced from Australian National Audit Office website.
What is our path to health for all?
Yesterday a supplement to the Medical Journal of Australia called Australia in 2030: what is out path to health for all? was released. The authors claim Australia has a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity to create a healthy, sustainable, equitable and prosperous future by taking bold action to build back better, fairer and greener following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Finlay who co-authored chapter 2: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander connection to culture: building stronger individual and collective wellbeing of Australia in says “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have long understood the role that culture plays in health and wellbeing. All programs and policies aimed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people need to take a cultural determinants approach. This can only be done through Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership.
All organisations funded to deliver services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people need to be resourced to engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and their representative bodies in the development of the programs and policies. When the cultural determinants of health become core to policy and programs, trauma and racism will likely decline, and we will see a significant shift in the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Without acknowledgement of the cultural determinants of health, we will probably never see justice or ‘close the gap’.”
You can read the full article here.
Image source: The Conversation.
Monitoring cultural safety in health care
Improving cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health care users can improve access to, and the quality of health care. This means a health system that respects Indigenous cultural values, strengths and differences, and also addresses racism and inequity.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has released a two page summary of the key findings of the Cultural safety in health care for Indigenous Australians: monitoring framework (the Framework). The Framework aims to measure progress in achieving cultural safety in the Australian health system. For this purpose, cultural safety is defined with reference to the experiences of Indigenous health care user, of the care they are given, their ability to access services and to raise concerns.
To view the AIHW’s summary click here.
Image source: General Practice Training Queensland website.
High rates of preventable hospitalisations
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care’s recently published Fourth Atlas of Healthcare Variation has raised questions about the equity and quality of our health system with significant differences in the services provided across geographic and socio-economic areas. The report found a high rate of potentially preventable hospitalisations among people living in remote and socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, and among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. These high rates occurred in all five conditions examined in the Atlas: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), kidney infections and urinary tract infections, cellulitis, heart failure, and diabetes complications.
The Commission’s Acting Chief Medical Officer Professor Anne Duggan said many of these hospitalisations could be prevented by the implementation of evidence-based care plans that ensure earlier intervention, better disease management and better coordination of care.
Targeted early years support essential
The national peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, SNAICC (the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care), has welcomed the Australian Government’s recent announcement to increase investment in early childhood education and care. Early years services are critical to improving outcomes for children before they start school and set them on a journey for success throughout their lives. The promise of increased subsidies for families with two or more children in childcare will help to make early education more affordable and accessible for many families.
To view SNAICC’s media release click here.
Image source: Moriarty Foundation website.
Calls for enforced aged care nurse ratios
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Australian Nurses and Midwifery Federation have joined forces to call for the fast tracking of one of the key recommendations from the royal commission into aged care, and that is the provision of around the clock nursing care. The Federal Budget next week is expected to contain an extra $10 billion for aged care, over a four-year period. But that’s far short of the sector’s call for an extra $20 billion a year. Dr Omar Khorshid, President of the AMA spoke to Fran Kelly on RN Breakfast earlier today about wanting the Government to put in place legislation that would enforce ratios of registered nurses at aged care facilities.
Dr Khorshid said “it’ll change everything about how our nursing homes operate. I think most Australians would be very surprised to hear that you don’t necessarily need to have a nurse present in a nursing home, looking after the needs of significant numbers of elderly Australians with significant health needs. We saw so many terrible examples during the royal commission of where care was unable to be provided due to the lack of staff. Now, the only way to ensure that the facilities with Australians with high needs do have enough nurses is to mandate ratios of staff to nurses, including the highest trained nurses in that sector which are the registered nurses. And we are calling on Government to make a commitment in the budget to make that a reality as soon as possible for elderly Australians in nursing homes.”
To view a transcript of the interview click here.
Image source: Industry Skills Advisory Council NT website.
Push back against NT youth bail crackdown
Indigenous members of the NT Labor Party have urged their own government to reconsider proposed changes to youth bail laws, telling Chief Minister Michael Gunner his team is stoking “racist community attitudes” by using tough-on-crime rhetoric. Labor last month flagged what it described as “tougher than ever” consequences for alleged offending, in the face of continued pressure over property crime and a fresh push by the Country Liberal Party opposition to wind back changes made after the youth detention royal commission.
The government’s changes have been backed by NT Police and the police union, but condemned by the youth detention royal commissioners, human rights organisations and Aboriginal legal and health services. In a letter obtained by the ABC and addressed to the Chief Minister, the Indigenous Labor Network of the NT calls for a stop on what it says are “regressive changes” that would disproportionately affect Aboriginal young people. The letter says the government’s plans contradict royal commission recommendations as well as parts of Labor’s own draft Aboriginal Justice Agreement, which is aimed at reducing reoffending and the imprisonment rate of Indigenous Territorians.
To view the full article click here.
Indigenous Labor Network chairperson Thomas Mayor wants the Labor Party to reconsider the proposed youth bail changes. Photo: Mitchell Woolnough. Image source ABC News website.
International Day of the Midwife
International Day of the Midwife is celebrated each year on 5 May. This is a chance for midwives to celebrate their profession and for all of us to recognise their work and contribution to maternal and newborn health. Midwives put women and the family at the centre of care and at the heart of every decision, empowering them to be genuine partners in their care and improving their care experience. The significance and importance of providing women, their partners and families with compassionate care cannot be underestimated.
For more information click here.