Our submission draws greatly on the work of AIPEP and in particular the AIPEP Curriculum Framework and AIPEP Workforce Capabilities Framework (to be published at www.IndigenousPsychEd.org.au in September 2016). APAC was represented on the AIPEP National Reference Committee and at a meeting on Leadership in Indigenous Mental Health held in February 2016. As a result APAC have been involved in the development of the AIPEP Frameworks and has become signatory to the AIPEP Statement of...read more
Objective: It has been acknowledged that the mental health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has been “bedeviled” by the inappropriate application of non-Indigenous models of mental health. To enhance Indigenous health and well-being it is necessary for non-Indigenous practitioners to find a culturally safe way to enter the negotiated space of cross-cultural mental health. This will be facilitated through understanding both the points of similarity and divergence in perspectives of mental health across...read more
Background: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health is generally the worst of any population group in Australia. Inaccessibility to health services is one possible cause of this. Shared medical appointments (SMAs) appear to be a culturally competent and appropriate way of improving access to, and the quality of, primary healthcare services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Objective: The objective of this article is to assess the acceptability and appropriateness of SMAs as an...read more
Objective: There is little literature on health-service-level strategies for culturally respectful care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. We conducted two case studies, which involved one Aboriginal community controlled health care service and one state government-managed primary health care service, to examine cultural respect strategies, client experiences and barriers to cultural respect. Methods: Data were drawn from 22 interviews with staff from both services and four community assessment workshops, with a total of 21...read more
Background: Developing a culturally competent health workforce is a key strategy in the struggle to provide quality healthcare services for Aboriginal people. Since 2000, the Centre for Aboriginal Medical and Dental Health has implemented a comprehensive vertically and horizontally integrated Aboriginal health curriculum across the 6 year MBBS program at the University of Western Australia. This involves considerable core teaching, a range of options, electives and selectives plus an Aboriginal health specialisation within the MBBS...read more
Cultural competency training for health professionals is now a recognised strategy to address health disparities between minority and white populations in Western nations. In Australia, urgent action is required to "Close the Gap" between the health outcomes of Indigenous Australians and the dominant European population, and significantly, cultural competency development for health professionals has been identified as an important element to providing culturally safe care. This paper describes a compulsory interprofessional first-year unit in a...read more
The fourth Slice of LIME Seminar was held on 27th April 2015, hosted by the University of Sydney. This event was a Poche Indigenous Health Network Key Thinkers Forum and a National Senior Teaching Fellowship activity, supported by the Office of Learning and Teaching. The forum focused on identifying and applying critical elements of cultural competency/humility/safety for effective cross-cultural work. It brought together key thinkers in this area to search for common ground, and sought...read more
The second Slice of LIME Seminar was presented by Professor Dennis McDermott & Mr Dave Sjoberg from the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health and Well-Being at Flinders University South Australia, on 12th August 2014. It focused on cultural safety in health professions, & explored pedagogical methods for addressing issues such as racism, white privilege & stereotyping of Indigenous people, as encountered when teaching health science students. Topics discussed included: Equipping students to challenge cultural safety...read more
In September 2012 the inaugural Australian Psychological Society (APS) Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) was launched at the 47th APS Conference in Perth. The RAP is the result of a collaborative and consultative process officially commencing with the signing of a statement of commitment with Reconciliation Australia. A Working Group and Executive Group of diverse stakeholders led the development of the RAP. The RAP identifies four broad areas as priority areas for action: Respectful Relationships Governance...read more
Last week’s terrible news that a 10-year-old Aboriginal girl had taken her own life shook many Australians. Yet there would be few Aboriginal families who have not already been affected by the suicide or attempted suicide of their young people. This includes our own extended families and kin.read more
