Keeping Our Mob Healthy- A collaborative initiative to improve the relevance of health information and condition self-management resources for Aboriginal families at Perth Children’s Hospital (PCH) Child and Adolescent Health Service (CAHS).
Alana Loo1, Lynette Reich1, Sharma Hamilton1, Jo Norfolk11Perth Childrens Hospital (PCH) Child and Adolescent Health Service (CAHS), Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Abstract
For Aboriginal families to engage in treatment recommendations, access to culturally relevant information is critical. At PCH, 250 Health Fact Sheet (HFS) are central to health education. Incidental clinician and family feedback on HFS revealed that as culture/cultural difference had not been previously considered, information was culturally irrelevant and likely associated with sub-optimal outcomes in some children.
An externally funded project team was formed, comprising Aboriginal Liaison Officers (ALO), Social Workers (SW)- in-kind project leads, Aboriginal Health Worker (AHW) and an Aboriginal graphic artist. Through organisation-wide communications, teams were invited to participate. 22 Departments opted in and over 18 months, parties collaborated to systematically culturally augment relevant HFS. Aboriginal consumer involvement was central throughout the project and at evaluation. Feedback from WA Health stakeholders was also sought.
Graphics, content, and language were typically modified to produce 130 amended HFS in a broad cross section of specialties. Semi- structured interviews sourced qualitative feedback on revised HFS from Aboriginal consumers (N=19) and modified questionnaires sourced clinician feedback (N=15). Combined, 22 favourable feedback themes were identified. Negative feedback was not received from either group.
The project produced a suite of accessible Aboriginal informed and culturally relevant HFS. These resources augment clinician confidence to yarn health messages with families and enable/equip Aboriginal families to manage their child’s condition, both known to enhance health outcomes. The project has implications for any future resource development applicable to Aboriginal children and supports the organisation in its commitment to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal children.
Biography
Alana is a proud Aboriginal woman who was born and raised in Katanning Great Southern (WA) on Noongar country. Alana has strong kinship ties to many parts of Noongar country through the ancestral lines of her father and mother.
Alana has worked at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children/Perth Children’s Hospital for 14yrs as Senior Aboriginal Liaison Officer (SALO) and is honoured to be involved in the care of Aboriginal children and their families from WA and beyond. In her capacity of SALO, Alana has worked alongside many dedicated health professionals in pursuit of the best health outcomes for Aboriginal Children.