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Talking to Us Mob. FRED YASSO AND JOHN VAN DER GIEZEN. Population. Low population, 2% to 6% (4% in WA) Small communities, self contained cultural life Strong extended families and communities. Legacy of History. Lived experience in a strong oral culture Stories of oppression
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Talking to Us Mob FRED YASSO AND JOHN VAN DER GIEZEN
Population • Low population, 2% to 6% (4% in WA) • Small communities, self contained cultural life • Strong extended families and communities
Legacy of History • Lived experience in a strong oral culture • Stories of oppression • Suppression of culture, language and ceremony • Removal of children • Poverty • High unemployment
Home • Households with 3 or more generations • Keeps stories strong, relevant to now • History has a long memory • High probability of someone close having been removed (Stolen Generations)
Consequences to Physical and Mental Health • Suspicion and fear of government services, particularly law, health and welfare • Reluctance to engage • Long delays before seeking help • A negative impact on health outcomes
Health Services Today • Tend to be facility based • Focus on individuals • From a cultural perspective, this doesn’t work • A brief look at health outcomes confirms this view
Concept of Aboriginal Health Aboriginal concepts of mental health are holistic and are defined as follows: “Health does not just mean the physical well-being of the individual but refers to the social, emotional and cultural well-being of the whole community. This is a whole of life view and includes the cyclical concept of life-death-life. Health care services should strive to achieve the state where every individual can achieve their full potential as human beings and thus bring about the total well-being of their communities.” “This is an evolving definition.” Ways Forward - National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health Policy National Consultancy Report by P. Swan and B. Raphael
Services Outreach into the Community • Mobile • Adaptable • Patient (take your time!) • Reliable • Demonstrate effectiveness and usefulness • CONFIDENTIALITY • Results • Personality based (not just a nurse, SW)
Providing Information to Community • What do services do? How they work? What they can achieve?How to access them?How to understand what’s going on? • Must be able to educate out there on the ground • Explain in detail how things work rather than assuming people know. • Eg; Explain the process of assessment, admission, treatment and about mental health
Developing partnerships • Between; • Communities and workers/services • Workers and families/individuals • Services and communities, families, individuals
Relationships • Build relationships with communities • Build relationships with Elders, families • Build relationships with individuals • (preferably in this order)
Aboriginal Workforce • Engaging and building relationships with Indigenous people is integral to good positive outcomes • Indigenous people are an important facet of developing Culturally capable services • Indigenous people can provide cultural experience and knowledge to address needs of their community • Assist clinicians and other mental health workers to navigate Indigenous Community life (Vice Versa) • Provide key ways of working which will increase chances of success