Moving Forward Together in Aboriginal Women's Health: - Theses ...

Moving Forward TogetherJanet KellyThese first two Collaboration Areas are discussed separately and in relation toeach other, highlighting the complexities, changes and multiple perspectivesand expectations of health care delivery and its ability to meet diverseAboriginal women’s health and well-being needs. Rather than suggesting onegroup is ‘right’, and another ‘wrong’, postcolonial feminism (Browne et al2005; McConaghy 2000) assists with the exploration of ways that gender,class, employment status, socio-economic status, cultural aspects, professionalpositioning and power differences intersect with and reflect colonisation,creating both shared and unique experiences in post-colonial Adelaide.Collaboration Area 3 - The high school and the health serviceThe third Collaboration Area involved improving networks, communicationand education between the local high school and the Aboriginal OutreachHealth Service. Very few young Aboriginal women were accessing services atthe campus, except for medical treatment and pregnancy care in mid to latepregnancy. Both the school and the health service were keen to work togetherto improve young Aboriginal women’s access to health information andservices.Collaboration Area 4 - The decolonising conferenceThe fourth Collaboration Area developed as co-researchers, stakeholders,mentors and I identified the need for deeper and wider discussions regardingknowledge sharing and collaborative action in the research context. A nationalaction learning/ action research conference, underpinned by Aboriginalpreferred ways of knowing and doing, was planned and implemented. Thiscollaborative action ensured that our research processes, outcomes and learningwere able to be shared in ways that honoured Aboriginal intellectual property,reciprocity and Ganma processes of respectful two-way knowledge exchange.These four unique yet interwoven Collaboration Areas have enabled coresearchersand myself to envision, develop and ‘road test’ our collaborativePAR methodology in a range of situations. Comparing and contrasting thethemes arising through each Collaboration Area enables this research to beinclusive of a range of knowledges and perspectives, while still honouringindividual knowledge. A chart outlining and comparing all four Collaboration141