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

Moving Forward TogetherJanet Kellycommunication, maybe they are finding their feet as well. Lots of peoplecome and go; managers and staff, the trust stuff that we talk about is a bigthing for us. The manager we knew has gone now. We are always meetingnew faces, we don’t know them and they down know us and our struggles.They don’t know that we have been part of this for so long, that we helpedto plan this service. It is like Johnny come lately. It feels like we are in theway, that there is no place for us there.I have to say though that the doctor and counseling service is good. WhenI was desperate I did finally go there and they were very helpful (AWGD2).These comments reflect community perceptions of the changing focus fromcommunity development and support to clinical services and chronic illnessprevention.As a nurse researcher listening to these experiences and reflections, andreflecting on the literature review I began to suspect that some of the issueswere linked to the differences between comprehensive primary health care andselective primary care. I brought these concepts to the women to see if mythinking was correct, and perhaps assist them to make sense of the confusingsituation they found themselves in. I aimed to do this in the way of Belenkyand colleagues (1973) through supported midwife and connected teachingstyles that enabled the women to develop their own knowledge 29 .Exploring unmet expectationsI asked the women which services on campus met their needs most readily.They identified the Nunga Lunches and computer classes at the AboriginalNeighbourhood House, the North Eastern Community Assistance Program(NECAP) and the Community Health Gardening Group. When we discussedwhy these were preferred they reflected that these services were welcoming,provide friendship and companionship, meet our immediate health and wellbeingneeds, and help us develop skills we need for life and work (AWG D2).29 Think and Discuss- analysis and interpretation -making Ganma foam170