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

Moving Forward TogetherJanet Kellyback to how it always is, and we were just in the way again (AWG D4). I tooobserved that for a day, the community room at Gilles Plains AboriginalNeighbourhood House felt like a jointly owned community space, where thebarriers were lowered, and then the next day the barriers rose again inaccordance with clinical and organisational priorities.Developing a women’s friendship group ourselvesThe women asked me would I run a women’s group for them. The youngAboriginal women’s group had finished and the worker had returned to herbase in the Western suburbs. The need to meet in a supportive environment hadnot diminished and their conflicts with the Aboriginal Neighbourhood Houseseemed to be escalating rather than resolving. After my last round ofdiscussions with stakeholders, I too felt there were few other options left. Inthe interests of true reciprocity, as well as the increasing despair and sadnessthat I detected, I agreed to support them in their vision of a women’s group,with a suggestion that rather than me facilitating the group for them (as I had in2003 for the family well being program), we would work together to develop agroup using PAR processes. I identified that I could only commit for the rest ofthe year (early to late 2006) and so part of our planning would need to includewhat would happen the following year. I was mindful of E Stringer’s adviceper telephone on 6 February 2006 that when ever I am going into a project, Iam thinking about how I am going to get out of it at the end. I was also awareof the importance of not promising anything that I could not actually provide(National Health and Medical Research Council 2003). The women agreed thatto co- develop a group was agreeable.My role in the development of the women’s friendship group became one ofpragmatic support person and the link to the health staff on the campus. Theco- researchers and I brainstormed and recorded ideas on butcher’s paper 37 . Iasked the six trigger questions of who, what, how, why, when and where assuggested by Stringer (2007). We discussed who would be involved, would itbe an open or closed group, when and where would it be held, on campus or37 Co-planning action– building a pragmatic vision180