Moving Forward Together in Aboriginal Women's Health: - Theses ...
Moving Forward Together in Aboriginal Women's Health: - Theses ...
Moving Forward Together in Aboriginal Women's Health: - Theses ...
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<strong>Mov<strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>Forward</strong> <strong>Together</strong>Janet Kellyongo<strong>in</strong>g support, they attended what ever service was available, whether it wasdesigned for that purpose or not. This led to compla<strong>in</strong>ts that they weremonopolis<strong>in</strong>g services and the cl<strong>in</strong>ic was <strong>in</strong> danger of over servic<strong>in</strong>g.By work<strong>in</strong>g together collaboratively we were able to address some of theseissues proactively. First we discussed different forms of primary health care sothat everyone could ga<strong>in</strong> a similar understand<strong>in</strong>g and expectation of theavailable services. Once this was clear, the community women decided to formtheir own Women’s Friendship Group and access parent<strong>in</strong>g services at othersites that could meet their specific needs. Meanwhile, local heath professionalsused PAR processes to map available and additional resources, createcollaborative networks with other services and prioritise short and long termgoals that were responsive to local Aborig<strong>in</strong>al women’s needs. The three stepPAR process of Look and Listen, Th<strong>in</strong>k and Discus and Take Action enabledresult<strong>in</strong>g collaborative projects to be well thought out, <strong>in</strong>clusive and effective.Co-researchers found that by work<strong>in</strong>g together they could pool their resources,time and energy and achieve much more collaboratively than they could alone.For example, local Aborig<strong>in</strong>al community women and health professionals codevelopeda series of Aborig<strong>in</strong>al women’s health days to meet both healthservice and community priorities. Education professionals and youngAborig<strong>in</strong>al women were also <strong>in</strong>cluded <strong>in</strong> the health days and the programexpanded to meet their additional needs. By work<strong>in</strong>g together health andeducation professionals were able to positively address issues related to lowersocial determ<strong>in</strong>ants of health <strong>in</strong> ways that they couldn’t alone. YoungAborig<strong>in</strong>al women were able to access a wider range of resources to supportthem to be healthy, stay at school, seek further tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g and ga<strong>in</strong> well paidemployment. The Young Aborig<strong>in</strong>al Women’s Get together for exampleenabled young Aborig<strong>in</strong>al women to access general health and contraception<strong>in</strong>formation, be <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> reconciliation and leadership programs whilehav<strong>in</strong>g opportunities to deepen their friendships, expand their public speak<strong>in</strong>gskills and explore social, emotional and cultural well be<strong>in</strong>g.We found that <strong>in</strong> order for collaboration to work across organisations andsectors, at least one person <strong>in</strong> each agency needed to be supported and will<strong>in</strong>gto take a leadership and collaboration role. A clear action plan (derived through337
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