Continuing to improve cultural capabilities across our organisation
Our newest participants during their training
Meet our newest Aboriginal Health Champions Program participants.
These eight individuals were identified for their commitment to prioritising Aboriginal health throughout the course of their roles.
The Aboriginal Health Champions Program (AHCP) is a WA Health workforce initiative with core goals including:
- Improving and enhancing culturally safe, respectful and responsive care to Aboriginal people and their communities.
- Fostering a culture of staff accountability and building cultural capabilities.
- Improving patient advocacy, with participants working alongside Aboriginal staff to advocate for patients and their families.
Director Aboriginal Health Strategy Russell Simpson said that with 27 participants now onboarded, the foundational work the Aboriginal Health Strategy team have put in place is yielding impressive results.
“The Aboriginal Health Champions Program is critical in helping us to reduce cultural load on Aboriginal people and Aboriginal staff, and increase cultural capabilities of non-Aboriginal staff,” Mr Simpson said.
“When a non-Aboriginal person comes to work or visits a health site, they don’t face a stream of questions about their heritage or are expected to answer questions and act as a single spokesperson for entire communities.
“Being expected to repeatedly explain basic historical facts, address casual racism or culturally unsafe language, and correct false public narrative quickly causes burnout.
“We aren’t just talking about burnout in the workplace either - that same cultural load can also cause Aboriginal people to think twice about accessing our services – particularly if they did not feel supported and respected at a previous visit.
“The flow-on effect of which makes chronic disease management a challenge – something that we know disproportionately effects Aboriginal people.
“Simply put, it is not the sole responsibility of Aboriginal people to educate non-Aboriginal people about Aboriginal cultures, histories, and experiences and we address this through programs such as the AHCP.”
Have you received culturally safe care?
We’re inviting Aboriginal community members to nominate non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal WA Country Health (WACHS) staff for our Aboriginal Health Champions Program.
Has a WACHS staff member:
- Made you feel culturally safe?
- Taken the time to listen to you and respect your opinion?
- Included you in decisions about your care?
If the answer to any of these is ‘yes’ considering nominating the staff member today.