Connecting Health Professionals With Remote Communities: Building Healthy Relationships Within the Community
Tracks
Danggalaba (Saltwater crocodile)
| Monday, October 30, 2023 |
| 5:00 PM - 5:20 PM |
Overview
Justine Williams & Dean Blackney, CareFlight
Speaker
Justine Williams
CareFlight
Connecting health professionals with remote communities: Building healthy relationships within the community
Abstract
This presentation discusses how we have been able to deliver lifesaving training to some of the most remote Indigenous communities in the NT, and some of the results we are seeing from this.
In what at times has seemed like forced alignment of planets, this has required special ways of engaging funds, developing the right health professionals and connecting all of this to community members and their learning styles.
The results:
- development of a trained and highly capable, largely Indigenous workforce that is bringing these training courses together, from first phone enquiry to the Darwin hangar to course delivery
- development and improvement in cultural awareness for each and every CareFlight health professional who gets to see first-hand remote life, learning and Indigenous culture. This is very hard to experience adequately with the pressure of a time critical medical retrieval where stress levels are high and time on the ground is limited. The care these health professionals provide to their Indigenous patients from all over the NT Top End is much more aligned to the needs of the community as a result of their time teaching (as well as learning) in community
- there are many amazing "light bulb" moments of course participants when they realise how much they can do to help each other in community when an accident takes place and an injury is suffered.
- a dual sense of belonging between community members feeling more confident in the health system and the important first responder role they can have in it, and the health professionals who gain knowledge and comfort in the needs of the community
In what at times has seemed like forced alignment of planets, this has required special ways of engaging funds, developing the right health professionals and connecting all of this to community members and their learning styles.
The results:
- development of a trained and highly capable, largely Indigenous workforce that is bringing these training courses together, from first phone enquiry to the Darwin hangar to course delivery
- development and improvement in cultural awareness for each and every CareFlight health professional who gets to see first-hand remote life, learning and Indigenous culture. This is very hard to experience adequately with the pressure of a time critical medical retrieval where stress levels are high and time on the ground is limited. The care these health professionals provide to their Indigenous patients from all over the NT Top End is much more aligned to the needs of the community as a result of their time teaching (as well as learning) in community
- there are many amazing "light bulb" moments of course participants when they realise how much they can do to help each other in community when an accident takes place and an injury is suffered.
- a dual sense of belonging between community members feeling more confident in the health system and the important first responder role they can have in it, and the health professionals who gain knowledge and comfort in the needs of the community
Biography
My name is Dean Blackney, I am a Critical Care Nurse, Midwife and Paramedic. I have been working as a Flight Nurse with CareFlight in the Northern Territory for close to a decade. I am also heavily involved in CareFlight education in the communities with our 'Remote Trauma Course', 'Remote First Aid' and 'Sick & Injured Kids in the Bush', working closely with Justine Williams to facilitate delivery of these to participants in remote Indigenous Communities in the Northern Territory.
Miss Justine Williams
Community Relations Manager
CareFlight
Connecting Health Professionals With Remote Communities: Building Healthy Relationships Within the Community
Biography
Justine Williams is a proud Larakia & Iwaidja descendant with strong ties and connections to community and country. An enthusiastic Community Relations Manager with a strong background in First Nations recruitment and retention, stakeholder engagement, community empowerment and continuous improvement gained from over 20 years’ employment in the private and not-for-profit sectors.
Justine is the Community Relations Manager at CareFlight and has been working there for the past 6 years. A key component of her role is to develop and maintain relationships with Top End communities, individuals, Organisations, and agencies, that serve and represent Indigenous interests.
Justine also plays a critical role to intricately line up many moving parts required to deliver life-saving training to the most remote communities, which have many positive influences on the physical and mental wellbeing of First Nations people living in remote parts of the top end.
