Impact of grant funding Ngalga Ngarra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients are being provided with enhanced cultural support, using iPad technology funded by the grants program.
The iPad program is entitled Ngalga Ngarra (pronounced Engalga Narra ) which in the Dharug Nation language translates in English to Sit, Look, Listen. Lillian Crombie is of the Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara people of central Australia and has been receiving dialysis for over four years due to chronic kidney disease. While she resides in Port Pirie, South Australia, Lillian regularly needs to return to Sydney for specialist appointments and dialysis. Six iPads funded through the grants program will enhance the services and support provided by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Liaison Officer within the NSLHD to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients who are experiencing feelings of isolation from family, friends and Country (the land of their mother/family).
The iPads will provide greater access to culturally appropriate resources, as well as more autonomy in how they choose to use each resource. Patients will be able to customise the support, so it correlates with their own spirituality, language, lore, kindship, sexuality or area of need. Lillian receives treatment three times a week with each session lasting up to four hours and enjoys using the iPad to have a yarn to family and friends over FaceTime. “I can show them where I am, the view and the trees around me,” said Lillian. Some of the culturally specific services and programs include NITV (National Indigenous Television) which incorporates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander news with mainstream national news; Koori Mail, an Australian newspaper owned and produced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and Koori Radio, Sydney’s only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander radio station. In addition, there are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander produced and presented sports programs, documentaries and movies and 30 free health and education apps they can access. “The iPad technology will also support clinical staff in their professional development by providing cultural safe environments in hospital wards. As staff become familiar with the programming content on the iPads and engage in conversation with patients and visitors during routine tasks, it will increase cultural awareness for staff and address unconscious bias,” said Paul.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients and their families, through intergenerational trauma, may be fearful of attending a hospital, especially if it’s away from Country.
Paul Weir, Deputy Director of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Service
The program aims to deliver the best in patient-centred care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients with further cultural and kinship support, to de- escalate anxieties, feelings of isolation and the desire to discharge from hospital early,” said Paul Weir, Deputy Director of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Service.
14
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator