Managing Two Worlds Together report improves Aboriginal patient journeys

Stage three of the report was launched today at Flinders, Victoria Square.
Stage three of the report was launched today at Flinders, Victoria Square.

Focusing on South Australia and the Northern Territory and building on earlier research, the Managing Two Worlds Together Stage 3 study analyses some of the critical segments and gaps in the Aboriginal patient journey.

The report has produced practical tools that can be used by health professionals, patients and their families to identify what support is needed, and how coordination, communication, collaboration and cultural safety can be improved.

Its creators hope that through the project, better patient journeys will be delivered, providing better health outcomes for Aboriginal people on what is a very complex patient journey through the health system.

Professor Michael Kidd, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Flinders University, said the project was a critical one.

“Aboriginal people often experience challenges with health care services, and this can have a very serious effect on health and wellbeing,” said Professor Kidd.

“Flinders University is proud to partner with Lowitja Institute in addressing these challenges.”

Lowitja Institute Chief Executive Officer, Romlie Mokak, said the Institute was committed to supporting the translation of research into practical outcomes that will have a real impact on the health and well being of Aboriginal people.

Funded by the Lowitja Institute, the research was conducted by a team from Flinders University, the University of Adelaide, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, the Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia, and SA Health, working closely with patients and their families, and with health care practitioners in city, rural and remote health sites.

Their work addresses one of the priorities identified in the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes agreed to by COAG in 2008.

The Lowitja Institute is Australia’s national institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research, named in honour of its Patron, Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue AC CBE DSG. It was established in 2010, emerging from a 14-year history of Cooperative Research Centres funded by the Australian Government CRC Program.

Event details: Launch of the Managing Two Worlds Together Stage 3 report, workbook and case studies, Tuesday 2 June 2015, 3.00–4.30pm, Flinders City Campus, 182 Victoria Square, Adelaide.

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