Indigenous Health Service: The Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia - Coursework Example

Indigenous Health Service Name Institution Lecturer Course Date Indigenous Health Service Introduction Australians Indigenous people have continued to suffer greater health burdens than non-Indigenous people (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2015). However, efforts have been and are underway to close this health inequality through the improvement of the health of the Indigenous population. One notable organisation seeking to close this gap is the Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia. This report profiles this organisation that seeks to improve the health of the Aboriginal people in Western Australia. The report outlines the vision, objectives, services, membership and contact details for the organisation. Background The Aboriginal Health Council of WA (AHCWA) was formerly known as the WA Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations. Having been incorporated in 2005, AHCWA operates within the legislation and regulations of the state government although the organisation has its own constitution that defines its operations and objectives. AHCWA gives a holistic approach towards the health and wellbeing of the Aboriginal people acting as an advocacy and support group. As an advocacy group, AHCWA advocates for the development of the Aboriginal community (AHCWA, 2015). In particular, the organisation advocates for the empowerment of the Aboriginal community through the provision of health education that not only helps Aboriginal people to make healthy choices, but also helps them to address health-related needs of their own community by doing necessary research (Government of Western Australia, 2015). AHCWA also advocates for the delivery of health services that are in line with the cultural background of the Aboriginal community while supporting for the “advancement of the Aboriginal religion” (Government of Western Australia, 2015). As a support group, AHCWA represents “20 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) across Western Australia at State and National levels (AHCWA, 2015). In supporting these institutions, AHCWA seeks to ensure that these ACCHSs continually develop so that they become more efficient in delivering their goals, which narrow towards the delivery of holistic health services to the Western Australia Aboriginal community (Government of Western Australia, 2015). The delivery of holistic health services to Aboriginal people in WA is the key goal of AHCWA. The organisation’s constitution defines holistic as incorporating all human aspects and well beings including “physical, spiritual, social, economic and cultural well-being.” In order to achieve this primary or ultimate goal, AHCWA has outlined three operational areas that include individual members of the Aboriginal community, member organisations and services. From the individual member perspective, AHCWA supports and advocates for health promotion, poverty eradication and easing of suffering of individual Aboriginals. Regarding the services operational area, AHCWA promotes the delivery of holistic health services to Aboriginal people. In the operational area of member organisations, AHCWA provides an operating forum for ACCHSs while acting as an advocate for these organisations to enable them meet their goals effectively and efficiently (Government of Western Australia, 2015). In order to achieve its overall goal effectively, AHCWA has identified three key performance goals, which include influencing policy decisions, doing business better and advancing Aboriginal health (AHCWA, 2015b). In order to achieve these three key performance goals, AHCWA has worked on establishing key partnerships, an effort that has already born fruits owing to already established partnerships with government organisations, NGOs, institutions of higher learning and ACCHOs (AHCWA, 2015b). Being a QIC Accredited organisation is a clear indication that AHCWA has indeed been striving to do business better through the implementation of its strategic plan (AHCWA, 2015b). AHCWA receives funding from the Federal Government. AHCWA proposes programs to the Federal Government and once approved, a funding agreement for the specific program is established. For example, AHCWA’s anti-smoking program receives $1.3 million government funding (AHCWA, 2015a). It is for this reason that AHCWA is under strict government legislation and regulations on financial management and accountability to ensure appropriate use of public funds (Government of Western Australia, 2015). Vision and Objectives AHCWA envisions that by 2025, there will be no health inequality between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals in Western Australia (AHCWA, 2015). AHCWA has set three performance goals as follows: Advancement of the health of the Aboriginal people, families and communities in the areas of health education, mental health, oral and dental health as well as maternal and child health The improvement of service delivery among member services (ACCHSs) through the provision of necessary support Influencing policy decisions through collaboration with policy makers in order to improve Aboriginal health (AHCWA, 2015i) AHCWA’s objectives as outlined in its constitution are: “The amelioration of poverty within the Aboriginal community The advancement of Aboriginal religion; The development and maintenance of educational institutions to provide constructive educational health courses and programmes for members of the Aboriginal community and to undertake medical research to redress ill-health within the Aboriginal community; and To deliver holistic and culturally appropriate health and health related services to the Aboriginal community” (AHCWA, 2015). Services Provided AHCWA provides a range of health and health related services that are categorised into sections as follows: executive services, workforce development unit, population health unit, finance & contracts unit and ethics. Executive services: these services are under the office of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). These are internal services aimed at facilitating AHCWA and its service members to deliver services to the Aboriginal community. Executive services include continuous quality improvement, human resource, communication services, media management and administrative services (AHCWA, 2015d). Workforce development unit: this unit provides workforce development services aimed at developing healthcare professionals working within ACCHOs and mainstream healthcare setting. This unit has two sectors. The training and development sector has a number of programs all of which are aimed at training and developing healthcare professionals on matters involving the delivery of healthcare services to the Indigenous community (AHCWA, 2015e). Therefore, the primary aim of the training and development sector is the improvement of health service delivery to the Australian Indigenous population. These training and development programs focus on the following areas: primary healthcare, cultural safety training, WA General Practitioner Education and Training (WAGPET) and workforce information policy officer (AHCWA, 2015e). The other sector in the workforce development unit deals with ensuring that there is sufficient healthcare workforce to deliver high quality health service to the Western Australia Indigenous community. This sector conducts necessary analyses to identify future workforce demand and then plans to fill the identified gap in order to meet future demands (AHCWA, 2015e). Population Health Unit: this unit works with the Aboriginal community in order to improve its health through disease prevention, health promotion and life prolonging. The population health unit is guided by three health goals: 1) Preventing and treating all physical and mental health issues 2) Surveillance of health conditions and diseases in the Aboriginal community 3) Promoting healthy behaviours among the Aboriginals In order to achieve these three goals, the population health unit has three primary projects: 1) Maternal, Infant and Child Health: this project helps expectant women, new mothers and their new born children to live healthily especially focusing on smoke free living environments 2) Sexual health: this project seeks to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) 3) Aboriginal Hospital and Health Service Liaison Program: this program assists patients who wish to seek healthcare and medical treatment from Perth. Key focus areas for the population health unit include sexual health (including STIs), chronic diseases, oral health, maternal, infant and child health, health promotion, health service performance and health service quality (AHCWA, 2015f). Finance & Contracts Unit: this is an internal service unit that helps other units to deliver their intended services to the Aboriginal community. This unit deals with funding and grant application, contract establishment, human resource management, IT auditing and corporate governance (AHCWA, 2015g). The Ethics Unit: finally, the ethics unit helps AHCWA and member organisations along other interested healthcare professionals to carry out research into the Aboriginal health by providing information about health research including research opportunities and research ethics. The unit also provides information on ethics in healthcare (AHCWA, 2015h) Membership AHCWA is made up of a number of ACCHSs that are located in different parts of Western Australia as shown in appendix 1. Contacts AHCWA’s contact addresses are as follows: “Location: 450 Beaufort Street, Highgate WA 6003, Australia Postal Address: PO Box 8493, Stirling Street, Perth WA 6849” (Government of Western Australia, 2015) Phone: (08) 9227 1631 Fax: (08) 9228 1099 (AHCWA, 2015c) Web: http://www.ahcwa.org.au/ AHCWA’s offices are open Monday to Friday starting from 8:30am to 5:00pm (Government of Western Australia, 2015). Comments and Reflections AHCWA is doing a great work in improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal people in Western Australia through advocacy and support services. AHCWA plays a fundamental role in protecting the Aboriginal people such that were it not for this organisation, the Australian government would not be considering about these people. For instance, AHCWA is strongly against the government’s intention to withdraw services from Aboriginal communities in Western Australia as indicated by Prime Minister Tony Abbott (AHCWA, 2015). This is a clear indication that AHCWA has more work to do in protecting the Aboriginal people in Western Australia. All along, I have been wondering whether AHCWA will realise its vision given that it is 10 years to 2025. After thorough research on this organisation (although relying on information on its website only), I am optimistic that it will achieve this vision. Should this be the case, AHCWA will then have made a major step towards improving the health and wellbeing of the Australian Indigenous population. However, considering the deliberate attempts by the government to withdraw its services from the Aboriginal Communities, the realisation of this vision will be challenging further considering that AHCWA relies on government funding. References Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia (2015). Home. Retrieved from http://www.ahcwa.org.au/ Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia (2015a). Anti-smoking Program in Limbo as Government Stalls on Funding. Retrieved from http://www.ahcwa.org.au/index.php/category-table/10-latest-news/84-anti-smoking-program-in-limbo-as-government-stalls-on-funding Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia (2015b). AHCWA Milestones: 2012-2013. Retrieved from http://www.ahcwa.org.au/index.php/about-us/achievements Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia (2015c). AHCWA Contact. Retrieved from http://www.ahcwa.org.au/index.php/contact-us Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia (2015d). Office of the CEO. Retrieved from http://www.ahcwa.org.au/index.php/programs/office-of-the-ceo Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia (2015e). Workforce Development Unit. Retrieved from http://www.ahcwa.org.au/index.php/programs/workforce-development-unit Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia (2015f). Population Health Unit. Retrieved from http://www.ahcwa.org.au/index.php/programs/population-health-unit Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia (2015g). Finance & Contracts Unit. Retrieved from http://www.ahcwa.org.au/index.php/programs/finance-contracts-unit Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia (2015h). Ethics: Western Australian Aboriginal Health Committee. Retrieved from http://www.ahcwa.org.au/index.php/programs/ethics Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia (2015i). AHCWA Performance Goals. retrieved from http://www.ahcwa.org.au/index.php/about-us/performance-goals Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia (2015i). Our Member Services. retrieved from http://www.ahcwa.org.au/index.php/members/member-locations Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2015). Indigenous Australians. Retrieved from http://www.aihw.gov.au/indigenous-australians/ Government of Western Australia (2015). Consumer Health Services Directory: Aboriginal Health Council of WA (AHCWA). Retrieved from http://www.health.wa.gov.au/services/detail.cfm?Unit_ID=491 Appendix Appendix 1: Membership Member Organisation/Service Location 1 Beagle Bay Community Health Service Broome, WA 6725 2 Bega Garnbirringu Health Services Incorporated 16-19 McDonald Street, Kalgoorlie, WA 6430 3 Bidyadanga Aboriginal Community Health Service Broome, WA 6725 4 Broome Regional Aboriginal Medical Service 640 Dora Street, Broome, WA 6725 5 Carnarvon Aboriginal Medical Service 14-16 Rushton Street, Carnarvon, WA 6701 6 Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service Inc Wittenoom Street, East Perth, WA 6004 7 Derby Aboriginal Health Service 1 Stanley Street, Derby, WA 6728 8 Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service 60 Riflerange Road, Rangeway, WA 6530 9 Jurrugk Aboriginal Health Service 1 Stanley Street, Derby, WA 6728 10 Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service Council 640 Dora Street, Broome, WA 6725 11 Mawarnkarra Health Service Aboriginal Corporation 20 Scholl Street, Roebourne, WA 6718 12 Ngaanyatjarra Health Service Shop 2/58 Head Street, Alice Springs, NT 0871 13 Nindillingarri Cultural Health Service Fitzroy Crossing, WA 6765 14 Ord Valley Aboriginal Medical Service 1125 Ironwood Drive, Kununurra, WA 6743 15 Puntukurnu Aboriginal Medical Services Newman WA 6753 16 South West Aboriginal Medical Service Sandridge Street, Bunbury, WA 6230 17 Wirraka Maya Aboriginal Health Service Unit 1, 5 Hamilton Street, South Hedland, WA 6722 18 Yura Yungi Aboriginal Medical Service Teron Street, Halls creek, WA 6770 19 Spinifex Health Service Kalgoorlie, WA 6430 Source: AHCWA (2015j) Read More