Clinicians & Front-line Workers
Resources for Clinicians & Front-line Workforces
Clinicians, including psychologists, psychiatrists, emergency medicine specialists, GPs and nurses, have important roles to play in supporting the mental health and social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and in preventing suicide.
Other front-line workers who provide services to Indigenous people can also make essential contributions. Social workers, youth workers, and any staff who support community programs and services, need to understand how Indigenous people may exhibit distress and how to respond to individuals, families and whole communities.
For some professionals, supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s mental health and social and emotional wellbeing will be part of their education, training and supervision. For many others, their development in these domains will occur in the workplace, with limited formal oversight.
All workforces need to understand how to work with Indigenous people in a culturally responsive and safe way that supports positive and trusting relationships.
This section of the Manual includes resources that apply in all these situations.
Resources
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Cultural Respect Framework 2016-2026 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
This app is designed to be used by service providers and clients in a client session. It is available in iOS and Android versions and facilitates discussion about: Friends and family who help keep clients strong and healthy Personal strengths relating to spiritual and cultural, physical, family, social and work, and mental and emotional aspects of clients’ lives - represented visually as leaves on a tree Aspects of clients’ lives that take away their strength in the same four areas Setting client-driven goals for change to work on Plans for achieving their goals and steps towards goals It includes screening based on K5 and K10 scales and help-seeking prompts for people who score high levels of psychological distress. A youth version of the AIMhi app, AIMhi-y, is under development but not yet available for download. It is funded by Northern Territory PHN as part of the National Suicide Prevention Trial. Source: Menzies School of Health Research
This fact sheet is designed to help mob better understand the five main types of trauma - acute, chronic, complex, secondary and intergenerational - how they may look and feel, and coping strategies. Source: 13YARN
Evidence-based practice resource which links approaches to engagement and support with a discussion of the evidence for them. Source: Orygen Youth Health
Krista, a mum and active community member, talks about how parents can advocate and seek help for a child who is struggling. Source: Desert Pea Media/WNSWPHN
Short resource describing the role of the coroner, including after a suicide. The resource covers identification, autopsy, funeral planning, death certification and Aboriginal family liaison. While it relates to Victoria, most content is general in nature and relevant in other states. Source: Coroner’s Court Victoria
Orygen partnered with The Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention (CBPATSISP), which led the co-design process with community using a participatory action research approach. This guide looks at early warning signs of self-harm, factors that may influence young First Nations people to self-harm, and how to get help, including managing a crisis and injuries. Young Aboriginal people in Western Australia co-developed the guide with an Aboriginal expert advisory group, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal health workers, local Elders, and Aboriginal families and communities from across the state. While the guide was co-developed by, and for, Aboriginal people in Western Australia, it may be broadly applicable to First Nations families and communities right across the country.
Policies & Position Statements
From Clinical and Peak Groups
This section of the Manual outlines the policies and positions of key groups in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s mental health and social and emotional wellbeing, highlights the commitments of these groups to improving outcomes for Indigenous people, and describes the expectations on their members.
Professional bodies and sector peak organisations have a strong influence on how their members practise. This is true at an individual level, in terms of professional standards and continuing professional development. It also applies at an organisational level, as service providers influence and are influenced by the collective decisions of peak groups.
Australia has multiple Indigenous organisations which focus holistically on the health, mental health and social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and/or on the education and employment of Indigenous people in health professions.
Mainstream clinical professional representative organisations may be less focused on and/or less capable in supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The intersection between clinical and cultural support may sometimes be a particular challenge for mainstream clinicians.
Published policies and positions with regard to the mental health and social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from both groups are summarised here.
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Coroner's Court Resources
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