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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Grief is an emotional response to loss, which might include the death of a loved one, loss of health, ending of a relationship, loss of a job, or a loss of cultural connection, such as moving off country. It is important to acknowledge and express those feelings without judgement. Source: 13YARN
This fact sheet describes a community-wide resilience model, developed in the Northern Territory through the National Suicide Prevention Trial. Source: Northern Territory PHN
Solutions that Work: ATSISPEP Report
"An online collection of resources to support the work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander frontline health and wellbeing workforces, including: community health and wellbeing workers mental health workers family support education and youth services. The resources focus on social and emotional wellbeing, access to culture, healing and safety planning."
This toolkit, designed to support the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander alcohol and other drugs workforce, may also be valuable for mainstream workers supporting Indigenous clients with AOD and social and emotional wellbeing issues. It addresses issues including: Heavy work demands Defining roles and boundaries Role stigmatisation Translating mainstream work practices to ensure they are culturally sensitive A lack of cultural understanding and support Geographical isolation. The toolkit comprises workbooks, case studies and a discussion guide as well a collection of fact sheets for supervisors to support their teams: The complex personal lives of Indigenous AOD workers Indigenous ways of working Rewarding workers Mentoring Recruiting and retaining workers Clinical supervision Developing teams. And fact sheets for workers to prevent stress and burnout: Worker wellbeing – A Guide For Workers Mentoring – A Guide For Workers Clinical Supervision – A Guide For Workers Goal setting – A Guide For Workers. Source: NCETA
We Were Just Little Boys describes the stories of survivors of the Kinchella Boys Home, where an estimated 400 to 600 Aboriginal children were exposed to routine acts of cultural genocide. Source: Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation YouTube Channel
This short resource can help people think through their alcohol and drug use and find help if they need it. Source: Menzies School of Health Research Aboriginal and Islander Mental Health Initiative (AimHi)
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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