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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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
his resource describes how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may experience sorry business, grief and loss, and the types of support that may help. Source: Lifeline
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy
ATSISPEP: Maps and Visual Insights
These guidelines were developed for health workers caring for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through death and dying. They are not specifically about suicide but include sections on sudden death and coronial investigations, and general explanation and advice to support culturally-responsive care of a dying person and their family. Source: Queensland Health
Human Services Standards Evidence Guide
CBPATSISP Tools & Checklists This link takes you to listings of clinical tools and checklists on the main CBPATSISP website, with separate sections for: - Social and emotional wellbeing assessment - Mental health outcome measures - Stress and trauma assessment - Youth Assessment - Suicide risk assessment - Perinatal mental health assessment
Implementing Integrated Suicide Prevention in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities
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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The Royal Australian College of Physicians (specialist doctors) does not include Indigenous health among its current 15 policy and advocacy priorities.
The APS promotes its advocacy on Indigenous issues; among its public actions it has made a formal apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and funded a bursary for Indigenous psychology students.
Cultural Respect Framework 2016-2026 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
The Australian Association of Social Workers has not published any recent policy or position papers specifically related to Indigenous wellbeing, but the needs of Aboriginal people feature prominently in many of its broader platforms.
The Australian College of Emergency Medicine, which represents emergency department doctors, notes that Indigenous people use Emergency Departments almost twice as frequently as non-Indigenous people - representing 3 per cent of the population but 5.6 per cent of ED visits.
The Apology
Coroner's Court Resources
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