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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The Apology
This short checklist can help people think about when to seek help. Source: Menzies School of Health Research Aboriginal and Islander Mental Health Initiative (AimHi)
A series of conversations about promoting social and emotional wellbeing and preventing suicides in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, recorded by Luke Pearson from Indigenous X and featuring: Dr Jackie Huggins AM, Co-chair of the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples, Birri-Gubba Juru and Bidjara woman from Queensland Aunty Lorraine Peeters, Managing Director and Facilitator of Winangali-Marumali from the Gamilaroi and Wailwun Nations Richard Weston, former CEO of the Healing Foundation, descendant from Meriam People of Torres Strait Source: Everymind
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 resource kit gives advice to families and friends about how to support someone who is struggling. It includes: - Video stories - Written stories - A guide to having a conversation with someone in distress Source: RUOK
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
Resources for teaching Indigenous and non-Indigenous students from kindergarten to Year 9 about the Stolen Generations and the continuing consequences of colonisation and intergenerational trauma, including: Video interviews with Stolen Generations survivors Lesson plans A home learning kit for students to work with their families Posters and visuals Source: Healing Foundation
This fact sheet describes the four elements of the community-wide reliance model – fire, water, land and air – and how they relate to spirit, purpose, belonging, identity, hope, healing and meaning. Source: Northern Territory PHN
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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