Indigenous health gets big boost
HEALTH professionals in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities will receive extra training as part of a new program.
The $2.25 million Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Brief Intervention Training Program will equip health workers with skills to deliver culturally appropriate healthy lifestyle advice.
The Menzies School of Health Research will deliver the three-year, $2.25 million program.
Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Cameron Dick said tobacco, nutrition and physical activity brief interventions would be rolled out, as these factors were a particular concern among indigenous Queenslanders.
“We know smoking rates among indigenous Queenslanders are more than double those of non-indigenous Queenslanders and maternal smoking rates are more than triple,” he said.
“Indigenous Queenslanders are also around 39 per cent more likely to be obese.
“These risk factors significantly contribute to the burden of disease and injury for indigenous Queenslanders.”