Dolleita cried when she was offered culturally appropriate care
A TOWNSVILLE Indigenous elder has opened up about her health struggle, saying culturally appropriate care turned her life around.
Dolleita Mcavoy was fighting alcohol addiction, smoking heavily and was often sleeping rough.
Adding to this, her life-threatening emphysema diagnosis meant she was in and out of hospital.
“I couldn’t even comb my hair I’d get so out of breath,” she said.
“It would get exacerbated just walking to the shops and I had a number of falls in the shopping centre.”
Ms Mcavoy, who is a Kookayulanji woman from the Daintree area, said her health was deteriorating and her future looked bleak until she reached out for support.
In 2018, she was put in touch with Northern Australia Primary Health’s Integrated Team Care program.
“I’d rather not accept help. I’d always feel like there were people worse than me,” she said.
“Before, I had all different nationalltities trying to help me.
“I don’t want them coming and telling me what to do when they don’t understand my culture or that the mortality rate is higher than theirs.
“I cried when I was offered this help.” Ms Mcavoy is a respected advocate for her community and works to support others at the Murri Court.
The Integrated Team Care program supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with complex chronic diseases and ensures they have adequate support to get care in a culturally safe way.
Northern Australia Primary Health Indigenous Care Coordinator Stacey Simbolo said Ms Mcavoy’s story was indicative of a “much bigger problem” where the life expectancy gap between
Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians was 7.8 years for men and 6.7 years for women.
She said it was important to celebrate success in fighting to close the health gap, especially during NAIDOC Week, which began yesterday.
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are some of the most at-risk people in our communities,” Mrs Simbolo said.
“When I first met her, she had very little hope and now she is enjoying a much better quality of life.
“She now has the confidence and knowledge to fight for her needs and doesn’t need me there to advocate for her, which is probably the most rewarding part of this work.”