Healthcare a cultural issue too

ACCESSING healthcare and an education is a human right.

For First Nations people in the Northern Territory, access to medical care often requires a long journey away from family, community and country.

And when English is not your first language, being sent away for medical care can be a daunting experience.

There can be misunderstandings and people’s choices can be jeopardised.

I remember a story where Aboriginal women who were pregnant were accused of being irresponsible by medical staff because they failed to attend obstetric appointments.

Yet when we asked them why they wouldn’t go, they said it was because they would be sent away near the end of their pregnancy, away from their family, community and country, to give birth in an urban and unfamiliar hospital.

So in fact these women were being totally responsible.

There had been a disconnect between the doctors wanting to do the right thing clinically and the women feeling safe.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused more trepidation for our people to seek healthcare away from home.

And with the reported pressures on the NT health system, it’s time to look at how we can encourage more First Nations high school and mature-age students to pursue health and medical careers.

Aboriginal people want to be cared for by Aboriginal doctors and health workers because a similar life experience allows First Nations doctors to understand their patients.

Some care in rural and remote communities is already provided by local people.

For decades, Batchelor Institute has trained students who graduate as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Care Practitioners.

Recently, Batchelor Institute and the Australasian Foundation for Plastic Surgery signed a deed of collaboration for the next three years to teach expert suturing and wound care practices to remote Aboriginal health worker students.

If a wound can be treated by a local Aboriginal practitioner on country, the patient will benefit from fewer scars and faster healing. This will also reduce medical evacuations to urban hospitals and clinics.

Batchelor Institute can also support non-Aboriginal medical professionals to learn cultural safety. As the only First Nations tertiary provider in Australia, Batchelor Institute will work with Charles Darwin University and Menzies School of Health Research to establish a Northern Territory medical program.

The program must have a compulsory cultural safety component, be equitable, and consider the needs of Aboriginal people across the NT. We also want to promote a medical career to our students, families and communities, which will improve access to healthcare for First Nations peoples.