SA Health has launched a plan to grow its Aboriginal health workforce in regional areas to deliver culturally responsive health services and improve the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal communities.
Announced by the Minister for Health and Wellbeing, Stephen Wade, the Rural Aboriginal Health Workforce Plan aims to attract, recruit and strengthen the regional Aboriginal health workforce.
“Growing the Aboriginal health workforce in rural South Australia is vital for delivering culturally responsive health services and improving the health and wellbeing of our Aboriginal communities,” Mr Wade said.
He said the development of the Plan, part of the Government’s Rural Health Workforce Strategy, had involved extensive consultation with the Aboriginal workforce, consumers and communities and the non-Aboriginal workforce from all disciplines, with a focus on providing services that were culturally safe and respectful.
Chair of the Rural Health Workforce Strategy Aboriginal Health Working Group, Sharon Perkins said the Plan aimed to utilise the important skills and cultural expertise of Aboriginal people in providing health services to regional communities.
“Initiatives outlined in the Plan include providing additional training opportunities, identifying fresh ways to recruit Aboriginal health workers and increasing Aboriginal representation throughout all professions and levels of health services,” Ms Perkins said.
“Our priority throughout the process of planning is to ensure the voices of Aboriginal people are heard, helping us to deliver a plan that is tailored to meet the needs of the community on an ongoing basis.”
Chief Clinical Advisor of the Rural Support Service for SA Health, Dr Hendrika Meyer said more than 17,000 Aboriginal people lived across the six regional Local Health Networks, “meaning it is important we increase the capacity and capability of the Aboriginal health workforce in both hospital and community settings”.
SA Health’s 81-page Plan can be accessed at this PS News link.
