Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T23:59:37.690Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An appreciative inquiry to identify the continuing education needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners in regional Queensland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2020

Julie-Anne Martyn  and
Ann Woolcock
Julie-Anne Martyn*
Affiliation:
Nursing, Midwifery & Paramedicine, University of the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Coast Campus, PO Box 1149 Piabla, Hervey Bay, Queensland4655, Australia
Ann Woolcock
Affiliation:
Galangoor Duwalami Primary Health Service, Hervey Bay, Queensland4655, Australia
*
Author for correspondence: Julie-Anne Martyn, E-mail: jmartyn@usc.edu.au
Get access

Abstract

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners (Practitioners) have a broad scope of practice and play a pivotal role in addressing health disparities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Practitioners are required to maintain knowledge and skill levels to provide ongoing quality care. However, continuing education (CE) opportunities for Practitioners in regional areas are limited and little is known about the types of CE best suited to Practitioners. This study aimed to identify the CE needs of Practitioners working in a South-East Queensland region in Australia. Participatory action research and appreciative inquiry were combined in this multi-staged study. A local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advisory group provided cultural guidance for the study design and implementation. Supervisors and Practitioners from two Aboriginal Medical Services consented to participate. In stage one of this study, the supervisors were interviewed and the Practitioners contributed to focus groups. The Practitioners prioritised their CE needs in the second study stage using a questionnaire. The participants identified Practitioner CE needs and group 2 listed their career aspirations and the best practitioners were described as ‘Deadly’. The Deadly practitioner had diverse practice knowledge, skills and attributes. The Practitioners had career aspirations beyond their role and a desire to learn. However, their career advancement was stifled by a lack of CE opportunities. CE in regional areas is limited. Practitioners are disadvantaged by exclusion. Enhancing CE opportunities for Practitioners will positively impact the health of regional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities by building social capital. Therefore, future research on Practitioner roles and CE is needed.

Keywords

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitionerappreciative inquirycontinuing educationprimary health care
Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , December 2021 , pp. 320 - 330
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia (2012 a) Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander registration standard. Available at http://www.atsihealthpracticeboard.gov.au/Registration-Standards.aspx.Google Scholar
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia (2012 b) Continuing professional development registration standard. Available at http://www.atsihealthpracticeboard.gov.au/Registration-Standards/cpd.aspx.Google Scholar
Albany, M (2010) Shining a light on our health workers. Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal 34, 35. Available at http://search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=605572547505520;res=IELHEA.Google Scholar
Australian Government (2019) Closing the Gap Report 2019. In. Available at https://ctgreport.niaa.gov.au/sites/default/files/ctg-report-20193872.pdf?a=1.Google Scholar
Australian Human Rights Commission (2019) Close the Gap Report—‘Our Choices, Our Voices’ (2019). Available at https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-social-justice/publications/close-gap-report-our.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2009) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health labour force statistics and data quality assessment. Available at http://www.aihw.gov.au.Google Scholar
Best, O and Stuart, L (2014) An Aboriginal nurse-led working model for success in graduating Indigenous Australian nurses. Contemporary Nurse 48, 59–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bond, C (2010) Tennant creek community celebration for bachelor students [online]. Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal 34, 13.Google Scholar
Burgess, C and Cavanagh, P (2015) Cultural immersion: developing a community of practice of teachers and Aboriginal community members. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 45, 48–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bushe, GR (2011) Appreciative inquiry: Theory and critique. In Boje, D, Burnes, B and Hassard, J (eds), The Routledge Companion To Organizational Change. Oxford: Routledge, pp. 87–103.Google Scholar
Clapham, K, Digregorio, KD, Dawson, A and Hughes, I (1997) The community as pedagogy: innovations in Indigenous health worker education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management 19, 35–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Commonwealth of Australia (2008) Closing the gap between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians. Barton: CanPrint Communications Pty Ltd. Available at https://www.dss.gov.au.Google Scholar
Commonwealth of Australia (2018) Closing the Gap Prime Ministers report 2018 (978-1-925363-13-5). Available at https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/reports/closing-the-gap-2018/sites/default/files/ctg-report-20183872.pdf?a=1.Google Scholar
Commonwealth of Australia (2019) Closing the gap. Available at https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook44p/ClosingGap.Google Scholar
Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council (2015) Environmental Scan 2015: Building a Healthy Future. Available at http://www.cshisc.com.au.Google Scholar
Giri, K, Frankel, N, Tulenka, K, Puckett, A, Bailey, R and Ross, H (2012) Keeping up to date: continuing professional development in developing countries. pp. 1–6. Available at http://www.capacityplus.org.Google Scholar
Godinho, SC, Woolley, M, Webb, J and Winkel, KD (2015) Sharing place, learning together: perspectives and reflections on an educational partnership formation with a remote Indigenous community school. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 44, 11–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, C (2011) The elephant in the room: self-determination. Aboriginal and Islander health worker journal 35, 12–16. Available at http://search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=670521399121471;res=IELHEA.Google Scholar
Hart, MA, Straka, S and Rowe, G (2017) Working across contexts: practical considerations of doing Indigenist/anti-colonial research. Qualitative Inquiry 23, 332–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Health Workforce Australia (2011) National Health Workforce Innovation and Reform Strategic Framework for Action 2011–2015. Available at http://www.qrtn.com.au/images/pdf/Resources/hwa-wir-strategic-framework-for-action-201110.pdf.Google Scholar
Health Workforce Australia (2012) The national health workforce innovation and reform strategic framework for action 2011–2015—Implementation progress report. Available at http://www.hwa.gov.au/sites/uploads/WIR-Strategic-Framework-for-Action-progress-report-V3.pdf : http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/key-resources/bibliography/?lid=25652.Google Scholar
Heckenberg, R (2015) Learning in place, cultural mapping and sustainable values on the Millawa Billa (Murray River). The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 45, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hendrick, A, Britton, KF, Hoffman, J and Kickett, M (2014) Developing future health professionals’ capacities for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 43, 154–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, K, Harvey, N, Felton-Busch, C, Hoskins, J, Rasalam, R, Malouf, P and Knight, S (2018) The road to registration: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner training in north Queensland. Rural and Remote Health 18, 3899.Google ScholarPubMed
Humphreys, J, Wakerman, J, Wells, R, Kuipers, P, Jones, J, Entwistle, P and Harvey, P (2007) Improving Primary Health Care workforce retention in small rural and remote communities: How important is ongoing education and training? Available at https://www.crh.org.au.Google Scholar
Knibbs, K, Underwood, J, Macdonald, M, Schoenfeld, B, Lavoie-Tremblay, M, Crea-Arsenio, M, Meagher-Stewart, D, Blythe, J and Ehrlich, A (2012) Appreciative inquiry: a strength-based research approach to building Canadian public health nursing capacity. Journal of Research in Nursing 17, 484–494.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuipers, P, Harvey, D, Lindeman, M and Stothers, K (2014) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners in rural areas: credentialing, context and capacity building. Rural and Remote Health (Online) 14, 2897. Available at http://www.rrh.org.au/publishedarticles/article_print_2897.pdf.Google ScholarPubMed
Leditschke, A and Maher, P (2011) Health workforce Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health worker project [online]. Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal 35, 2. Available at https://search-informit-com-au.ezproxy.usc.edu.au/fullText;dn=762424899091387;res=IELAPA.Google Scholar
Martin, K and Mirraboopa, B (2003) Ways of knowing, being and doing: a theoretical framework and methods for indigenous and Indigenist re-search. Journal of Australian Studies 27, 203–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martyn, J (2016) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker/Practitioner Continuinng Education Needs Anaysis (University of the Sunshine Coast, 2016) 42.Google Scholar
Martyn, J-A, Scott, J, van der Westhuyzen, JH, Spanhake, D, Zanella, S, Martin, A and Newby, R (2019) Combining participatory action research and appreciative inquiry to design, deliver and evaluate an interdisciplinary continuing education program for a regional health workforce. Australian Health Review 43, 345–351.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Council (2003) National Strategic Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. Retrieved from Canberra:Google Scholar
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker Association (2014) Strategic Plan 2014–2017. Available at http://natsihwa.org.au.Google Scholar
National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (2019) Aboriginal Health. Available at https://www.naccho.org.au/about/aboriginal-health/.Google Scholar
National Health and Medical Research Council (2018) Ethical conduct in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities: Guidelines for researchers and stakeholders (2018). (ISBN: 978-1-86496-007-5). Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Available at https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/resources/ethical-conduct-research-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-peoples-and-communities.Google Scholar
Perlgut, D (2005) Submission to the Productivity Commission Health Workforce Study. Available at http://www.pc.gov.au:Google Scholar
Queensland Government (2013) Allied Health Advanced Clinical Practice Framework. Available at https://www.health.qld.gov.au.Google Scholar
Queensland Government (2015) Clinical innovation nursing program. Available at https://www.health.qld.gov.au/clinical-practice/innovation/optimising-nursing/default.asp.Google Scholar
Queensland Health (2010) Making Tracks towards closing the gap in health outcomes for Indigenous Queenslanders by 2033—Investment strategy 2018–2021. Available at https://www.health.qld.gov.au.Google Scholar
Reid, JB and Taylor, K (2012) Indigenous mind: a framework for culturally safe Indigenous health research and practice [online]. Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal 35, 4–6. Available at https://search-informit-com-au.ezproxy.usc.edu.au/fullText;dn=357506114954970;res=IELAPA.Google Scholar
Rose, M (2014) ‘Knowledge is power’: Aboriginal Health workers’ perspectives on their practice, education and communities. (Doctor of Philosophy), University of Technology, Sydney, University of Technology, Sydney. Available at https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au.Google Scholar
Rose, J and Glass, N (2008) The importance of emancipatory research to contemporary nursing practice. Contemporary Nurse 29, 8–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sherwood, J and Kendall, S (2013) Reframing spaces by building relationships: community collaborative participatory action research with Aboriginal mothers in prison. Contemporary Nurse 46, 83–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stuart, L and Gorman, D (2015) The experiences of Indigenous health workers enrolled in a Bachelor of Nursing at a regional Australian university. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples 11, 29–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
State of Queensland (Queensland Health) (2018) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scope of Practice Guideline. Available at https://www.health.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/731251/ATSIHP-scopepractice-guideline.pdf.Google Scholar
State of Queensland The Health (Drugs and Poisons) Regulation 1996 (2020) Available at https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/pdf/inforce/current/sl-1996-0414.Google Scholar
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) (2016) QI&CPD Program. Available at https://www.racgp.org.au.Google Scholar
Toombs, M (2011). Development of resilience training package [online]. Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal 35, 22–25. Available at https://search-informit-com-au.ezproxy.usc.edu.au/fullText;dn=357990572207683;res=IELAPA.Google Scholar
Toombs, M (2012) Ethical research for Indigenous people by Indigenous researchers [online]. Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal 36, 24–26. Available at https://search-informit-com-au.ezproxy.usc.edu.au/fullText;dn=369444163341341;res=IELAPA.Google Scholar
Wakerman, J and Humphreys, JS (2011) Sustainable primary health care services in rural and remote areas: innovation and evidence. Australian Journal of Rural Health 19, 118–124.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weston, A (2011) Development of an online Yarning place for Indigenous health workers [online]. Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal 35, 9–10.Google Scholar
Williams, S (2001). The Indigenous Australian health worker: can research enhance their development as health and community development professionals? [online]. Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal 25, 9–15. Available at http://search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=190856931810908;res=IELHEA.Google Scholar
Yavu-Kama-Harathunian, C and Tomlin, D (2008). Bringing it home: an Indigenous research model that supports Indigenous researchers’ aspirations Indigenous Voices, Indigenous places. World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium Journal, 50–64. Available at https://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/winhec/issue/view/1403.Google Scholar
Yunkaporta, T and Kirby, M (2011) Yarning up Aboriginal pedagogies: A dialogue about eight Aboriginal ways of learning. In Purdie, N, Milgate, G and Bell, HR (eds), Two Way Teaching and Learning. Toward Culturally Reflective and Relevant Education. Victoria: ACER Press, pp. 205–213.Google Scholar