by Adam Cresswell
from The Australian
Under a plan put forward by a Darwin psychiatrist, the national college of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health would for the first time take charge of the credentialling, education and championing of Aboriginal health workers, who work in many communities in a variety of nursing and paramedical roles.
But the proposed body would also encompass all others working to improve the health of indigenous people -- including those with experience rather than formal qualifications. Among the college's key roles would be the setting of standards and ethics codes, establishment of training programs, defending its members' interests, conducting research and advising governments and policy institutes.
In a paper published yesterday in the Medical Journal of Australia, psychiatrist Robert Parker says that while many organisations have some role in indigenous health, none seem to offer any mechanism for ensuring that health workers are delivering culturally appropriate services.
"Membership of a college could help to ensure that care provided to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in a range of localities is of a consistently high standard," writes Dr Parker, associate professor of psychiatry at James Cook University in Darwin. "A national college of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health could contribute to the long-term strategy necessary to address the health disadvantages faced by indigenous Australians."
Dr Parker told The Australian that consistency was lacking in government policy, which was characterised by short-termism and changes in direction.
A new college could improve that by advocating more forcefully for an evidence-based approach. In addition, it could improve standards by effective credentialling.
"No one has really got a clue whether they (Aboriginal health workers) are qualified or not, and what level of service is provided," Dr Parker said.
However, in order to be inclusive, he said any new college would not follow the model of other medical colleges -- which keep a tight lid on numbers by means of a difficult exam -- but instead allow tiers of membership according to the nature of a health professional's qualifications or experience.
Indigenous health leaders reacted to Dr Parker's ideas with cautious approval.
Ted Wilkes, a professorial fellow working at the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University, said Dr Parker was "saying all the right things".
Mick Gooda, chief executive of the Co-operative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health in Darwin, said the college was "something that we would support" but it had to ... suit the needs of indigenous people.
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