Raising awareness, answering questions, promoting services and having a yarn. That was the aim for our Aboriginal Health team, who set up a Close the Gap Day stall at Monash Medical Centre last Thursday.
Thursday, 17 March 2022 was National Close the Gap Day; a day to raise awareness about the gap in health and life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the non-indigenous community, with the ultimate goal of achieving health equality.
With a wealth of knowledge and resources, and even some individually wrapped cookies for people to enjoy, the team spent the day raising awareness for Close the Gap Day and chatting to passers-by about the significant role Monash Health plays in creating health equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Alix Parsons, Project Lead for our Reconciliation Action Plan, welcomed the chance to chat and share information with colleagues and the community.
“It was great for the Aboriginal Health team to have a yarn with some of the employees and our community who visited us at our National Close The Gap Day stall.
We were able to have conversations with such a variety of people from all different cultures and backgrounds. Some were ready to have the hard conversations about what meaningful change looks like. Others were open about their lack of knowledge of Aboriginal culture and history and demonstrated an admirable willingness to learn.
It was great to be able to share our knowledge and provide information and resources about how Monash Health is working towards closing the gap in health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations.
It is fantastic to see people engaging, being self-aware and challenging their own biases – this is how change begins!”
Some of Monash Health’s current initiatives to help create health equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people include:
- Running a fortnightly, multi-disciplinary clinic for out of home Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
- Organisation-wide cultural safety training to help create culturally aware employees, so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people feel safe in attending our sites.
- Community engagement for new hospital builds to create a safe and meaningful environment.
- Asking all patients if they identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Monash Health’s policy regarding “asking the question”, recording and responding to Aboriginal patients can be found here.
- Referring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients to our Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officers
- Recently, Monash Health has extended the Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer (AHLO) service to 7-days a week, from 8am – 4:30pm.
- Phone : 9792 7948
- Email: aboriginalhealth@monashhealth.org
For more information about the Aboriginal Health team and their services, search ‘Aboriginal Health’ on our intranet.
Pictured:
- Heather Kennedy – Access and Support
- Tracy Van Beek – Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer, Monash Children’s Hospital
- Donna Punch – Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer, Dandenong Hospital
- Alix Parsons – Project Lead (Reconciliation Action Plan)
Approved by Julia Oxley, General Manager, Monash Health Community.