“We love what we do, don’t we Lynne?” says Lisa Whittle.
Lisa, a registered nurse, and Lynne Harrison, a speech pathologist, are the Clinical Coordinators of a team of skilled professionals including a two paediatricians, a paediatric fellow, paediatric psychologist, oral hygienist, social worker and Aboriginal Health workers. Together they provide a fortnightly clinic called Healthy Koori Kids for Aboriginal children who are in out-of-home care.
Through an initial Paediatric Broader Needs Assessment, the program works with children to find out what health services they require. The team asks questions about daily habits and lifestyle, and assesses the children for speech delay, under-immunisation, devolpment and behaviour issues, hearing issues and visual issues, and dental health.
“For some of these kids, the fortnightly clinic is the only constant in their life,” Lisa says. “These children often have frequent changes to their circumstances such as change of placements, carers, case managers and the clinic works hard to ensure consistent and flexible health care over this time.”
Healthy Koori Kids has just moved from Dandenong to Cranbourne, but children from as far as Moe and Sale travel to get healthcare. The team do a lot of work to maintain the children’s continuity of care, despite the disruptive changes in their lives. Healthy Koori Kids offer telehealth for children who can’t travel to the clinic.
“When I tell people what I do for a living, they don’t ask further questions,” says Lynne. “I realised that it’s because most people are surprised to hear there are Aboriginal children in Victoria living in out-of-home care. They think that’s an issue somewhere else, but not here.”
In Australia, Aboriginal children are ten times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-Aboriginal children, but in Victoria, Aboriginal kids are 16 times more likely to be in out-of-home care. Less than half are living with Aboriginal carers.
In the lead up to National Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week, Lisa Whittle spoke to Martin Keogh, Chief Operating Officer, at our employee forum about the important work being done by the Healthy Koori Kids team.
“Our team works really well together to bring these children in,” says Lisa. “We’ve got a great network, and we establish a strong relationship with the children.”
To learn more about the work of the Healthy Koori Kids service, you can watch a recording of the employee forum or visit the Aboriginal Health Service intranet page.
Approved by Julia Oxley