NEWS
Partnership improves Indigenous health services
RMIT has collaborated with the Wurli Wurlinjang Health Service in Katherine, Northern Territory to develop a case management framework to improve their services and treatment of patients.
Suzi Berto, CEO of Wurli Wurlinjang Health Service, with Anthony Graham, Manager for Industry Engagement and Partnerships.
Wurli Wurlinjang Health Service is a provider of Indigenous healthcare that delivers culturally appropriate service to over 4500 Aboriginal residents of Katherine, and surrounding communities.
This unique framework will benefit the health service by providing staff with an improved approach to patient assessment, treatment, record keeping and overall service delivery.
Anthony Graham, Manager for Industry Engagement and Partnerships, and Chris Walters, Coordinator for Alcohol and Other Drugs vocational education programs from the School of Global, Urban and Social studies, were contacted by the health service to explore the potential for developing and delivering a case management framework.
“This is a distinctive example of how our school is working with rural and remote health service providers, to build capability to support Indigenous communities,” Graham said.
Graham and Walters spent a day consulting with members of the organisation to unpack their current case management practices.
“On the second day, we worked with key stakeholders and reference groups to develop and examine the functionality of our proposed framework,” Graham said.
Once the framework was complete, participants engaged in workshops and assessment processes facilitated by RMIT staff.
Staff then re-engaged with the participants to finalise the workshop and assess their work.
A total of 14 Wurli Wurlinjang health service staff have successfully completed the Case Management course.
“Health and Community support organisations in the Northern Territory are in the unenviable position of working with the most disadvantaged and disempowered people in the country,” Graham said.
“Staff are often missing the right skill set for the workforce, because of the lack of accessible and tailored education and training options.”
Through the development and delivery of vocational education and training, RMIT University, in partnership with community organisations and industry, aims to bring hope and choice to people living and working in remote Australia.
The partnership between RMIT’s School of Global, Urban and Social Studies and Wurli Wurlinjang Health Services emerged out of the establishment of the Alcohol and Other Drugs program in the Northern Territory.
Story: Jordan Di Stefano