Aboriginal Health in Aboriginal Hands program coordinator April Clarke commended the students` passion and enthusiasm during the sports training program.
“Sport is where our community meets on common ground, builds relationships and promotes health and wellbeing on so many levels,” she said.
“Using skilled and caring hands to heal and draw on the bush for our food, medicine, exercise and spiritual nourishment is closely aligned with the self-care and health-care offered at RMIT.”
The Fitzroy Stars Football and Netball Club focuses on more than just sport, creating a club culture where healthy lifestyles are promoted and reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities is a priority, and this has been a valuable part of the experience for RMIT students.
Ball said graduates of the program would be eligible to apply for work experience positions as sports trainers in sporting organisations, with several already receiving offers to work part-time with the Fitzroy Stars.
Chiropractic student Krissie Dowlin completed her clinical placement at the Fitzroy Stars, and says it is a time she looks back on fondly.
“My time at the Fitzroy Stars not only helped develop my diagnostic and examination skills as a health professional, but [it] opened my eyes to the importance of this club for the broader community,” she said.
“My experience at the club has allowed me to further understand Indigenous culture and has ignited the passion in me to take part in and hopefully even facilitate similar programs in the future.”
HoHA is an organisation committed to delivering quality health care to marginalised communities across Australia through training, education, research and treatment. The partnership enables Chiropractic and Exercise Science students to gain vital hands-on and accredited experience, while providing treatment to a community which might not otherwise have access to these key health services.
HoHA also arranges sports carnivals where students are able to provide hands-on supervised care to the players and other members of the Indigenous community.
Story: Shelley Brady
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