Discuss about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service.
ATSICHS Mackay is a self-governing, community-controlled and independent indigenous organization which offers primary healthcare services mainly to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the Mackay region, Queensland. The organization partners with the community and different healthcare provider in providing services that are both accessible and appropriate to indigenous groups in the Mackay region (Schluter et al, 2016). The service areas include the indigenous communities in Isaac, Central Highlands, Mackay and Whitsunday. The services on the other hand include dental care, podiatry, support and education on drugs and alcohol use among others. It is considered as the leading indigenous health service provider in Australia having been the first to be certified by the BSI Australia after satisfying the NSQHS standards and the ISO 9001 Quality Management criteria (Sivabalan et al, 2017).
ATSICHS Mackay was founded in 1978 in Mackay Queensland to provide a holistic health service to indigenous communities in the Mackay region in Australia. The community-controlled organization therefore has served Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for over 30 years. Since its humble beginning in 1978, the non-profit organization has grown to a more than $2 million operational budget today with about 50 staff members. The organization has also developed its capacity over the period to provide 2,500 client services in 10 different program areas in its existing premises (Schluter et al, 2016). Today ATSICHS Mackay offers comprehensive primary healthcare including medical services that are culturally appropriate. These services are made accessible by the facility to over 6,000 indigenous Australians in Isaac, Central Highlands, Mackay and Whitsunday parts of Queensland.
ATSICHS-Mackay envisions a “Strong Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities managing their health to enjoy a long and quality life.” The organization’s main objectives include first, provide appropriate and/or high quality tailor-made primary healthcare services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the Mackay region. The organizations other objective is to partner with the Mackay community members and other healthcare providers in order to ensure that services offered not only appropriate but also accessible to each and every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in the region. The organization ensures that its activities; are led and controlled by the community; respect the cultures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders; are honest and considers integrity and further; supports; supports the community in Mackay region while recognising its own achievements as a motivation to further its course
The organization offers clinical services through a team of multi-disciplinary Registered Nurses, GPs and Indigenous Health Workers. First, the organization provides immunisation services to the community on a weekly basis to people of different ages within the region (Sivabalan et al, 2017). It is thus an immunization for the residents and those who require vaccination clearances for travel purposes. Secondly, ATSICHS-Mackay runs a rigorous health promotion and education program within the community focussing on educating the community on different healthcare options, drugs and alcohol abuse, STI prevention among others. In regard to nutrition, the ATSICHS-Mackay offers advice to people of different ages on appropriate dietary requirements in line with their health conditions (Mutch et al, 2017). The fourth program offered includes patient follow up and home visits. The healthcare providers visit homes to offer postnatal care, for defaulter-tracing purposes, and to just follow up patient welfare after hospital discharge.
In order to prevent and manage cardiovascular diseases, the organization provides ECG heart checks and refers clients to specialised medical facilities in Australia. ATSICHS-Mackay also offers Minor surgery services including stitching of cuts, removing moles and sunspots and further the liquid-nitrogen-freezing therapy to the clientele. Generally, the organization offers healthcare consultation through its highly motivated group of healthcare providers and visiting specialists (Campbell et al, 2017). In regard to specific health checks carried out by the organization offers health checks for the aged, adults, and children. Special screening programs are done on hearing health, pregnancy, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), cervical cancer among others. The organization also runs a social support program which comprises of organising social health units meetings on every weekday within the communities in Mackay region. It also organizes Regional Outreach Community Screening services during school holidays in areas like Proserpine, Bowen, Sarina and Clermont. ATSICHS-Mackay organizes health screening days in schools in the Mackay region for students and communities in the surrounding districts (Brigg et al, 2017). Further, the organization avails mental health specialists to offer therapy to patients with mental problems including guiding and counselling psychologists.
ATSICHS Mackay targets the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in the Mackay region who are major stakeholders in the running of the institution. The community members inform decision making procedures on management and implementation of the different programs run by the institution (Stewart et al, 2012). They form part of the board of directors who are chosen from the community. The board comprises of 3 directors, a chairperson, treasurer and secretary. The organization thus relies on the community needs feedback offered to them by the members of the communities in Mackay and its neighbouring districts to align its program so as to suit them appropriately. The community also decides on the most culturally appropriate healthcare procedures to be offered to members by the healthcare teams. In according to Mutch et al (2017), particular the organization serves over 6,000 indigenous Australians in Isaac, Central Highlands, Mackay and Whitsunday parts of Queensland who participate in its programs.
ATSICHS Mackay is located at the Joan Seden Building on Victoria Street in Mackay, Queensland.
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Address 31-33 Victoria Street Mackay QLD 4740 |
Contacts Tel (07) 4957 9400 |
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Opening Hours 8.30am to 5.00pm (Monday-Friday) Clinical Hours: 8:30am to 4:00pm (Monday-Friday) |
After Hours Emergency Department, Mackay Base Hospital (07) 4885 6000 Emergencies hotline number: 000 |
One of the major issues concerning ATSICHS Mackay is accessibility of its services to community members considering that it is centred away from the rural areas in Queensland. A lot of aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders with the Mackay region find it difficult and costly to travel to the organization’s premises for services. They thus rely on community outreach programs run by the organization which are however costly to the non-profit institution. Secondly in the quest to offer culturally appropriate healthcare, the organization needs indigenous healthcare providers from the region. However, it is difficult to find medical specialists and healthcare providers who are from the indigenous communities (Campbell et al, 2017). Even so, the organization ensures that majority of its staff members understand the culture of the communities within and also gives priority to qualified health professionals in terms of job opportunities. A further challenge to the organization is the high cost of hiring visiting specialists and expensive community outreach programs in schools and communities during holidays (Schluter et al, 2016). While the organization relies on donations and grants from the state and national government, it has to factor in its budget the successful implementation of such programs to ensure that services reach the people within its area of jurisdiction.
Having understood that the indigenous communities in Australia have poorer health outcomes as compared to the non-indigenous people, I realised that institutions such ATSICHS Mackay are quite instrumental in reducing this gap. The numerous chronic diseases, effects of drugs and alcoholism, vulnerability to infectious diseases, inaccessibility of culturally acceptable and appropriate services remain a heavy burden to indigenous communities in Australia (Stewart et al, 2012). However I realized that the burden is even heavier for institutions like ATSICHS Mackay which have to find strategies to mobilize resources to enable them support these communities (Campbell et al, 2017). The increasing competition between indigenous and non-indigenous organizations on state and national government grants risks a cut on the funds intended for institutions as ATSICHS Mackay. This can limit their operations and curtail the services they offer in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
My research on the membership and management of ATSICHS Mackay has made me realize the importance of a participatory approach when planning and implementing community-intended programs. This approach is effective as it ensures that all the community health needs are all met/and or brought forward for consideration (Askew et al, 2017). The approach also ensures that the services offered are culturally appropriate and up ethical. I have also understood the need to run services which comply with the NSQHS standards and the ISO 9001 Quality Management criteria. These standards as met by ATSICHS Mackay have seen the organization to be rated among the leading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders community-controlled health institutions in Australia
References
Askew, D., Lyall, V., Ewen, S., Paul, D., & Wheeler, M. (2017). Understanding practitioner professionalism in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health: lessons from student and registrar placements at an urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary healthcare service. Australian Journal of Primary Health.
Bird, J., Rotumah, D., Bennett-Levy, J., & Singer, J. (2017). Diversity in eMental Health Practice: An Exploratory Qualitative Study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Service Providers. JMIR Mental Health, 4(2), e17.
Brigg, M., & Curth-Bibb, J. (2017). Recalibrating intercultural governance in Australian Indigenous organizations: the case of Aboriginal community controlled health. Australian Journal of Political Science, 52(2), 199-217.
Campbell, M., Hunt, J., Scrimgeour, D., Davey, M., & Jones, V. (2017). Contribution of Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Services to improving Aboriginal health: an evidence review. Australian Health Review.
McDermott, R., Schmidt, B., Preece, C., Owens, V., Taylor, S., Li, M., & Esterman, A. (2015). Community health workers improve diabetes care in remote Australian Indigenous communities: results of a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial. BMC Health Services Research, 15(1).
Mutch, A., Lui, C., Dean, J., Mao, L., Lemoire, J., & Debattista, J. et al. (2017). Increasing HIV testing among hard-to-reach groups: examination of RAPID, a community-based testing service in Queensland, Australia. BMC Health Services Research, 17(1).
Schluter, P., Askew, D., Spurling, G., Lee, M., & Hayman, N. (2016). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander oral health and its impact among adults: A cross-sectional study. Australian Dental Journal, 62(1), 84-94.
Sivabalan, P., Saboo, A., Yew, J., & Norton, R. (2017). Q fever in an endemic region of North Queensland, Australia: A 10 year review. One Health, 3, 51-55.
Skerrett, D., Gibson, M., Darwin, L., Lewis, S., Rallah, R., & De Leo, D. (2017). Closing the Gap in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Youth Suicide: A Social-Emotional Wellbeing Service Innovation Project. Australian Psychologist.
Stewart, J., Sanson-Fisher, R., Eades, S., & Fitzgerald, M. (2012). The risk status, screening history and health concerns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people attending an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service. Drug and Alcohol Review, 31(5), 617-624.
Websites
https://www.atsichs.org.au
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health Service, Mackay (Ltd) https://www.truelocal.com.au/business/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-health-service-mackay-ltd/mackay
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service – Mackay
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/australian-health-services/service/30279646/mackay_south,4740/aboriginal-health-clinic/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-community-health-service-macka
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