Reviewers give thumbs up to Aboriginal programs
October 19, 2006Our independent reviewers have written positive critiques of recent Aboriginal-themed programs produced by the Rural Health Education Foundation.
Professor Judy Atkinson, Head of the College of Indigenous Australian Peoples at Southern Cross University NSW, describes the Foundation’s Injury Prevention in Aboriginal Communities program on video (also available on DVD) as a “crucial resource” in her review in the eMJA Bookroom section of the Medical Journal of Australia’s website. Read the full review.
Dr Mark Wenitong, President of the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA), “proudly endorses the Rural Health Education Foundation DVDs Start Strong, Grow Strong and Keep Safe.“
“The DVDs show Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, communities, organisations and health professionals providing top quality, comprehensive, holistic and appropriate primary health care and health and wellbeing services to our people across Australia,” he writes.
“We hope (the programs) will be used by education and health organisations across Australia to highlight the value of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and approaches to health, and the value of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce in particular.“
Dr Barbara Bauert from AMA NT wrote a review for the Medical Journal of Australia in which she describes the Foundation’s Start Strong and Grow Strong programs as “of relevance to all Australians concerned for improved health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.“
“The (videos are) of particular interest to health professionals considering working or already working with Indigenous communities or with Indigenous people in the broader community to prompt consideration of appropriate health programs and ways to deliver these,” she writes.
Professor Pat Brodie
Professor Pat Brodie, National President of the Australian College of Midwives, describes the Start Strong and Grow Strong programs as “essential… for all midwives, nurses, Aboriginal Health Workers and medical staff engaged at any level in the important area of improving access and appropriateness of maternity care for these communities.“
“I was particularly impressed with the best-practice methodologies incorporated in the program and the representation of contemporary innovative maternity care programs that are really making a difference to health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and babies,” she writes.
Start Strong and Grow Strong, along with the Foundation’s Keep Safe program, will air on SBS TV in November.