Ms Anne Darton¹, Ms Jenni Johnson², Ms Louise Sellers³

¹NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation  Statewide Burn Injury Service, St Leonards, Australia, ²NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation, St Leonards, Australia, ³NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation, St Leonards, Australia

Abstract:

Background:

Aboriginal people with long hospital admissions face unique challenges being away from family, community and Country. Whilst absolute numbers of Aboriginal people admitted for long stays are low, they are over represented in our burn injured population and it is important to optimise experience and outcome. Aboriginal people may disengage from therapy or discharge early against medical advice due to shared stories of racism, mistrust, intergenerational trauma, and family/community responsibilities. Admission to facilities a long way from home exacerbates fear for rural residents.

A positive experience during hospital stays will assist in Closing the Gap as people share success stories and overcome activity and participation limitations.

Methods

In 2018, the ACI appointed a statewide Advisory committee with Aboriginal and rehabilitation clinicians and conducted:

• a literature review/data extraction
• community consultation
• iterative workshops
• commissioned artwork.

Several domains were identified as targets for improvement in the ward:

• Aboriginal heritage identification
• Aboriginal workforce utilisation
• privacy
• physical environment
• care environment
• communication/discharge planning

Results

A suite of resources designed for rehabilitation staff has been developed to improve cultural safety. These resources are designed for ward staff working in wards and rehabilitation. Resources include downloadable artwork/templates, a clinician quiz and service audit tool to identify areas for improvement, clinical yarning videos to guide communication approaches and project management tools.

Conclusions

Gadjigadji was launched on the 9th December, 2021 and widely promoted across rehabilitation services and Aboriginal health. Five services have been supported to implement the resources to date and a ‘Yarn up rehab’ community of practice established to share challenges and successes. The website has had 2951 page views, with the ‘toolkit’

Biography:

Clinical Network Manager for the NSW Statewide Burn Injury Service.

She is responsible for monitoring, supporting and improving burn care throughout NSW in collaboration with the multidisciplinary governing committee including consumer burn survivors. She is currently the secretary of ANZBA.