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‘There’s lots of growth and change that needs to happen’

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‘A guideline is only as good as the people who take the time to invest their time in it and use it – we don’t want this guideline to sit on a shelf.’
 
That is according to Belinda Hammond, the NACCHO–RACGP Partnership Project Lead and one of dozens of people who have spent years working tirelessly on the new National guide to preventive healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
 
The fourth edition of the National Guide will be launched this month, designed to be a practical guide to help health professionals in their delivery of preventive healthcare that best meets the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
 
Ms Hammond has spent the past 20 years working within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healthcare and has seen firsthand the many ‘skilled, qualified, amazing’ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people working within the sector, many of whom helped to inform the National Guide.
 
‘As an Aboriginal person myself, you do see the world in a different way,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘We are disproportionally affected by various conditions, largely due to racism and discrimination which has lasting health impacts on our community, so people need to think about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people when providing healthcare.
 
‘We’ve had personal experiences as well of being patients, of being in the healthcare system, of working alongside people where those sorts of interactions haven’t been safe or positive.’
 
The National Guide was first conceived by the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) and released in 2005 in partnership with the RACGP.
 
The Guide consists of screening and preventive healthcare recommendations over 21 chapters, with six new ones to be launched in the fourth edition:

• Health impacts of racism
• Healthy eating
• Sleep
• Vaping
• Preconception care
• Health impacts of climate change

Other long-standing chapters within the National Guide include immunisation across the life course, child and family safety, eye health and vision, rheumatic heart disease, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and mental health.
 
Ms Hammond said the fourth edition has been published with a strong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander governance structure underpinning the work and ‘significant increase’ in the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors.
 
‘There’s quite a focus at the moment in the healthcare landscape around racism,’ she said.
 
‘It’s time that people really start to acknowledge how that impacts on our people and what their role plays in the delivery of people’s healthcare.

‘There’s lots of growth and change that needs to happen at policy level, a system level, to make healthcare available, accessible, safe and appropriate.’
 
The National Guide will be officially launched later this month at the upcoming RACGP GP24 conference in Perth, as well as at the NACCHO members’ conference.
 
Ahead of its release, Ms Hammond said she hopes the Guide will give all healthcare professionals a better chance of preventing chronic conditions throughout Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ lives.
 
‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients, we make up 3% of the population, so people’s thinking isn’t always in that space,’ she said.
 
‘The lack of awareness from primary healthcare teams or GPs can be a challenge.
 
‘Primary healthcare is usually the first point of contact for people going into the health system, and if that’s unsafe, that really impacts people’s willingness to access primary healthcare for prevention in the future, and healthcare in general.’
 
Following its release, the National Guide will be free to download on the RACGP and NACCHO websites.
 
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health GP24 NACCHO National Guide

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