How can Local Health Districts and Networks cultivate anti-racist hospitals?

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Background

Racism has been clearly identified as a determinant of health and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to experience racism and discrimination within the Australian healthcare system. Racism is causing dire health consequences and inhibiting access to quality and safe healthcare services. 

Aims

To comprehensively understand and address the complex dynamics of racism, bias and colonisation in reforming hospital care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and families.

Methods

  • Decolonise existing tools such as the Readiness to Change Assessment (RCTA) and Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (i-PARIHS) framework.
  • Evaluate health organisations’ readiness to change beliefs, attitudes and processes that maintain inequity.
  • Undertake Aboriginal patient journey mapping and review governance structures, workforce development, current quality indicators and processes for implicit bias.
  • Develop, implement and evaluate interventions using multiple methods such as co-designing, yarning and deep listening.
  • Disseminate findings to translate and scale-up successful interventions to achieve health systems and services change. 

Impact

  • Uptake and use of decolonised tools and frameworks to address racism.
  • Health organisations will have a better understanding of successful interventions needed to eliminate racism from Australian healthcare services.
  • In the long term, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will have increased access to safe and anti-racist health services.

Lead

Tamara Mackean
Guunu-maana Food policy

Dr Tamara Mackean

Senior Research Fellow

Related People

Professor David Peiris

Chief Scientist

Keziah Bennett-Brook

Program Head, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program

Dr Julieann Coombes

Senior Research Fellow, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program

Dr Kate Hunter

Senior Research Fellow, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program

Partners

The George Institute for Global Health, Australia

Deakin University, Australia

Flinders University

The Lowitja Institute

Southern Adelaide Local Health Network

The University of Adelaide

University of Technology Sydney

Central Australia Health Service

Sydney Children’s Hospital Network

Central Coast Local Health District

Funder

National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

Videos

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia’s Constitution

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Dr Anne-Marie Eades highlights the critical role that women in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities provide

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