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Julie is an Australian South Sea Islander health professional. She is committed to bringing the community together. Her story shows how she and her colleagues were able to bring an entire community together.
The aim was for the new clinic to be a kind of a meeting place for the Islander community. There was a conference room for this purpose. But the clinic was sterile – very new, very white, very sterile.
I sat down with the other health staff members and explained to them that the building would put off a lot of Australian South Sea Islanders because it was just so clinical.
If we were to make it a hub of the ASSI community, we'd need to work hard at it. We would need to make everyone feel as if this new building was part of our community.
So we decided to set up some enjoyable information seminars for Australian South Sea Islanders. A relaxation seminar, for example. A diet seminar. That kind of thing. We all volunteered to take a particular seminar.
Then we thought inviting them just wasn't enough. How could we get the community to come to these seminars?.
Being an Islander myself, I had a bit of credibility in the community, if you know what I mean. I spread the word. I told any Australian South Sea Islander I met to go along to the seminars.
The other health staff members did the same thing – they mentioned the seminars whenever they had an ASSI client.
I should also mention that we provided transport. That's important – not all Islanders have cars and taxis are too expensive. So we organised a bus to pick them up and drop them home.
At the first seminar only six people turned up, but that was fine.
The next week each of those six people brought one or two more with them.
A few weeks on, we had heaps of ASSI people coming to the seminars. It was a success. My colleagues and I were really happy.
Other health staff members went along to the seminars to establish friendships and networks. This was great because the health staff members and the Islanders became friends. As a result many Australian South Sea Islander clients feel confident about going straight to health staff members when they have a problem. That's a huge step.
When the seminars were all finished, the Islanders felt at home at the clinic. We couldn't keep them away. Somehow, the seminars evolved into arts and crafts meetings. The meetings were open to the entire community – not just the Islander community.
One of the health staff members asked his sister to go along and join in as a representative of the white community. She loved it – she's always there now. She opened the door for other white people to join in. And then a few members of the Aboriginal community joined in too.
So it's an amazing thing. It's broken down lots of barriers.A positive outcome indeed! Health staff members were responsible for breaking down barriers within the community.
Through creativity and flexibility health staff members can create positive change.
The story also illustrates the importance of looking to Australian South Sea Islanders for ideas and advice – they are experts in their culture. Make decisions with the community rather than for the community.
A final story – bringing it all together illustrates many of the sensitivities that you've explored throughout this workshop.
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