NSW Health WSLHD Safety & Quality Account 2020-21

Improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands Peoples in our community

Aboriginal Family Days-COVID-19 Vaccination In September 2021, COVID-19 vaccinations opened up to Aboriginal Children aged 12-15 years. To celebrate this, an Aboriginal Family Day was run out of the Mount Druitt Aboriginal Health Hub. Vaccinations were available to children aged 12-15 years, as well as their families, delivered by local staff, as well as WSLHD clinical executive. Everyone who attended was welcomed with a BBQ, kid friendly care packs and entertainment. Over 250 children and their families were vaccinated on the day. Community Yarn Ups-engaging with the community and local partners in vaccination During the 2021 peak of COVID-19, an Aboriginal Health Worker from the WSLHD Public Health Unit identified a significant gap in vaccination rates in the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. It was identified that there was a lack of information available and no-where the local community could ask questions about vaccination. WSLHD Public Health Unit partnered with Marrin Weejali, a local Aboriginal Corporation that normally provides social emotional wellbeing services to manage substance misuse. Together, they invited local community members to a ‘Yarn Up’ with the Director of Public Health to ask questions about COVID-19 and vaccination. A total of 35 people attended. At the start of Yarn up, only 5 people indicated they were willing to be vaccinated. However, by the end of the session, 28 people came forward for vaccination by the COVID-19 Vaccination Outreach team. Word of mouth about the Yarn Up and positive vaccination experiences led to the establishment of a fortnightly outreach vaccination clinic. To date, the COVID-19 Vaccination Outreach Team have vaccinated over 1400 local Aboriginal community members and their families at Marrin Weejali. The model was so successful that it is now being replicated to deliver flu vaccination and other health prevention programs across Western Sydney.

Wurimbirra-Aboriginal COVID-19 care in the community

The WSLHD COVID-19 inTouch service was established in 2021 to support people with COVID-19. Increasing rates of COVID-19 cases in the local Aboriginal Community led to the establishment of an Aboriginal cultural support telehealth service. The service was named ‘Wurimbirra’, meaning to care, keep, preserve. Wurimbirra was staffed by 3 Aboriginal Health Workers 5 days a week, however during the peak of the Delta wave, additional Aboriginal staff were recruited to meet the needs of cases and close contacts. Cases and close contacts where phoned to identify what specific support, if any, was required for that person and their family. This not only included managing the physical symptoms of COVID-19, but also included access to food, navigating Centrelink and other barriers to safely isolating at home. Data from a recent process evaluation shows a total of 539 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people were referred to Wurimbirra from July 12 to November 30, 2021. 90% accepted cultural support (1% declined and 9% were unable to be contacted). Low case fatality rates for the Aboriginal community in Western Sydney suggest Aboriginal cultural support provided by the Wurimbirra team helped mitigate the negative impacts of COVID-19, including hospitalisation and death. Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) has teamed up with Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA) Group Training to provide a school-based traineeship program that enables upskilling and prepares culturally sensitive students for the workplace. The first intake of 10 students are undertaking a Certificate III in Allied Health Assistance while completing their year 11 and 12 studies. As part of the program they are employed one day per week via a work placement within allied health departments across WSLHD. This initiative is also encouraging professional skill development and workforce experience with both IAHA and WSLHD. Aboriginal high school training program helps western Sydney close the gap

Above from left: The education Yarn Up event was hosted by WSLHD’s Population Health team. Mount Druitt Aboriginal family vaccination day. Malia Latu having her second COVID 19 vaccination. Mount Druitt Aboriginal family vaccination day. Matt Sydenham cooking BBQ for community members.

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