James Cook University (JCU) fourth-year Occupational Therapy student Emma Sarovich is passionate about making a difference to the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in North Queensland, and it is through a student led community rehabilitation and lifestyle service in Cape York where Emma is leaving a positive mark.

The service, facilitated by JCU in collaboration with Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN), engages allied health students on clinical placements to deliver sustainable individual and group rehabilitation in remote communities.

In late 2019, Emma travelled to Weipa and Napranum to participate in the service on a seven week placement as part of her degree, staying an additional week to collect data for her associated honours research project based on how First Nations residents benefit from participating in culturally appropriate, safe, and relevant services.

“These services can go a long way in terms of closing the gap and promoting the most positive health and wellbeing outcomes for participants,” Emma said.

“I really believe that other communities would certainly benefit from a similar service.”

The service provides an opportunity for allied health clinicians, Indigenous rehabilitation assistants, and students to extend much needed physical, emotional, and social support to individuals, particularly older people to support healthy ageing in community.

It also provides upskilling opportunities to existing staff, while students gain valuable experience learning directly from clients about disability and disease, community, communication, and culture.

“The functional gains are one thing, but the psycho emotional wellbeing component of the program was where I saw the most impact, which was reflected in the interviews that I conducted with the participants for my research,” said Emma.

Emma recalls one client in particular, a Tjungndji woman called Zoe, who experienced a stroke 15 years ago which left her unable to use one arm.

Consequently, she missed out on activities she enjoyed. Emma worked one-on-one with Zoe and found that Zoe loved crocheting and beading.

“I made a little piece of assisted technology that allowed Zoe to crochet one-handed, then taught her how to use it for basic crocheting,” Emma said.

“Zoe got this real sense of achievement and connection to an activity that was meaningful to her and that gave her independence.

“It formed a mutual trust and respect between us. I was primarily leading the group activities, and because she had that positive relationship with me, she was then engaging in the group activities more, whereas she wasn’t prior to that.”

In her interviews with participants after her placement in Weipa, Emma was pleased to find that participants enjoyed being a part of the service.

"It was basically all positive feedback that I received. There is a really positive environment where people get along well, they chat to each other, and they sit down and have a yarn. It was an overall positive experience for the participants,” Emma said.

The success of the program will see the student-led service model expanded further north to provide allied health support services to Mapoon residents, helping them to live happier, healthier, longer lives.

Northern Australia Primary Health Limited (NAPHL) delivers the program throughout northern Queensland. Without the program, many Indigenous people would struggle to access the health care they need to manage their chronic or complex health conditions.

The ITC Program was established to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with complex chronic diseases who are unable to effectively manage their conditions to access one-on-one assistance for the provision of coordinated, multidisciplinary care.

The program aims to contribute to better treatment and management of chronic conditions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people enrolled in the program and improve access to appropriate health care through care coordination and provision of supplementary services for eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with chronic disease.

ITC also aims to foster collaboration and support between the mainstream primary care services to deliver culturally appropriate services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Additionally, it aims to increase the uptake of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander specific Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS) items, including health assessments for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and follow-up claims.

Cody O’Brien, a 25-year-old Townsville man, receives support from the ITC Program through NAPHL and said looking after his health would be much harder without the support of the ITC Program.

“They’ve really given me a huge hand with what I need and what they’ve done, especially in the way of health and transportation and being able to set things up like my appointments,” he said.

“It’s been really helpful because before I’d have to get the bus. I’d have to time it right to go to the bus stop.

“Without you guys (ITC Team) there I’d probably be missing appointments by 10 to 20 minutes. Sometimes I wouldn’t even be able to go to my appointment.

“I’ve also got motion sickness so it’s a pain going around travelling on buses.”

Cody has severe epilepsy which makes it unsafe for him to be alone for any longer than an hour. It affects all areas of his life, from his favourite hobby playing sports to his work in hospitality at the local stadium. So far Cody has already had two massive seizures this year.

The epilepsy also means Cody is unable to hold a license, which is why transport to appointments is so important.

Along with the transport, the ITC Program has helped connect Cody with other services to improve all aspects of his health, including dietetics, podiatry, optical, and hospital specialists.

“It’s allowed me to get different types of appointments,” Cody said.

“I was recently diagnosed with diabetes so I’ve been sent to see a dietitian and a physician to talk about cutting down on my food, especially with the effects with what I can eat.

“Then I’ve also got sleep apnoea so I’ll be on that CPAP machine for the rest of my life. With what I get from Centrelink it wouldn’t have been enough anyway to help me in this case so I’m lucky I was put in this program and they’ve been able to help me.

“They’ve really helped me get some of the items that I need. Without them I would be totally unsafe.”

NAPHL Indigenous Outreach Worker Mettassa Zaro said Cody was referred to the ITC Program by his GP when it was clear that the Indigenous man needed some extra support to manage his health.

“Cody is really independent, but his chronic conditions make it difficult for him in certain areas such as getting to his medical appointments.

“At NAPHL, we’re working alongside the community to help overcome the disparity in health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

“Our ITC Program funded by NQPHN helps Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people navigate the health system and access mainstream health services and support.

“Our Indigenous Outreach Workers and Care Coordinators play a vital role in ensuring clients get access to the healthcare they need.”

For more information visit www.naphl.com.au/indigenous-health

Young Indigenous artists from across North Queensland have been recognised for their outstanding efforts in Northern Queensland Primary Health Network’s (NQPHN’s) second annual Indigenous Youth Art Competition.

The competition—based on the theme of mental health—saw some inspirational artwork submitted by young and upcoming local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander artists between the ages of 13–21 years.

There were a range of incredible submissions, resulting in gifted young artists from Cairns, Herberton, and Cooktown being awarded as the winners.

The first-place winner received an Apple iPad Pro 10.5” 64GB Wi-Fi and Apple Pencil, valued at $1,000. Second, third, and fourth place winners received gift vouchers for art supplies, valued at $500 and $250 respectively.

Among the many entrants, the well-deserving 2019 winners were:

• First place: Moniesha Wallace
• Second place: Tanisha Vincent
• Third place: Kashana Wallace
• Fourth place: Ronald Creek

NQPHN Board Director Suzanne Andrews said the NQPHN Board was delighted to see this initiative in its second year.

“NQPHN is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within our region,” Ms Andrews said.

“The competition is part of NQPHN’s commitment to support Indigenous youth, and a meaningful pathway towards inclusion of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

“The judging panel thoroughly enjoyed perusing the artwork pieces, as well as reading the stories the artists had written.”

Moniesha Wallace from Cairns took out first place in this year’s competition for her beautifully illustrated artwork piece, titled Boundaries.

Moniesha, 19, said that her painting told a story of the connections we have with other people.

“It represents our boundaries, other people, and our thoughts,” Moniesha said.

“The thoughts are all coloured differently to portray happy, neutral, and negative thoughts.”

Tanisha, 18, titled her artwork Calling forward, looking back, and said it was a mixed media self-portrait based on the 2019 NAIDOC theme ‘Voice. Treaty. Truth.’

“My artwork shows me, an Indigenous woman, calling out to everyone to hear my voice,” Tanisha said.

“Surrounding me are vibrations of my ancestor’s echo, the ripples representing the past, present, and future.

“It expresses a social issue which is still remembered to this day by all Indigenous people.”

View the winning 2019 and 2018 artwork pieces at
www.nqphn.com.au/community-member/indigenous-youth-art-competition/previous-competition-winners