CONTENTS
AHA Needs Developing
New COAG Initiatives
Close the Gap
AMIC Training
CCRE
Puya Wiya Program
UniSA Smoking Study
Education & Training
Public Health
Sexual Health
Pandemic Influenza
GMBH
ATSIHRTONN
Accreditation Workshop
AHCSA News


AHCSA
Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia Inc.
9 King William Road
Unley SA 5061

PO Box 981
Unley SA 5061

Tel: (08) 8273 7200
Fax: (08) 8273 7299
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Issue 8, October 2009

Welcome

Mary Buckskin,
CEO for AHCSAIt has been a very busy few months since my last Communiqué in June. Training has been increasing with two different workshops in some weeks. AHCSA has also been conducting workshops for members on various programs which have provided an information sharing forum for the Secretariat, Chairs, CEOs and staff, and the development of a number of Action Plans.

The biggest impact on AHCSA these past few months has been the downsizing at SA Health, in particular, the Aboriginal Health Division (AHD) which abolished 14 full-time positions. This will have an effect on service delivery to Country Health SA (CHSA), AHCSA and members. To ensure the needs of Aboriginal people in country areas are met, our partnership with CHSA will strengthen, we will continue to support AHD where possible, and have regular meetings with AHD Executive Director April Lawrie-Smith and CHSA Executive Director Rob Zadow.

In early August, AHCSA had its full Board meeting at Roxby Downs which was well attended by members. On the day before the meeting, Board training was provided to the Chairs.

AHCSA is currently reviewing the constitution; is represented on the Spirit Festival committee; reviewing and re-signing an MoU with GPSA; and is planning for the next Aboriginal Primary Health Care Workers Forum in late October.

The quarterly meetings between AHCSA Chairperson Yvonne Buza, Dr David Scrimgeour, Richard Nelson, myself and Minister John Hill, SA Health Chief Executive Tony Sherbon and CHSA Chief Executive George Beltchev have proven to be very valuable for sharing information between the Aboriginal community controlled sector and mainstream health.

I hope you enjoy this issue of CEO Communique. If you have any queries, please contact Mandy Green or Alison Hambour on (08) 8273 7200, or email mandy.green@ahcsa.org.au.

Kind Regards


Mary Buckskin
Chief Executive Officer


Aboriginal Health Authority needs developing: NACCHO
In a recent media release, NACCHO stated “While Aboriginal health is seen as a priority by the National Health and Hospital Reform Commission (NHHRC), its central recommendation of a Health Authority to aggregate Aboriginal health funding and purchase services is barely developed in its report.”

Dr Mick Adams, NACCHO Chair, said “The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Authority concept is an interesting option we have discussed within our sector and it would have assisted if the Commission had further explored a range of models for it”.


COAG Implementation Group
AHCSA is involved with the new COAG initiatives in an advisory capacity on the COAG Implementation Group. The group has representation from the Department of Health and Ageing, SA Health, GPSA and Rural Doctors Workforce Agency. A couple of meetings have already been held to discuss the direction of COAG Actions such as Tackling Smoking, Workforce and Chronic Disease. The COAG agenda has been driven by the government and this is AHCSA’s opportunity to consult and provide direction at the state level with NACCHO contributing at the national level.


Close the Gap
AHCSA held a Close the Gap workshop for members’ Chairs and CEOs to begin the first stage of the development of an ‘Implementation Strategic and Action Plan to Close the Gap for South Australia’. The Action Plan will accompany the Statement of Intent and will address the needs, strategies and goals for each ACCHS and AHAC region. A second workshop is planned for late October.


Aboriginal Maternal and Infant Care Training (AMIC)
AHCSA has formed a partnership with CHSA to deliver AMIC training. AMIC workers have been recruited in Port Augusta and the selection process is underway for a number of regional sites around the state.

Aboriginal maternal infant care has long been an identified area of need. The training will not only help to build capacity within the Aboriginal health workforce but will also help to ensure the provision of much needed culturally appropriate and accessible maternal and infant health care services for the Aboriginal community.


CCRE
The CCRE has come to an end with the final report submitted to the NHMRC. Copies of CCRE publications are available on www.ahcsa.org.au A proposal for funding is currently being developed for an ongoing Sector Research Support Officer position, a key focus of which will be to support AHCSA members in research.


Puyu Wiya Training Program
The AHCSA Puyu Wiya Smokecheck Tobacco Brief Intervention Training Program presentation has been given an enhanced visual image with a new Puyu Wiya logo and vivid western desert colours, designed by Dreamtime Public Relations. The presentation now also contains recent data on smoking.

The Puyu Wiya Program has been designed to train Aboriginal Health Workers to assist smokers who may be considering how to quit. AHCSA has registered the program on the Centre of Excellence in Indigenous Tobacco Control website http://www.ceitc.org.au

Puyu Wiya Coordinator Harold Stewart has been talking to Aboriginal health teams about the high prevalence of smoking tobacco (51% in the Aboriginal community) and the harmful effects to health. Smoking accounts for 20% of all Aboriginal deaths, just one of the disturbing facts in Harold’s presentation ’Why Smoking is a Silent Deadly Killer’ which have shocked many people.


University SA Smoking Study
The University of SA is conducting a research study among Aboriginal Health Workers in community controlled services and state government health teams. The study titled ‘Smoking Reduction Strategy Development and Intervention among Aboriginal Health Workers’ has been approved by AHCSA and the Aboriginal Health Research Ethics Committee.


Education & Training
The ‘bridging program’ to gain competencies for the ‘new’ Certificate III is still in progress. Trainers are engaged in a recognition process with students across the state.

The third round of workshops for the refresher training in clinical skills is currently underway and AHCSA expects 75 graduates by the end of the year. Aboriginal Health Workers with the old Certificate III qualification will upgrade skills to include the additional clinical competencies of the new Certificate III.

Certificate IV Training and Assessment has been completed for 2009 with 11 graduates from SA, WA and VIC.

Fifteen students are half-way through Certificate IV Indigenous Research Capacity Building and will complete their final workshop in November and graduate by the end of the year.


Public Health
An AHCSA Public Health Network has been formed with representatives from all ACCHSs in SA and meets monthly via teleconference.

On 13-14 October, an Aboriginal Health Check Workshop is being held in conjunction with General Practice SA. GP Divisions and staff from general practices have been invited. Some of the agenda items are:


Sexual Health
Sexual Health Coordinator Clinton Dadleh is providing support to ACCHSs for improved sexual health services with an initial focus on the development of a coordinated STI screening program. Later this year, staffing and resources will be discussed with services and the needs scoped for each region.


Pandemic Influenza
Mary Anne Williams, consultant employed with funds from the SA Aboriginal Health Partnership (SAAHP) has been supporting ACCHSs with managing H1N1 (Swine flu) as well as preparing them for any future possible pandemics which could be a resurgence of Swine flu or bird flu.

Fortunately, all of the health services managed the outbreak with no problems and they are better prepared even if the next pandemic is more severe. The Swine flu vaccine will be rolled out in early October and Mary Anne will be helping services with this.


Good Medicines Better Health
The GMBH program is gearing towards the national roll out of the ‘Train the Trainer’ package and working towards accreditation. Partners, AHCSA, NACCHO and NPS, are also discussing the resources required to ensure implementation and sustainability of the program at a national level.


ATSIHRTONN
The ATSIHRTONN website has been completed and available at www.atsihrtonn.com.au An ATSIHRTONN Communiqué has also been developed and is available to download or subscribe to from the website.

On 25-26 June, a national workshop for ATSIHRTONN member RTO staff was held at the Aboriginal Health College in Sydney. Feedback from the 25 participants was positive and their enthusiastic engagement over the two days made the workshop a huge success.

A National Network meeting is being held on 22-23 September in Cairns.


Accreditation Workshop
A workshop was recently held for members to assist with information on the accreditation processes they will be undertaking as part of OATSIH requirements. The workshop aimed to:

The workshop outcomes and further information is available from Paul Ryan, paul.ryan@ahcsa.org.au, tel: 8273 7200.


AHCSA News
The next AHCSA News will be out in December. If you do not currently receive a copy and would like to be added to the distribution list, please email amanda.mitchell@ahcsa.org.au or call (08) 8272 7300.


Disclaimer
CEO Communiqué is copyright to the Aboriginal Health Council of SA Inc. (AHCSA). No part may be reproduced without the prior written permission of the Chief Executive Officer of AHCSA. Whilst every care is taken to ensure that the information contained in this newsletter is accurate, errors and omissions may occur. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, we apologise for any inconvenience caused and ask that you click the unsubscribe link below.

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