FROM THE EXPERTS ON MENTAL HEALTH Article from Christopher Veal MACN
My role as a Community Mental Health Nurse often takes me into the remotest areas of Australia, this week I was to visit an Aboriginal community in East Arnhem Land. I was accompanied by an Aboriginal mental health worker and we were there to ensure that the mental health care for people living in the community was of the necessary standard for all Australians. One of the purposes of any visit we undertake to a remote Aboriginal Community is to assess any new referrals to the service, which mainly come from the permanent General Practitioner (GP) who works in the community and the local police. Another common responsibility is to work closely with the families of our clients to help them cope with their children, auntie or uncle living with mental illness. In the Aboriginal culture, it’s the aunties, uncles and grandmothers who are part of the care plan for an individual who is sick or needs care. So, it’s very important to involve the grandmother more than the mother when discussing the care of a person.
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It’s important to highlight at this point that a good deal of this work is based on the help Aboriginal Health Workers provide us. Due to the cultural belief system (and especially because I’m a white middle-aged man), I can’t just stroll into people’s houses and start a conversation with someone. One needs to be introduced in the proper manner. I am a visitor into this community and I need a local person to help me break down the cultural barriers and assist in the locating and introducing me to Aboriginal clients. Many people make up a remote workforce, but that doesn’t determine how much face to face work can actually be accomplished. Broken down cars, people on sick leave, deaths in the community, not enough drivers, too many specialists visiting the community and lack of accommodation need to be taken into consideration – characteristics of the job that aren’t considered in a big city.
