An electronic publication from the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet
Issue 9, November 2000 - February 2001 : ISSN 1329-3362
Conference abstracts and papers
12th National Health Promotion Conference: Inequalities in health
- reflecting back, stepping forward.
29 October - 1 November 2000, Hotel Sofitel, Melbourne, Victoria.
Shane Hearn and Marilyn
Wise
Enhancing the choices and quality of tertiary education in health
promotion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers.
Objectives: To outline experience in the recruitment, retention and graduation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in a specialist graduate program on Indigenous health promotion. To discuss processes for ensuring ongoing community and Aboriginal health professional engagement in the curriculum and teaching of specialist graduate education for Indigenous health promotion practitioners.
Outline: In the late 1990s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers across the country expressed the need for specialist tertiary education in Indigenous health promotion. Following extensive consultation with Aboriginal Health Workers and health practitioners across the country, the Graduate Diploma in Indigenous Health Promotion was established at the University of Sydney.
With the third group of students now participating in the course it is necessary to review progress to date and highlight ways to improve the course in the future. We have developed an evaluation process to gain feedback from students, other key stakeholders, and community members.
The session will include an invitation to participants to discuss experiences in developing and implementing tertiary education programs in health promotion for Aboriginal Health Workers, with the intention of developing further understanding of students' and communities' needs. It. will be an opportunity to discuss ways to extend educational opportunities in health promotion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers, to explore communities', students' and employers' requirements of the curriculum, to identify effective learning styles, and to identify students' support needs.
The session will also invite participants to identify organisational support needed to ensure that the faculties providing tertiary education in health promotion are well equipped to provide high quality educational experiences to Indigenous students.
Discussion: In this session, participants will be invited to draw on their own experiences to identify ways to improve the educational experiences of Indigenous Health Workers who wish to extend their community knowledge and clinical skills to include health promotion.
It is proposed that the session discuss the preparation of guidelines for use by tertiary institutions, government and community agencies in relation to establishing and supporting tertiary programs in health promotion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers.
