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.
Liz Latorre
Issues for stolen
generations.
Liz Latorre was employed in January to establish the Rumbalara Stolen Generation Program. After extensive consultation with the community the program is currently being developed, the most important issue identified by local people was family history, which will form the main focus of the project, providing support on the local level and linking community members in with specialist services such as Link Up: It is recognised that, knowledge of family and personal history has an important role to play in healing the hurt of our families. For some community members it is unfinished business.
It is important to provide a healing environment where people can tell their stories in their own terms of reference and determine their own pace. This is where a 'yarn up' component will come into effect. Yarn ups can be effectively used to provide counselling information in a culturally appropriate and sensitive environment, assess and identify needs of individuals and/or community, and plan and implement care. Yarn ups can be one-off or ongoing, informal or formal, and can include support, information and referral to appropriate specialist services.
The project also will include a community awareness component aimed at the community as a whole. It is proposed that community awareness be implemented by the provision of educational and promotional activities that promote the history and effects of forcible removal/separation: as well as networking, consultation and liaising with key organisations and/ or service providers.
