Sharing your stories

This section contains stories by people working or studying in the area of Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing. Stories are descriptions of experiences or projects, which can help people working or studying in the area learn from the experiences of others. For a list of projects and programs to improve Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing, taking place across Australia » click here.

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Indigenous Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) Workers' Wellbeing, Stress and Burnout Project

By Donna Weetra

Description

This project has been designed to identify the key antecedents and consquences of stress, burnout and wellbeing among Indigenous and non-Indigneous AOD and generic health workers (who see a high proportion of Indigneous clients).

The primary aims and objectives of the project are:

  • Explore and report on the expereinces of stress, burnout and wellbeing among Indigneous and non-Indigenous AOD and generic health workers.
  • Develop an information base to inform strategies to improve worker wellbeing and reduce stress and burnout for those people working in the Indigneous field.

NCETA invites interested Indigenous and non-Indigenous (who see a high proportion of Indigenous clients) health workers in the AOD filed to let us know their views about factors that contribute to stress and well-being in the workplace by completing the online survey. The survey takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. In internet access is an issue, a hard copy can be provided upon request.

The survey can be completed at www.nceta.flinders.edu.au

Lessons learned

NCETA has been pleased with the level of interest and support that the project has generated. Participants and key stakeholders have indicated that they were pleased to have been provided with this unique opportunity to give their opinion on how being an Indigenous worker and working with clients on AOD issues impacts on then personally.

The following is a typical example of some of the comments that we have received to date:
"I have been working in this field for 18 years and this is the first time we as workers have been asked to tell our story."

Further information

www.nceta.flinders.edu.au

Contact details

National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction
Donna Weetra
Ph: (08) 8201 7535
Website: www.nceta.flinders.edu.au

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Not One Size Fits All; Measuring the Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Aboriginal Children

By Jane Harrison

Description

Not One Size Fits All; Measuring the Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Aboriginal Children was a two year project which aimed to develop culturally specific, holistic and useful assessment approaches to accurately and sensitively describe the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal children.

In particular the focus was on those Aboriginal children who have experienced abuse and neglect. The project focus was on gathering feedback and ideas from practitioners and policy makers and developing practical approaches that can be used within a mainstream service, Take Two and an Aboriginal child welfare service, the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency.

Lessons learned

The project began with the belief that up until now Aboriginal children have been assessed using mainstream measures which did not take into account their culture, beliefs, connection to community and land, spirituality and their individual experiences. From the Aboriginal perspective, a lack of culture and connectedness is a risk factor for Aboriginal children. Identifying indicators of change in wellbeing is challenging within a cultural context.

However, as cultural connection emerged as a gap in existing assessment and outcome measures used by therapeutic services, one achievement of this project has been to develop an outcome tool, the Cultural Yarn, which attempts to measure cultural connection in domains and language appropriate for young people in Victoria. This tool takes into account the reality that Aboriginal children in Victoria, particularly those in the out-of-home system, may experience cultural disconnection due to effects of the Stolen Generations, colonisation, assimilation and other factors. The Cultural Yarn, currently being piloted, will assist organisations in measuring the effects of programs which aim to strengthen that cultural connection.

Further information

Currently no further information

Contact details

Annette Jackson
La Trobe University
ajackson@berrystreet.org.au
or
Peter Lewis
Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency
peterl@VACCA.org

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Title of project or experience

By Ineke Krom

Description

This section contains a description of the project or experience, such as where it took place, who took part in it, and what happened or what was done.

Lessons learned

The lessons that can be learned from this project adn/or experience would be detailed here. For example, a way of addressing an issue in a new way, a poster that was developed that really brought the message accross, or something you would do different next time.

Further information

Any further details can be included in this section, such as information about an article about this project, a website, or a contact person.

Contact details

This section would include the contact details, in case you are happy for people to contact you if they ahve any questions about the project or experience described in this section.

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Last updated: 27 November, 2008