Home
- » Key resources
  - » Bibliography
    - » Sad news, sorry business: guidelines for caring for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through death and dying

Sad news, sorry business: guidelines for caring for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through death and dying

by Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health Branch Queensland Health

Report
Year	2011
City	Brisbane
Institution	Queensland Health

Abstract

This document provides general guidance for carers of Indigenous Australian people faced with death.
The guidelines take into account that for many Indigenous people, the times before death, of death and following death, are subject to a number of customary practices.

The first part of these guidelines covers cultural competence for health workers, including verbal and body language, building rapport, and the roles of Indigenous hospital liaison officers and Indigenous health workers.

The second part of these guidelines covers caring for Indigenous patients and their families during the patient's final stages of life. Topics are:

diagnosis and information
the gathering: preparation for death
time of death
sad news, sorry business: time after death
postponing the burial
financial barriers
traumatic or sudden death
open disclosure
coronial investigations
resource list.

The guidelines are intended for Queensland Health staff, but may be a useful resource for workers in other parts of Australia. The guidelines acknowledge that customary practices about death vary for different groups of Indigenous people, and that any document can provide general guidance only.

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract