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Maayu Mali National Dance in Moree

- Thursday, December 12, 2019

Maayu Mali (the Moree Aboriginal Residential Rehabilitation Service) continues to work closely with the local Community in Moree. In recent weeks the staff and residents of Maayu Mali took part in the ‘Nation Dance’ event in Moree. This event encouraged Aboriginal people across the country to dance on country at the same time coordinated nation-wide. The resident also supported Community through a local sorry event looking after the BBQ and serving food.


Maayu Mali Partnership with TAFE NSW

- Thursday, December 12, 2019

Maayu Mali (the Moree Aboriginal Residential Rehabilitation Service) continues its partnership with TAFE NSW and works to implement a new relationship with Moree Community College. The TAFE NSW partnership incorporates the Certificate II in Horticulture which includes developing the Maayu Mali vege garden, all of which produce is either eaten on site or donated and the Backyard and Beyond course which has included the Maayu Mali clients working on some community restoration projects in the Moree Community. The partnership with Moree Community College included two recent First Aid training days in which staff and residents worked together to attain their First Aid and CPR certification.


Quit B Fit - Educating Our Kids

- Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Our Quit B Fit team has been busy educating our kids at Orana Heights Public School, Peak Hill Central School and Anson Street School in Orange.

With the assistance of Ninja Warrior Jack Wilson and NRL Players Cody Walker, James Roberts and Blake Ferguson our team were able to get the Healthy Choices and Tobacco education sessions delivered to the kids at each school.


ANFPP National Conference - Alice Springs

- Monday, December 09, 2019


15 Members from our ANFPP Blacktown and Dubbo teams attended the national conference in July 2019 alongside our program manager and CEO.

It was a great opportunity for the team to meet and network with other teams.

We engaged in group sessions with other home visiting teams. Our Blacktown team presented a joint presentation with the WACHS Dubbo team.

We enjoyed learning more about NFP and what is happening internationally from Gail Rodford Trotter the international lead for NFP.

We had the chance to meet with local Aboriginal people and learn about the different languages and undertake a guided nature walk.

Some children from the local school performed playing drums and singing and dancing. It was an experience we will never forget.

Hear Our Heart Hearing Loss

- Monday, December 09, 2019
   

Foolina and her brother are currently accessing Speech services with Luci here at ACTT. During a recent therapy sessions Foolina’s mum was concerned with discharge from one of Folina’s ears. Luci recommended that she head to the Doctor to get it checked out – Foolina had a perforated ear drum.

When the family next came to an appointment, Naomi commented that she was worried about her daughters hearing. ACTT was able to link the family into the Hear Our Heart Ear Bus Project, where Foolina was able to get her hearing tested by a specialist audiologist and this resulted in her being fitted with a bone conduction hearing aid, whilst she waits for grommits to be fitted by an Ear Nose and Throat Specialist.

It is REALLY important to encourage Parents to have their children’s hearing checks every 3-4 months. The reason for this is that if they need to go to see the Ear Specialist then they need the evidence that the child has had regular tests and the condition is ongoing that will warrant booking them in for grommet surgery.

Statistically, for a child with middle ear fluid;

  • 70% of the kids it will be gone in 1 month
  • 20% it will take 2 months and
  • 10% it will take 3 months and more than likely it won't go away so ENT intervention is needed

Therefore it is important to keep the testing gap to 3-4 months between tests. The federal guidelines for ENT for ATSI children is if the child has fluid for 3 months or more sent to the ENT. Check out the Hearing Loss Parent/Carer Checklist attached that highlights some indicators of hearing loss for children ages 6 months to 18 years. Remember up until age 9, ‘glue ear’ comes and goes. Some children may have symptoms some weeks/months but not the next.

Meet The Team - Luci Spora

- Monday, December 09, 2019


How long have you been working at WACHS?

I am a fairly new employee at WACHS as I have only been with the service since the middle of August 2019.

What is your current role at WACHS?

I am employed part time (4 days a week) as one of the Speech Pathologists with the ACTT team in Dubbo, at the HUB.

What made you decide to join our team?

I have worked as a Speech Pathologist servicing the Dubbo and outlying communities, in both private and public health sectors over the last 30 years. I love to work in rural and remote communities as part of a multidisciplinary team for the benefit of our children and their families. My passion has always been to work with children and their families to close the gap and assist them in accessing health services; especially Speech Pathology. Providing Speech Pathology services to children in their early years maximizes their opportunities to communicate, learn and achieve lifelong outcomes alongside their peers. By working in WACHS and as part of a team I am able to expand the reach of the services I can deliver to children of the Dubbo community.

What is the best part of your job?

I love being a Speech Pathologist working on the frontline, helping children get the best start in life in the early years so that when they start school they are the same level playing field as other children starting school. I love to work collaboratively with my team, other educational staff, families and agencies, like the Hear our Heart Bus to ensure that our children thrive in the school system and continue to develop and achieve in their lifelong learning.

National Maternal, Child and Family Health Nursing Conference

- Monday, December 09, 2019

ANFPP Dubbo and Blacktown jointly presented at The National Maternal Child and Family Health Nursing Conference in Darling Harbour in August 2019. The theme was “Navigating the future- new directions in maternal, child and family health nursing”.

An AFPW and the NS from Blacktown presented alongside a NHV and AFPW from the Dubbo team presented on the third day of the conference. The team enjoyed participating in the conference and the pre-conference workshop on Early Detection of Autism Behaviors.

Please see the teams conference abstract below:

Successful partnerships between families, Aboriginal Family partnership workers and Nurse home visitors to improve health outcomes.

This presentation will explore how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families work with Aboriginal Family Partnership Workers (AFPW’s) and Nurses in a sustained home visiting program from early pregnancy to the child’s second birthday. The Australian Nurse Family Partnership Program is a federally funded, evidenced based program which aims to address the health disparity experienced by ATSI families. This presentation will explain the ANFPP and how we work with ATSI families from a strengths based approach. It will focus on how AFPW’s and NHV’s work together and what strategies they utilize to support families in achieving physical, emotional and cultural wellbeing. We will explore the role of the AFPW and the unique way Wellington Aboriginal Corporation Health Service has utilised this role in the ANFPP in a rural ( Dubbo, Wellington, Gilgandra, Narromine) and urban ( Blacktown) setting. We will focus on the key role the AFPW has on recruitment, retention and case coordination of clients. We will discuss how AFPW’s gain feedback from families and advocate for cultural safety for their clients both in the care they receive from ANFPP and from external services. We will share two client case studies (one rural and one urban) as well as staff’s reflections on working in a multidisciplinary team from a family centered partnership model in a community controlled aboriginal health service.


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