Indigenous Health MedTalk

On the show today we chat with Anthony and Uncle Will Paulson. We talked about Anthony's journey from apprentice butcher to now working as a leader and manager in Cultural Education. We also get to hear Uncle Will share his story from growing up on a mission to getting a medical condition that changed his life. We yarn about the connected nature of police justice and health and how resilience, good choices, work ethic and role modelling can help you find your way in life.

 

Bio's:

Anthony Paulson is a proud Aboriginal man and his people are Worimi, Bundjalung and Mununjali people. Anthony is a saltwater man from the Mid North Coast of NSW in Taree. Anthony joined the NSW Police in his early 20’s and served in regional and remote locations.  Anthony has experience working in an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS) setting and extensive experience working with community in both government and non-government roles in rural and remote locations within NSW. Anthony thoroughly enjoys working with different stakeholders and learning from different communities and his Elders. In 2017, Anthony joined GP Synergy as the Manager of the Aboriginal Cultural Education Unit and enjoys the diversity the role brings.

 

William Paulson his people are Worimi, Bundjalung and Mununjali people, worked with local government for 14 years, NSW Police as Liaison officer for 15 years.  During that time he has occupied many local committees and community work in a voluntary capacity.

On the show today we chat with Professor Marlene Drysdale, Dr Kali Hayward and Henry Neill who share their knowledge and expertise in helping GP registrars, or Doctors in training, learn the best ways to interact with their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients. They also share information on how to be a good ally. 

 

 

On the show today we chat with Les Collins who shares his journey from growing up in Cherbourg to being a member of the Brisbane chapter of the Black Panthers. And who, through his advocacy, helped shape the legal system, housing and health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, nationally.

 

Mr Les Collins – Chair of the Board Aboriginal & Islander Health Training Advisory Committee (Kab-bai Committee)

Les Collins is one of the pioneers to address Indigenous health inequalities in Queensland. He helped develop a number of community controlled Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander health services across Queensland. For 20 years, Les was the Queensland representative for the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (formerly National Aboriginal & Islander Health Organisation) and was a member of the National Aboriginal Health Strategy Working Party which produced the National Aboriginal Health Strategy (NAHS) 1989.

For many years the NAHS was the official policy and action framework for addressing Indigenous health throughout Australia which led to many improvements in services for Indigenous people. Among these initiatives was Australia’s first Indigenous Health Curriculum for General Practice which Les helped develop.

Les was also heavily involved in establishing and managing a range of organisations that addressed the needs and aspirations of Indigenous communities in Queensland.

Les is also an Advisor to the Institute for Urban indigenous Health and a singer-songwriter/entertainer who has put two of Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s poems to music and written a song about the 2008 Apology to the Stolen Generations which can be viewed on Youtube.

 

Watch 'Great Moments' by Les Collins:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RjXyQ3hnus

 

On todays episode, Dr Danielle Arabena yarns to Arly Mehan, The Love Warrior Celebrant and Death Doula, about her PhD in EcoAcoustics. We also delve into how Arly helps others use ceremony as a profound way of connecting to Kin in the seen and the unseen.  

Arly is a Birrbay and Dunghutti ceremony creatress living and working on Country near Guruk, what is now known as Port Macquarie, NSW, Australia.  Arly is currently working within the wedding and funeral industries in an educaring approach to contribute to decolonising, bringing meaning and authentically honour sacred life moents. Arly speaks about both the seen and unseen, the human and the beyond-human with the same respect. Currently studying a PhD, Arly attends to this work because of kin and cultural responsibilities, disrupting mainstream narratives about Koala conservation. Arly collaborates with sound agency and Country agency to ngarra (listen, learn, remember and know) with Country and encourages others to translate sounds to calls for action.

Connect with Arly here:

https://thelovewarriorcelebrant.com.au/

 

 

On the show today we chat with Dr Tatum Bond, a Ngan'gi woman and emergency specialist about her journey into medicine, her love of remote and rural medicine, camping and her dogs. We also have a chat her important work with the Royal Flying Doctors servicing remote Queensland communities. 

 

Tatum is a proud Indigenous FACEM, whose heritage hails from the Ngajanji tribe, the rainforest people from the southern Atherton Tablelands. Tatum grew up in Tannum Sands in Central Queensland but has always felt at home in Cairns. She recently fellowed in Emergency Medicine and splits her time between the Cairns Base Hospital and a retrieval position with the RFDS based in Cairns. She has always felt a strong need to give back to community, and hopes that her voice can help to Close the Gap. She is the 7th identified Indigenous FACEM in Australia and the first in Queensland. In her spare time she loves going camping with her 2 dogs, putting her feet in the sand and the water and connecting to country.  

Donate to the Flying Doctor | Royal Flying Doctor Service

 

Connect with Tatum: [email protected]  

::TRIGGER WARNING:: - A very powerful edition of our podcast, but also needs to be listened to with care. It contains strong themes and discussion of violence. On the show today we have our first international guest, Melissa Skeet. A Diné (Navajo) woman, derby and trail skater and passionate advocate for missing and murdered Indigenous women and children. Besides our mutual love of skating, we talk about how both of our countries have incredibly high percentages of Indigenous women being murdered, experienced sexual and family violence and how the systems have failed them and sadly, how families were denied a voice. In 2021 in Australia there was a senate motion put forward for an enquiry launched by two Aboriginal senators, Dorinda Cox and Lidia Thorpe who are both family members of murdered Indigenous women. The senate report is due out in June this year. Bio: Melissa Skeet is an Ultra Trail Skater of the Dine’ Tribe from the Navajo Nation, raised at the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, U.S. and living in Montana, U.S. Melissa had her first taste of roller skating when she was invited by a roller derby athlete in Flagstaff, AZ who played for the High Altitude Roller Derby team to try out which she did and became a roller derby athlete for 4 in a half years. Melissa started Trail Skating when she skated alongside the beautiful Grand Tetons in Grand Tetons National Park, Wyoming, U.S. The beauty of trail skating started a passion for Melissa as she feels more connected with the earth and mother nature. Melissa started to become even more disturbed of the continuous epidemic of Indigenous People who had been taken and many were murdered. It wasn’t until she saw that the criminal justice system was continuously failing the victims and their families. Melissa then decided to take on one of the biggest challenges of her life of skating 300 miles across the Navajo Nation in Arizona, U.S. to raise awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Children, Elderly, 2-Spirit, Trans Relatives. Melissa completed 192 miles out of 300 miles with her amazing friend/Pacer Daisy Purdy and boyfriend Nate Zahn. Melissa realized during this skate that this was about bringing awareness to an epidemic that continues to be silenced and was set out to give a voice to all Indigenous families that we will keep fighting together. Melissa recently roller skated 40 miles in the rain for 8.5 hours in Washington, U.S. for Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, 2-Spirit, Trans Relatives (MMIWG2ST). This was a challenging skate due to the constant rain but nothing was going to stop Melissa. The skating awareness will continue for this month of May to continue to bring a Voice to the victims and their families who have been silenced. No more stolen sisters. For more information to sign-up and donate: Melissa’s Instagram: @skeet_fighter https://www.nativehope.org/ https://www.nativewomenswilderness.org/mmiw https://www.wenatchiwear.com/store/Skate-for-MMIWG2ST-Tank-top-Preorder-p463078552 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-25/first-nation-missing-murdered-women-senate-inquiry/100650852

On the show today Dr Danielle Arabena is joined by her family, her sister Professor Kerry Arabena founder of the First 1000 Days Australia and her daughters Dr Kayla Arabena-Byrnes, a medical doctor and artist and Amy Arabena-Byrnes a Torres Strait Islander health worker and first year midwifery student. They discuss their family legacy, resilience, their different journeys into health.

On the show today Dr Danielle Arabena yarns with Dwayne Bannon-Harrison who comes to share his ideology of bringing back the warrior, to change the narrative, shift the mindset and help men regain their connection, healing and growth. He leads the way for change through a positive outlook and through the teachings of his Grandfather and his elders. Dwayne is a Yuin- Ngarrugu Descendant with connections to the Yorta-Yorta, Dja Dja Warrup, Watchabolic & Gunai language groups. Through 10 years of dedication helping Indigenous males regain connection, healing & growth he believes the concept of Bring Back The Warrior is giving humility & a much needed voice to first nations males. He also is the founding director of Ngaran Ngaran Culture Awareness, Co founder of Mirritya Mundya Indigenous Twist along with being an integral member of the NSW Aboriginal Tourism Operators Council. Ngaran Ngaran Culture Awareness Workshops: https://ngaranaboriginalculture.com/about-us Bring Back The Warrior Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/bring-back-the-warrior/id1521640681 Ethical native food providers https://indigiearth.com.au/ https://www.indigigrow.com.au/ Verified Indigenous business database: https://supplynation.org.au/

Dr Danielle Arabena yarns with Dr Claudia Collins who works as a senior medical officer and lead clinician at Yulu-Burri-Ba Aboriginal Corporation for Community Health on Minjerribah, Stradbroke Island. Having grown up in Far North Queensland, Claudia shares how her journey with med school and her work as a doctor sparked her passion with Indigenous and rural health. Claudia also shares some of the simple yet powerful teachings from community elders. Claudia is currently working as Senior Medical Officer and Lead Clinician at Yulu-Burri-Ba Aboriginal Corporation for Community Health - serving the communities connected to Minjerribah (NSI), and the bayside communities around Capalaba and Wynnum. She is also a current Training Advisor for the Queensland Rural Generalist Pathway, navigating career pathways for rural primary care registrars across the state of Queensland. She has been living in Brisbane since 2018, but working within the Indigenous Health sector in regional and rural QLD since 2013 – as both an ACRRM registrar and fellowed Rural Generalist. She is a passionate advocate for Indigenous Health: particularly with regards to providing culturally appropriate gold-standard care, and working towards health equality for our First Nations People. She has had cultural mentors during her career that have been instrumental in challenging and fostering her understanding of the landscape and challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, particularly in relation to health, and continues to be mentored as she progresses through her career. Starting her medical career in Central Queensland at Rockhampton Hospital, Claudia has worked then worked as a registrar in Longreach, and then as a senior Registrar and fellowed GP for Nhulundu Health Service in Gladstone (5yrs), and then as a locum GP for Bidgerdii Health Service in Gladstone, and Gidgee Healing in Mount Isa. When first moving to Brisbane, she came for an opportunity to work for the IUIH network at Moreton ATSICHS in their Caboolture and Deception Bay clinics, before making the move to Senior GP and then Senior Medical Officer at Yulu Burri Ba. Nhulundu Health Service was instrumental in fostering her passion for working within the ACCHO sector, and she had strong cultural mentors who helped to shape her viewpoints and drive for providing quality care to First Nations People, whom she also now considers as friends. She was accepted by Community and had fostered strong links which improved service delivery and outcomes for clients interacting with both the AMS and the local public hospital. Claudia grew up in far north Queensland and graduated from James Cook University School of Medicine – which has a strong curriculum emphasis on Rural Remote Indigenous and Tropical Health. She completed all of her SOM placements and rotations with these foundations – spending a considerable amount of time during her university years in Mount Isa. She holds fellowship with ACRRM and has an advanced skill in Indigenous Health (previously also an AST in Obstetrics). She is an alumni of the Queensland Rural Generalist Pathway, and a former Queensland Rural Health Scholarship Scheme (QHRSS) holder. Yulu-Burri-Ba Aboriginal Corporation for Community Health: https://www.ybb.com.au/ Contact Dr Claudia Collins: [email protected] Resources mentioned: 'Binan Goonj' By Anne-Katrin Eckermann, Toni Dowd, Ena Chong, Roy Gray, Lynette Nixon · 2010

On the show today Dr Danielle Arabena yarns with Dr Casey Kalsi, an Indigenous GP who shares her journey of resilience after a significant motor vehicle accident put her on the path to her true calling. Along the way Casey experiences the highs and lows but shows she has the inner strength to keep going. There is something in her journey that we can all learn and grow from. Dr Casey Kalsi grew up in Brisbane and graduated medicine at the University of Queensland. Her diverse cultural background being Greek and Aboriginal allows her to relate well with people of all cultures and Dr Kalsi has a special interest in working with her mob to close the gap. Dr Kalsi was a school teacher before becoming a Doctor and believes education and health go hand in hand.