1.Overview: Better care for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Communities
Under Standard 1: Governance for Safety and Quality inHealth Service Organisations of the National Safety andQuality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards, leaders atthehighest level of the health service organisation – forexample, the Board – areultimately responsible for the safety and quality of care provided to consumers in their health service organisation. Leaders should set priorities to address the specific health needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have major differences in health outcomes when compared to the wider community. There are disparities not only for health status, health outcomes and the social determinants of health, butalsoin the way that people access and use health services.
By setting priorities to address the specific needsof Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, organisations can focus the organisation’s effort on improvements in these areas. Implementation plans should include identification of resources, timeframes for achieving the goals, processes for monitoring performance and evaluation measures.
Key Tasks
- The highest level of governance – for example, the Board – should set priorities for the organisationtoimprove the healthoutcomes of its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderconsumers.
Management and clinicians should design and implement strategies to achieve the organisation’s priorities, monitor their implementation and measure their effectiveness.
Suggested strategies
Health service organisations can improve care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers by:
- forming partnerships with local communities to better understand the needs of theAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population accessing care, to prioritise areas for improvement and set improvement goals and targets
- routinely ask all patients if they identify as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin when accessing care in the health service organisation1
- identifying the barriers to safe and good quality care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers in the health service organisation
- identifying the risks for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people presenting for health care
- agreeing on measures to analyse health outcomes and risks facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers
- engaging with the workforce in planning, designing and implementing improvement strategies
- making changes to services and measuring performance towards goals and targets
- evaluating the effectiveness of the changes that are put inplace
- routinely reporting on improvement initiatives to the highest level of governance, clinicians and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers and community.
August 2016
1.Overview: Better care for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Communities
1AIHW 2010. National best practice guidelines for collecting Indigenous status in health data sets. Cat. no. IHW 29. Canberra: AIHW.
August 2016
1.Overview: Better care for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Communities
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, health includes not only physical health, but also social, emotional and cultural wellbeing. For many, this means responsibility to their community and extended family are as important, and sometimes more important, thanan individual’s health.
August 2016
1.Overview: Better care for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Communities
Research has shown2 strategies have the greatest chance of being effective when:
- the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community is actively engaged in their development, implementation and evaluation
- interventions are multidisciplinary and operate acrossservices
- the health service organisation promotes collaboration with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander controlled health services and adopts a holistic model of health andwellbeing.
Examples of evidence that the NSQHS Standards are being implemented:
- minutes of meetings at the highest level ofgovernance showing review and discussion of reports
- policies and information bulletins used to inform the clinical workforce about the goals and targets for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers
- analysis of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumer population including risk of harm
- evidence that analysis is used to inform policy and practiceimprovement
- indicators and performance measures routinely beingmonitored.
August 2016
1.Overview: Better care for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Communities
2National Centre for Cultural Competence. (2015). Literature review: Factors affecting the safety and quality of health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
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