Have The Yarn initiative to encourage dialogue about organ donation among First Nations peoples

A kidney donor recipient has opened up about how it changed his life amid the launch of a new initiative to address cultural barriers to organ donation.

Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service is getting involved with the Have The Yarn initiative from DonateLife Queensland encouraging First Nations peoples to talk about organ donation and transplant surgery.

Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service is getting involved with a new initiative encouraging First Nations peoples to talk about organ donation and transplant surgery.

The Have The Yarn initiative is the result of a collaboration between First Nations Elders and DonateLife Queensland focused on addressing barriers to organ donation held by some First Nations people.

‘Secrecy, inaction’: Flood protection in spotlight ahead of state budget

Aunty Kylie Hill’s artwork features on DonateLife shirts worn by some stuff and in culturally sensitive videos and booklets produced for the initiative.

Aunty Kylie says her work represents the “deep spiritual connection” between the organ donor and recipient that persists after the lifesaving surgery.

Aunty Kylie said her work represents the “deep spiritual connection” between the organ donor and recipient that persists after the lifesaving surgery.

“It tells how everything is linked together, and how the person who donates the organ and the person who receives a transplant will always be connected,” Aunty Kylie said.

A 2020 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare study showed that while kidney disease was the leading cause of hospitalisation for Indigenous Australians, Indigenous patients are less likely to be waitlisted for kidney transplantation than non-Indigenous Australians.

While the study cited reduced service availability in remote communities as part of the explanation, WBHHS medical staff said that cultural barriers to organ donation is another significant factor that is being addressed by the Have The Yarn initiative.

“Unfortunately, end stage kidney disease disproportionately affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and it’s one of the main reasons for ending up in hospital,” donation specialist nurse Karen Jenner said.

“This project is all about reducing cultural barriers to discussion about organ and tissue donation among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”

Wakka Wakka man and Bundaberg resident Warren Cobbo had kidney transplant surgery in Brisbane in 2019 after being on the waitlist for five months.

Wakka Wakka man and Bundaberg resident Warren Cobbo had kidney transplant surgery in Brisbane in 2019.

“I went down and got the transplant and ... it changed my life,” Mr Cobbo said.

Currently living in Bundaberg, Mr Cobbo has spent years living and working in Indigenous communities in and around Alice Springs.

While he was careful not to speak for all First Nations peoples, in Mr Cobbo’s view there is an aversion to organ transplantation in traditional Indigenous cultures.

“Being an Aboriginal, putting somebody else’s part of their body into yours – that’s something that you sort of shy away from,” Mr Cobbo said.

“A lot of people are really against it because when they die they want to go whole, with all their organs; they need to get back to the happy hunting ground all in one piece.”

Bundaberg ED wait times remain worst in state

Mr Cobbo said projects like the Have The Yarn initiative are what is needed to encourage dialogue within Indigenous communities and improve awareness of the health benefits of organ donation and transplantation surgery.

“We need to put it out there and educate (First Nations peoples) about transplants and everything that can go wrong with their body,” he said.

 

Originally published as Have The Yarn initiative to encourage dialogue about organ donation among First Nations peoples