St Vincent’s helping to close the gap in chronic wound care to First Nations communities.

Training Aboriginal health workers in wound care for First Nations communities has been a focus for St Vincent’s Toowoomba this Reconciliation Week.

Dr Raelene Ward, Dr Mark Copland, Kim Kaim and Lizzie Adams have been leading a joint effort in training Aboriginal Health Workers to provide chronic wound care to First Nations communities in the Darling Downs.

SKIN infections leading to sometimes severe wounds are unfortunately quite prevalent among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

In an effort to improve health outcomes, St Vincent’s Private Hospital Toowoomba and Goolburri Aboriginal Health Advancement Co have come together to train Aboriginal health workers to provide chronic wound care to First Nations communities in the Darling Downs.

St Vincent’s Private Toowoomba’s mission executive Dr Mark Copland said skin infections and wounds could not only contribute to more severe diseases – such as rheumatic heart disease and renal disease – but severe and chronic wounds could dislocate a person’s life, making it very difficult to work and to care for others.

“Goolburri CEO Lizzie Adams opened my eyes to how chronic wounds can also affect the dignity of a person. Their self-esteem is severely affected and they become isolated from their community. It impacts on the person’s family as well,” he said.

Funded by St Vincent’s Health Australia Inclusive Health Program the co-designed initiative – which has been running for 18 months – also involves researchers from the University of Southern Queensland, who are gathering data from the program to help improve outcomes.

As part of the initiative, Aboriginal health workers from Goolburri and its Aboriginal Medical Service, receive training from senior St Vincent’s staff – led by Kim Kaim, a specialist wound care nurse – to increase their confidence and competence when it comes to caring for chronic wounds.

“From our very first meeting I was so impressed by the passion of Goolburri staff in this area,” Dr Copland said.

“The staff are doing a great job learning and improving their skills in this area.

“The possibilities of this initiative being taken further afield and also drawing on First Nations healing methods is something that everybody involved in the project should be really proud of. This year’s theme for Reconciliation Week is around Reconciliation being an action, rather than a word and St Vincent’s Toowoomba is really proud to be partners in this action.”