Rural and Remote Primary Health Care Research Fellow

Joan Whitehead

Health Promotion Officer

Gascoyne Population Health Unit

Title

Gascoyne Aboriginal Community Consultation

Project Summary

From a background in education and science and through her work as a classroom teacher, and more recently with the Victorian Primary Care Partnerships, Joan has both developed an interest in improving education for marginalised youth and a capacity to engage and skill workforce and community in consultation processes.

Recruited to the Gascoyne Population Health Unit from Victoria, Joan’s role in shaping and guiding the Gascoyne Aboriginal Diabetes Project had enabled her to build rapport and establish effective relationships with the Carnarvon Aboriginal community.
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For her fellowship, Joan consulted with Aboriginal people guided by a Reference Group who were pivotal in engaging community to. share their ideas on how agencies can assist Aboriginal youth to achieve their goals in education work and training. Joan identifies two clear outcomes: a set of recommendations to inform agency planning; and detailed documentation of the consultation processes to capture learnings to strengthen consultation skills when planning with Aboriginal people.

Joan has found that the consultation has been useful as a reference point for shaping the emerging Youth Coordination Network in Carnarvon, has assisted in both coordinating job network planning and communication, and defining the Community Development Employment Bridging the Gap Project around aspect of the education services and supports design.
The full report can be downloaded here.