-
- John A Stevens, John Dixon, Andrew Binns, Bob Morgan, Jeff Richardson, and Garry Egger.
- RN, PhD, FACN, Associate Professor, Health and Human Sciences, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW.
- Aust Fam Physician. 2016 Jun 1; 45 (6): 425-9.
BackgroundAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health is generally the worst of any population group in Australia. Inaccessibility to health services is one possible cause of this. Shared medical appointments (SMAs) appear to be a culturally competent and appropriate way of improving access to, and the quality of, primary healthcare services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.ObjectiveThe objective of this article is to assess the acceptability and appropriateness of SMAs as an adjunct process in primary care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men.MethodsAs part of a broader study on SMAs, three SMA sessions were delivered at an Aboriginal men's health centre in northern New South Wales. One-day training sessions in SMA facilitation were also provided to two groups of 12-14 Aboriginal health workers (AHWs). Mixed methods were used to assess patient and provider satisfaction, subjective outcomes, and operational procedures in the SMA groups, as well as interest in the SMA process by AHWs.ResultsSatisfaction with SMAs among Aboriginal men was unanimously positive, with the numbers in the group increasing over time. Patients most enjoyed the 'yarn up' nature of SMAs with peer support, which reduced the 'scary' and culturally 'unnatural' nature of one-on-one consultations with a general practitioner (GP). AHWs who were trained to a level to conduct SMAs saw this as an effective way of improving cultural competence in, and accessibility of, their various Aboriginal health services.DiscussionThe results, though not generalisable, suggest that SMAs may offer a culturally safe and appropriate tool to enhance Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' access to primary care.
Notes
Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
- Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as
*italics*
,_underline_
or**bold**
. - Superscript can be denoted by
<sup>text</sup>
and subscript<sub>text</sub>
. - Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines
1. 2. 3.
, hyphens-
or asterisks*
. - Links can be included with:
[my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
- Images can be included with:
![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
- For footnotes use
[^1](This is a footnote.)
inline. - Or use an inline reference
[^1]
to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document[^1]: This is a long footnote.
.