‘We’re all out there busting our guts, trying to do the best that we can for our people’: Health Intermediaries in Australian Indigenous Communities

‘We’re all out there busting our guts, trying to do the best that we can for our people’: Health Intermediaries in Australian Indigenous Communities Book Section

Mediating Health Information: The Go-Betweens in a Changing Socio-Technical Landscape

• Author(s): Simpson, Lyn, Hall, Michelle, Leggett, Susan
• Secondary Author(s): Wathen, C. Nadine, Wyatt, Sally, Harris, Roma
• Published: 2008
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK
• ISBN: 978-0-230-22732-3

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Abstract: In a research project called ‘Partnering with Community Information Intermediaries to Deliver Health Information in Rural, Regional and Remote Australia’,2 we investigated health information seeking and sharing in rural and remote communities in the state of Queensland. During the project we were particularly drawn to the experiences of Aboriginal Health Workers (AHWs) who, as health information intermediaries in their communities, were charged with addressing the circumstances of extreme disadvantage faced by Indigenous Australians as described above. We interviewed 33 health workers (Aboriginal and white) who are involved in Indigenous health services3 about their roles in mediating between the orthodox, Western medical system and Indigenousways of understanding health and about the impact of their work on the overall health and well-being of their communities.

• Urls: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230227323_9
• Publisher Location: London
• Keywords: Health Worker, Indigenous People, Torres Strait Islander, Indigenous Health, Torres Strait Islander People