My Rural Story | Week Seven | Sue Lenthall

AUSTRALIA’S RURAL, REMOTE AND INDIGENOUS HEALTH #MyRuralStory

Featuring Interviews from the brand new 3rd edition of Australia’s Rural, Remote and Indigenous Health by Janie Dade Smith

Share your rural experience now to win a copy of the book @ElsevierAUS #MyRuralStory

- Week Seven -

S ue Lenthall Associate Professor and Academic Leader, Central Australian Remote Health Education, at the Flinders University Centre for Remote Health in Alice Springs.

Sue Lenthall

What is different about working in rural and remote areas?

I’m Sue Lenthall, I’ve worked extensively in remote areas of Australia. Quite a lot in Queensland. The first community I ever worked in was Doomadgee and I’ve worked in most of the Cape York communities from Aurukun, Kowanyama, all over, as well as three years at the outer islands of the Torres Stait. I’ve also worked in central Australia in about six or seven remote Aboriginal communities. So, all my work has really been remote with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The main differences about working in remote areas compared to the urban areas is your role. As a remote area nurse, it’s a very advanced practice. You get to do things and it makes you think. As a nurse, the buck stops with you, so you really are working at a higher level and more advanced level. The other area that is different is the need. The need in remote Indigenous communities is huge and the difference one person can make is huge. And that is very attractive, the fact that you can make a difference.

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‘...You see parts of Australia that you would never see... some of the most beautiful places in the world.’

in the top end to central Australia. Really find out as much as they possibly can. The second one is to be prepared. Probably more if they were going there for a job rather than just a placement, but to be clinically prepared for that advanced role. Maybe get a bit of experience in paeds, in A and E, in a variety of different roles, so that they can actually feel like they know what they’re doing. When you work through that culture shock you get to a place where it’s such a privilege working and learning about another culture. And, as far as preparation, I do think people do need to do some education or even short courses, or a longer course, to be fully prepared for that advanced role in remote health. The third one, which I think is essential for everybody, is to have their own self- care plan. We really encourage people to actually sit down and write it out. What can they do as a stress reliever? Reading, walking, having good contact with their friends and families, internet is really important. Occasionally, that’s not really available in remote, but it’s becoming more available. And write out what they’re going to

The other thing is the cross cultural aspect. You can go through a period of culture shock when you don’t really like that other culture for a period of time, but when you work through that culture shock you get to a place where it’s such a privilege working and learning about another culture. The other main difference about working in remote areas is you see parts of Australia that you would never see. I’ve worked in the outer Islands of the Torres Strait, some of the most beautiful places in the world. The coastal areas and central Australia is amazing, the landscape, the people, everything. And really, you don’t get to go to those places or learn about them unless you’re actuallyworking there, which is rare. What advice would you give to students going on a rural or remote placement? The three things I would tell someone before they go to work in a remote community is one, to do their research. Find out what’s available, what’s not available, where they can get their food. What are the main health problems in that community? It can be very different

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need to do, when they’re going to need a break, what can they do to maintain their sanity in a remote area. There are a lot of pluses, but it’s a hard job, so they really need to do that self-care. Also, know when they’ve had enough. Either when they need a break or they need to leave. I think that’s really important. What has been one of your best experiences working in these remote communities? When I was working on York Island, in the Torres Strait, where the Youth Orchestra came up, and it was a special program with the Government. They flew in on one of those army planes where they can land on short strips. They had a feast for the kids with turtle and some of the kids weren’t really too excited about it and the chairman kept coming up saying ‘go and tell them what it is’. Then they set up the orchestra on the

basketball courts on the sand and they played. The whole community came out and sat round on the sand to listen to the kids. They enjoyed it so much and they made them play La Bamba about four timeswhichthekids thoughtwashilarious. Then the teacher was saying ‘we’ve got to get the kids to bed, they’ve got to get up early in the morning’. And, the community wasn’t having any of that. They got the kids up and they decided they should teach them some of their culture, some of their songs and dances. So, they got all the kids sitting in a big circle with the Islander kids in between them and they taught them how to do a sit down dance which I still can do a little bit of. And, the kids, both sides, enjoyed it so much and it just broke down all the barriers. I remember when I was in Cairns, I listened to the radio and it was the woman who ran the Youth Orchestra and she was talking about the trip they did and she

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said the highlight was York Island. And the people of York Island have always remembered, they love that music and they love the orchestra and for many of the people there it was the first time they’d actually heard it. So it was just great, I wish more of those things would happen. What have you experienced in remote Australia that has changed your world view? Probably the first one was being out at Doomadgee and not really realising that places like that existed. That was when Bjelke-Petersen was still in power in Queensland and the oppression was amazing. I think the last discriminatory laws had just been removed from the Queensland Legislation. But the people were so oppressed and there was a feeling that there were a lot of white people there who ran everything, this was in the early 80s. There was a strong sense amongst many of the white people that Aboriginal

people couldn’t do things. They just weren’t intelligent enough, or capable enough and I was really shocked at that. But also, I think over time, and maybe it wasn’t just one instance, it was learning from Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people that, I got brought up in Cairns which was fairly racist. Then realising that I carried some baggage and it was being challenged and taught by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that I really respected, that made me reflect on myself. And I try really hard not to recognise when any racist thoughts come up. But also, I’ve spent quite a lot of time now at University teaching people and one of my main areas I teach is about racism and how it works in society. I guess the ‘aha’ moment is, I’m not sure exactly when it happened but, I recognised how racist we were in Australia towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. And, I’ve worked against that, trying to do something about

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SHOCKED INTO ACTION Some of the alarming statistics that have medical students and practitioners outback-bound

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Featuring Interviews from the brand new 3rd edition of Australia’s Rural, Remote and Indigenous Health by Janie Dade Smith

Share your rural experience now to win a copy of the book @ElsevierAUS #MyRuralStory Please note, the transcripts featured within this publication have been taken from live interviews. Any alterations have been made for the purpose of clarity and do not change the overall meaning of the speaker.

To find out more about this, and many other local Elsevier titles, visit elsevierhealth.com.au