Cultural Responsiveness Training in Kununurra, WA
On 11 October 2016 Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA) delivered a one day face to face Cultural Responsiveness workshop in Kununurra, Western Australia, for the Allied Health team from the Kimberley Population Health Unit (KPHU).
Facilitated by IAHA CEO Donna Murray and Workforce Development Officer Kylie Stothers, the workshop commenced with a welcome to country from local elder, Agnes Armstrong – who also works at the Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring Language and Culture Centre. Agnes provided IAHA with the platform to work with the KPHU Allied Health team on the issue of cultural responsiveness by setting the scene and acknowledging the resilience and inner strength of Aboriginal people in the Kimberley region. Her warm welcome and laughter was a lovely way to start the workshop in Kununurra and we thank her for that.
The 26 participants came from Kununurra, Derby and Broome to attend the workshop in Kununurra and there was strong engagement in the workshop learnings and activities within a safe environment. IAHA will be providing a follow up Webinar with the workshop participants in the future to consolidate participants’ learning and to assist them as they continue to use Cultural Responsiveness in Action: An IAHA Framework Framework to look at strengths-based and action-orientated practice and learning in the context of the teams who work in the Kimberley.
IAHA would also like to thank the staff from the KPHU Allied Health team who took the initiative to invite IAHA to delivery this training to their team. All the team had travelled to Kununurra to undertake an annual professional development and planning week – and they elected for IAHA to provide Cultural Responsiveness Training as one of their planning days.
Here’s what participants had to day about the workshop:
“Brought up things I wasn’t aware of – corrected some preconceived ideas/assumptions I had”
“Reflecting on my own culture and how this effects my cultural responsiveness.”
“Presenters ability to inspire and empower me to make change within my service”
“Practical, engaging, made you think….passionate speakers”
“Lots of reflections, very thought provoking”
“Enjoyed the time to reflect and apply (or establish an action plan) for the lessons learnt – very practical. Format suited people who have been here for a while as well as new starters – very insightful and thought provoking. Thank you”
You can find out more about Cultural Responsiveness inAction: An IAHA Framework here
