Member Spotlight – Women’s Health Week 2024 – Whitney Hunt
This year’s Women’s Health Week theme is “Your Voice, Your Choice: we all have a role to play in empowering women to use their voice when it comes to their health. Courageous conversations about hormonal changes, trusting your gut on nutrition, overcoming shame and stigma, and finding your own point of difference on parenting challenges”.
Whitney Hunt is a proud Ballardong, Wujak, Barkinji and Kamilaroi woman and IAHA graduate member. Whitney and IAHA are proud to share her membership journey and celebrate her impact in supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and families as an exercise physiologist in community-controlled and public health services.
Whitney joined IAHA in 2017 while studying exercise physiology at the Queensland University of Technology. Whitney’s journey to a health career was inspired by her parents, who were the ones that led the way into health, “they showed me what a career in health could look like whether that was taking me to university while they were studying or into the health services they worked at. If it wasn’t for them going to uni, I don’t think I would have been interested in going from high school to university.”
Whitney reflected on her 10-year journey to becoming an exercise physiologist. Before enrolling in clinical exercise physiology, she completed two traineeships (a Hearing Health Worker at the Statewide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Deadly Ears Program and a Dental Assistant at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service (ATSICHS Woolloongabba Clinic). Whitney had a brief hiatus when her first bub was born, then returned to uni part-time and worked as a dental assistant at the Institute of Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH). Throughout her studies, Whitney secured Exercise Physiology Cadetships at Prince Charles Hospital, IUIH, and North Lakes Health Precinct. Following her graduation, Whitney was employed at IUIH and was integral in developing the Deadly Fit Mum’s program.
Whitney is passionate about women’s health and partnering with women and their families. “I feel like Women’s Health has found me in a way I feel like the ancestors, or the universe directed me in this path, I just love the connections that I make with our mob, especially our women”.
She added, “My work over the years has been a gateway to the knowledge and awareness that I’ve gathered over time, be that education, health promotion, advocacy or leadership. The part of my role that I am most proud of is giving back to mob and creating culturally safe spaces to connect and feel like they belong. A place where the mums can yarn and ask questions about things like gestational diabetes, what’s going on at home, or questions they have for the multidisciplinary team. I enjoy being able to share the knowledge and skills I have learned over time to enable them to be strong and healthy during and after their pregnancies. That’s how we can enable our mob to have a voice by giving them the information they need when they need it”.
Whitney has just started a new role as Women’s Business Shared Pathways Coordinator at Metro North Queensland. She is excited to continue her advocacy work and work alongside women by holding safe spaces, ensuring culture is at the centre of everything she does, and talking about preventive health.
