Improving Aboriginal maternal and child health outcomes through health promotion training and a partnerships approach — Agentur Pty Ltd
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Improving Aboriginal maternal and child health outcomes through health promotion training and a partnerships approach (109)

Alexa Wilkins 1 , Denese Griffin 1 , Heather Woods 1 , Roanna Lobo 2
  1. Aboriginal Maternity Services Support Unit, Women and Newborn Health Service, Department of Health WA, Perth, Western Australia
  2. WA Centre for Health Promotion Research, School of Public Health, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia

Background:

Pregnant Aboriginal women experience significantly poorer health outcomes than non-Aboriginal women, particularly in relation to modifiable risk factors such as antenatal care attendance, tobacco smoking and diabetes. Building the health promotion capacity of the maternal and child health (MCH) workforce, and strengthening partnerships to support shared responsibility for addressing the social determinants of health, offers a culturally secure strategy to improve health outcomes.

Methods:

The Aboriginal Maternity Services Support Unit (AMSSU) in Western Australia (WA) partnered with Curtin University to deliver tailored health promotion short courses to MCH service providers. 51 MCH professionals from five regions in WA who attended a short course in 2012-2013 were invited to complete an online evaluation survey or a telephone interview. Respondents were asked how they had used the information and resources from the training.

Results/Discussions:

94% of respondents reported they had used the information and resources from the course and 76% had undertaken health promotion activities since attending the course. Building contacts with other MCH providers and access to planning and evaluation tools were identified as beneficial components of the course. Barriers to integrating health promotion into their work practices included role and expertise limitations, financial constraints, and lack of organisational support for health promotion activity.

Conclusions/implications:

Health promotion training enhanced the knowledge, skills and confidence of MCH service providers to deliver preventive health strategies aimed at Aboriginal mothers and their babies. Training outcomes would be improved if accompanied by ongoing support for participants to integrate health promotion into their work practice. This requires organisational leadership to establish strong referral pathways within the MCH sector and partner organisations to support shared responsibility for strategies that address the social determinants of health. This partnership approach, which is a key principle of health promotion practice, has the potential to achieve sustained improvements in Aboriginal maternal and child health outcomes.

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