Building Workforce Capacity in Aged Care

As the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population aged 50 years and over continues to grow, the need for an aged care workforce that can safely and effectively support their health and wellbeing needs is required.

Previous research undertaken with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their families, and service providers, have identified a need to strengthen the capacity of the aged care workforce to meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

However, a key challenge faced by the sector is the virtual non-existence of training and professional development programs that take into consideration the health, wellbeing and cultural needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Existing training and professional development programs often focus on compliance, safety, clinical practice, or specific health outcomes.

Therefore, the aim of this project is to co-design, pilot and evaluate a training program with our partnering institute, Aboriginal Community Services, that is specific to workforce employed to deliver aged care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged care.

Key goals:

• To co-design a training program with and for the aged care workforce that addresses the health, wellbeing and cultural needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
  
• To pilot the training program with employees of our partnering organisation
  
• To evaluate the training program with employees of our partnering organisation.

PARTNERING INSTITUTIONS

Aboriginal Community Services

This project is funded by the Aged Care Research & Industry Innovation Australia (ARIIA)