Laurel attended a placement within the palliative care clinic at Queen Elizbeth Hospital in Adelaide. She felt that her placement was vital to her “as an Aboriginal Health Practitioner/Nurse, as many of our clients may have one or more chronic illnesses, and these people should have access to culturally appropriate care so they can continue to live their lives on their terms eg knowing their values, working with Ngangkari’s, and respect at the end of their life.
Laurel is passionate about supporting Aboriginal people and their families to have the care they need. By participating in the placement with PEPA she can support clients in her care with a better journey, that meets the needs of patients, their families and especially the communities.
With this holistic approach, clients are seen more for their needs than their medical issues. Laurel feels that the PEPA placement has supported her “to gain further skills and knowledge in palliative care and return to my community to provide support and more awareness of palliative care”.
Seeing the turnover of families in palliative care is a strong feeling. At the same time, the thought of providing them with the best appropriate care is rewarding. I would like to act as a role model and develop my skills that purely suits the cultural safety aspect through the end of life.
Laurel encourages all Aboriginal Health Workers/Practitioners to attend a PEPA Clinic Placement PEPA
We at PEPA want to say a huge thank you to Laurel as her participation and sharing of her knowledge about cultural care for Aboriginal peoples in SA was of great benefit to the specialist team who are hoping to connect again with Laurel to support clients in her community to receive the care they need on their terms.