Cancer Services and Their Initiatives to Improve the Care of Indigenous Australians

Abstract

Indigenous Australians continue to experience significantly poorer outcomes from cancer than non-Indigenous Australians. Despite the importance of culturally appropriate cancer services in improving outcomes, there is a lack of awareness of current programs and initiatives that are aimed at meeting the needs of Indigenous patients. Telephone interviews were used to identify and describe the Indigenous-specific programs and initiatives that are implemented in a subset of the services that participated in a larger national online survey of cancer treatment services. Fourteen services located across Australia participated in the interviews. Participants identified a number of factors that were seen as critical to delivering culturally appropriate treatment and support, including having a trained workforce with effective cross-cultural communication skills, providing best practice care, and improving the knowledge, attitudes, and understanding of cancer by Indigenous people. However, over a third of participants were not sure how their service compared with others, indicating that they were not aware of how other services are doing in this field. There are currently many Indigenous-specific programs and initiatives that are aimed at providing culturally appropriate treatment and supporting Indigenous people affected by cancer across Australia. However, details of these initiatives are not widely known and barriers to information sharing exist. Further research in this area is needed to evaluate programs and initiatives and showcase the effective approaches to Indigenous cancer care.

“We’re very much part of the team here”: A culture of respect for Indigenous health workforce transforms Indigenous health care

“…Surveys were completed for 58 of 125 public cancer treatment centres. Based on findings from the survey, follow-up interviews were conducted with 14 service providers to explore current practice and programs aimed at improving cancer care for Indigenous Australians [ 34 ]. Finally, centres which reported promising practices were identified, with four services participating in detailed case studies around their specific practices and innovations.…”

“…This article presents Indigenous workforce strategies from two cancer services and their affiliated hospitals. The services were identified in a multi‐stage, national study as particularly high performing and innovative in their provision of cancer services for Indigenous cancer patients and their families [ 33 , 34 ]. The cancer services are both within public tertiary teaching hospitals, however are vastly different with respect to rurality, management and patient cohort, as summarised in Table 1 .…”

Pancreatic cancer in the Australian population: identifying opportunities for intervention

“…Besides, the problem of disproportionately higher cancer mortality among Indigenous populations has been reported in other parts of the world, too 46–49 . A study from Western Australia 50 stressed the need for a trained workforce with effective cross‐cultural communication skills, providing best practice care and improving the knowledge, attitudes and understanding of cancer by Indigenous people as a potential way forward. Another study from Queensland 51 identified key areas of attention to ensure the success of any intervention.…”

Australian cancer services: a survey of providers’ efforts to meet the needs of Indigenous patients

“…Providing cancer treatment services that meet the needs of Indigenous patients is a critical element in improving outcomes 23,24 . While evidence suggests that many mainstream cancer treatment centres and support services are currently failing to provide accessible, culturally appropriate cancer care to Indigenous Australians, 20,23,25–27 reports are starting to emerge of cancer services that are providing innovative services to engage Indigenous patients and their families 28–30 . However, there has been limited formal evaluation of such initiatives or the extent to which they occur in cancer services around Australia.…”

“…The lack of information makes it challenging to build a complete and accurate picture of what cancer services are currently being provided to Indigenous Australians, who is providing those services and where the service gaps are. It is also difficult for cancer service providers to learn from one another about successful programs and initiatives for Indigenous cancer patients and their families 28 …”