Taylor Kate P, Thompson Sandra C, Smith Julie S, Dimer Lyn, Ali Mohammed, Wood Marianne M
Centre for International Health and Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia.
Aust Health Rev. 2009 Nov;33(4):549-57. doi: 10.1071/ah090549.
To enhance Aboriginal inpatient care and improve outpatient cardiac rehabilitation utilisation, a tertiary hospital in Western Australia recruited an Aboriginal Health Worker (AHW). Interviews were undertaken with the cardiology AHW, other hospital staff including another AHW, and recent Aboriginal cardiac patients to assess the impact of this position. The impact of the AHW included facilitating culturally appropriate care, bridging communication divides, reducing discharges against medical advice, providing cultural education, increasing inpatient contact time, improving follow-up practices and enhancing patient referral linkages. Challenges included poor job role definition, clinical restrictions and limitations in AHW training for hospital settings. This study demonstrates that AHWs can have significant impacts on Aboriginal cardiac inpatient experiences and outpatient care. Although this study was undertaken in cardiology, the lessons are transferable across the hospital setting.
为加强原住民住院护理并提高门诊心脏康复利用率，西澳大利亚的一家三级医院招聘了一名原住民健康工作者（AHW）。研究人员对心脏病科的AHW、包括另一名AHW在内的其他医院工作人员以及近期的原住民心脏病患者进行了访谈，以评估该职位的影响。AHW的影响包括促进符合文化习俗的护理、弥合沟通障碍、减少违反医嘱出院的情况、提供文化教育、增加住院接触时间、改善随访措施以及加强患者转诊联系。挑战包括工作角色定义不明确、临床限制以及AHW在医院环境中的培训局限性。本研究表明，AHW可对原住民心脏病住院体验和门诊护理产生重大影响。尽管本研究是在心脏病科进行的，但这些经验教训可在整个医院环境中推广。
