The South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) in partnership with the Aboriginal Elders & Community Care Services has been awarded an ARIIA grant for their project ‘Building capacity of the aged workforce to meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’.
A longstanding challenge in aged care is a lack of suitable professional development training programs for workforce that are tailored towards comprehensively meeting the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in care. Appropriate training is crucial to developing and sustaining a culturally competent workforce within a growing sector that currently faces significant challenges in attracting and maintaining a strong and stable workforce. Ensuring a workforce that is supported to deliver the outcomes required by the Aged Care Quality Standards underpins the Commonwealth Government’s current proposed aged care workforce reforms.
This project addresses the identified training needs of an Aboriginal community controlled aged care organisation and its workforce. The design and content of the training program and resources developed will draw upon the knowledge and experience of workforce who coordinate and deliver care in diverse settings. A professional development training program will be co-designed in collaboration with the organisation's leadership and workforce representing direct care workers and care coordinators across diverse aged care settings.