Aboriginal Healthworkers

Book excerpt: Aboriginal healthworkers are employed by Australian primary health care services to help bridge the gap between the Western medical clinic and their own kin. Much controversy surrounds what they can and should be doing. Aboriginal Healthworkers looks at what healthworkers do, what they think about their work, and how their work is perceived by doctors, nurses, social workers, transport workers, and, crucially, their Aboriginal clients. The author's unique contribution brings ethnographic methods to his study of a group of urban healthworkers, and allows their voices to be heard. Healthworkers speak frankly about the state of Aboriginal primary health care in Australia. Daily visits to homes of families whose health continues to be eroded by the historical legacy of exclusion, cultural oppression, and racism highlight the serious lack of professional recognition and support. In response, this powerful book portrays the unique healing practice offered by Aboriginal healthworkers and urges that practical steps be taken to bolster their holistic approach.