ortI joined Anglicare in 2009 as a Home Care Worker on the Sunshine Coast. In this role, we help elderly clients with their medications, showering, meal prepping, household cleaning and driving them to the doctors, hospital, supermarket or other stores.
Better Health with Self-Management
Years ago, during staff meetings, there was mention of an opportunity that would allow Anglicare to train a leader to facilitate a course called Better Health with Self-Management. On one afternoon in February 2015, I received a call from a colleague informing me of some news that a course would be coming to us soon and they asked if I would be willing to facilitate it. In that moment, I’d made up my mind and said yes to the opportunity. The encouragement from other staff only confirmed my decision and I booked in with my colleague, Annie, to be one of the two new Leader Trainer delegates for this course from the Sunshine Coast branch.
On one Sunday afternoon, Annie and I drove to Brisbane and checked in to our hotel, ready to start our course the next day. Upon arrival, on Monday morning, we found out that we were two of 14 different delegates from a range of different organisations. However, most of us were from Anglicare.
Better Health with Self-Management is a two-and-a-half-hour course that is run over six weeks. It addresses problems and provides solutions for many issues that confront people living with chronic diseases. The course originates from the Stanford University in California (USA) and is based on leading research from all over the United States and other countries to help people living with chronic diseases.
Cameron’s personal journey
For me, it was transformational. At the time, I’d completed eight years of continuous employment within the aged and disability care sectors. The course brought many aspects of caring into focus.
Self-management really comes down to – ‘What can I do to make my life better?’ Particularly, this course helps you to understand how to take measures to achieve the benefits of good choices.
When completing the course, I became a trainer, and I felt empowered. Not only for how it would transform my career with Anglicare, but for all aspects of life. I know that with action planning and positive thinking, life can be and is better.
Sue, who facilitated the training, told us that this course, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, is called the LIFE course. She had first-hand experience of delivering it in Townsville and other places. In 2016, our team had the opportunity to deliver LIFE programs with the Aboriginal community on the Sunshine Coast. The planning for this and undertaking was a collaboration between Anglicare and leaders from the Primary Health Network (PHN) and North Coast Aboriginal Community Health Services (NCACHS).
One of the program sites was in Gympie. It was a warm and cosy space in the PHN office. Not only did we have the participants of the group, but we had a dietician (Sarah) from PHN, another field worker (Julie) and the program manager of Indigenous Health from the University of the Sunshine Coast (Melody). One of her students (Tracie) was there to assess the course and its impact on the participants.
Reflection
You could forgive me for feeling a little daunted in the company of these well-educated professionals. However, this feeling didn’t last long, especially when I discovered that we were all there for a common goal – a longing for better wellness. Melody opened with a Welcome to Country. She understood where we were, the traditional owners and the necessity to take a few moments before anything was said. It was a magnificent moment and set the mood for the day. I was truly grateful for that start.
Something I took away from this session was that if you have a problem, you can ask yourself how it can be solved. That includes taking steps for each issue and knowing where you can get professional help.
It was great to hear participants proudly tell of their accomplishments.
Even though there have been unspeakable acts since the arrival of the first fleet, everyone can have the opportunity to better their health. During the session, participants had yarns of sorrow and yarns of joy. They knew they wanted a happier and healthier future.
I’ve had the opportunity, in my career with Anglicare, to spend three months on secondment to the Longreach branch. This included the opportunity to meet with staff from the Queensland Health office and Indigenous staff. There is so much goodwill in all of us to reconcile and action-plan our way to a better future with new levels of understanding and joy. I hope to see Anglicare at the forefront of Reconciliation endeavous. I will make myself available for any endeavours in which my gifts and talents would be most suitably used.
Importance of Reconcilition
There’s no alternative to Reconciliation. So, we must yarn and confess and be forgiven to forge a new path for all Australians. I am deeply grateful for all that Anglicare has enabled me to undertake and experience.
Yours in Reconciliation – Cameron Webster.