Thread by @DBadenoch

Morning all. For the next three days I'm part of the #beyondtheroom effort at #Quality2021.

In 15 minutes it's Leslie Arnott and Mary Waria on a new way forward for partnering with consumers in health care.

Live stream will be here: internationalforum.bmj.com/europe/live/

A bit of background about our speakers. Leslie Arnott is co-founder of The BEAR Program, Lamaze; Australia. Leslie Arnott has over 19 years’ experience as a consumer advisor and advocate in maternity services.

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internationalforum.bmj.com/europe/2021/03…

Mary Waria also co-founded The BEAR program. She is a Torres Strait Islander with over 15 years’ experience working in Indigenous Student Engagement roles at various universities for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.

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internationalforum.bmj.com/europe/2021/03…

FYI - Birth | Equity | Advocacy | Research. The BEAR is a consumer-led initiative that focuses on advancing evidence-based, person- and family-centered maternity care lamazeaustralia.com.au/bear-program

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This session promises to demonstrate that by educating the maternity health sector through consumer-led initiatives, a paradigm shift towards woman-centred, culturally appropriate, evidence-based care can be achieved.

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Starting in 2 minutes, live stream up thread

They promise “professionalized” consumer activism in bringing #equity into maternity care. Can’t wait to find out more.

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Leslie's story began with a course in "Power and Privilege" as part of her Masters degree. This revealed to her unconscious #racism in the all-white environment, a cathartic moment.

Self-exploration is an imperative for person-centred care.

This is great stuff.

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Mary is a veteran of cultural awareness courses, and was questioning whether they were effective.

She and Leslie bonded over a desire to highlight these hidden biases.

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They focused around the higher maternal death rate and infant death rate amongst indigenous people in Australia.

Why aren't culturally appropriate interventions available as a matter of course? They are an imperative, not an option. #equity

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Diversity and cultural sensitivity training is only effective when training is accompanied by broader changes.

System managers need to be just as committed as the trainers!

Also, this means EVERYONE. #equity

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Community engagement is infused right across health services in Adelaide Women's & Children's Hospital.

This includes strategic and board level involvement.

They hold a monthly cultural round table, with 50 participants.

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"Sitting shoulder to shoulder while looking at the horizon is far less confrontational for some indigenous groups than sitting across a table"

We need to go beyond the post-colonial models of engagement.

Communities need to invest in the process.

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What does #leadership look like? Fluid!
- Be a leader who empowers
- No-one is wiser than the other
- Ebody wisdom and ethical practice
- Be competent and skilled
- Depend on each other, but look to her to be in charge

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Five qualities of leaders: Clarity, Decisiveness, Courage, Passion, Humility.

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What if our administrators had the courage to fund engagement in the community?
- conduct a Racial Quity Impact Analysis
- start working with consumer reps
- uphold respect and humility, and step up!

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Many thanks to Leslie and Mary for a brilliant double-act. We're now onto questions:
- the 8-week training period MUST include meaningful broader change
- further details about the Power and Privilege programme:

lamazeaustralia.com.au/power-privileg…

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Q: I'm a white consumer advocate, how do I create spaces for diverse voices?

A: Get out into your community, look for organisations and groups. Don't be scared to introduce yourself. Put some "bait in the water" and people will come. Use social media.

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Other tips for consumer advocacy:
- Step out of your leadership role after 3 years and let others lead
- Courage means being afraid! (But you do it anyway.)
- Don't cater for the culture of the system, serve a nice hot dish of evidence!

Brilliant, many thanks

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