Aboriginal Health Conference

Program and speakers

Speaker	Session
Lorraine Anderson	Environmental health and the important connection it can make to health services
Kirsten Panton	Diagnosis, misdiagnosis and many diagnoses of kids with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)
Gloria Lau	Chronic wet cough in Aboriginal children
Jenny McCloskey	Sexually Transmissible Infections (STIs) and Blood Borne Viruses (BBVs) in WA – current and emerging issues
Hooi Ee	Bowel cancer – prevention, early detection and screening
Julia Marley and Erica Spry	Kimberley Mum’s Mood Scale
Chevaun Howard, Donna Mak, Pallas Mareyo, Roberta Mongoo and Naomi Nelson	Your role in preventing congenital syphilis – an interactive case-based discussion
Ray Christophers and Sarah Morris	Aboriginal Environmental Health Program
Emma Griffiths and Caitlyn White	The real picture – recognising the high prevalence of diabetes in Kimberley communities
Lynette Dimer and Joanne Ryder	South Metropolitan Aboriginal Ear Health Program – integrated approach to managing otitis media in Aboriginal children
Francis Lannigan	ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) problems in rural and regional WA
Emma Taylor	Lessons from two high performing cancer services –supporting Aboriginal staff and patients
Simon Benge and Sandra Ryder	Digital health in everyday health
Sean George	Management of Type 2 Diabetes
Robert Mullane	Environmental health priorities for Aboriginal communities
Melody Miolin and Stewart Jan	Indigenous youth mental health– how to engage young people with health services
Lesley Nelson	Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service Model of Care
Nik Stoyanov	Practical management of cardiology patients in a rural Indigenous community
Vicki O’Donnell	Closing the Gap

Speaker	E-Poster Presentation
Lorin Monck	Introducing the procedure of iron infusions in an Aboriginal Health Service
Emma Taylor	Improving the care of Indigenous people with cancer – staffing and team work matters
Rebecca Johnson	Be You – taking action to build two way learning between schools and communities
Helen McLean	How we talk – a collaborative yarning style animation encouraging heart health checks
Kerry Cabassi	Using data to improve the quality of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health assessments

The program includes an engaging schedule of speakers who will provide clinical upskilling and share their professional knowledge on relevant and specific health conditions that occur in rural settings.

Some of the topics will include:

Chronic disease
Syphilis Point-of-Care Testing
STIs and BBVs
Early intervention
ENT
Wet Cough
Quality improvement
My Health Record
Environmental health
Nirrumbuk Environmental Health Program
Mental health/wellbeing
Youth Mental Health

Keynote speakers

Dr Lorraine Anderson

Dr Lorraine Anderson studied medicine at University of Auckland, New Zealand and has worked in a number of countries including Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

Dr Anderson has worked on Christmas Island as the Director of Medicine for the Indian Ocean Territories for three years and is currently the Medical Director for the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services (KAMS) in Broome, Western Australia.

KAMS is a peak organisation for the Kimberley Region and part of a large network of ACCHO providers in the state led by the Aboriginal Health Council of WA (AHCWA).

Dr Anderson is passionate about improving the health outcomes for patients living in remote communities across Western Australia.

Professor Cheryl Kickett-Tucker

Professor Cheryl Kickett-Tucker AM is a highly respected Traditional Owner of Wadjuk Noongar Boodja with traditional ties to Ballardong and Yued peoples.

She is a research academic, community development practitioner, children’s fiction author and youth basketball coach.

Cheryl has worked with Australian Aboriginal people all her life in the fields of education, sport and health and is very passionate about using her research to make a real difference to the lives of Aboriginal children and their families. Her research interests include sense of self, Aboriginal identity and self-esteem of Aboriginal children, including the development of a series of culturally appropriate instruments for racial identity and self-esteem across the lifespan.

She is committed to ensuring that research is translated into real-life grass-roots resources and programs.

Professor Kelvin Kong

Professor Kelvin Kong is an experienced Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgeon (Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon) with a history of working across the health industry.

Involved in clinical research, medical education, medicine, surgery, paediatrics, health policy and Indigenous education, Kelvin graduated from the University of NSW in 1999.

He completed his internship at St. Vincent’s Hospital and streamed early into a surgical career, completing resident medical officer and registrar positions at various attachments. Along the way, he has served the urban, rural and remote communities.

Awarded his fellowship with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 2007 he pursued further training in Paediatric ENT surgery, and was honoured by his fellowship at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne in 2007-8.

Now practising in Newcastle on Awabakal Country, he has a very broad adult and paediatric practice.

An active member of Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and the Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (ASOHNS) he has served on multiple advisory boards and committees including the Indigenous Health and Fellowship Services Committee.

Hailing from the Worimi people of Port Stephens, he has been a board member for several organisations including Hearing Australia and the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE).

He has published articles and presented on a variety of ear, nose and throat conditions as well as Indigenous health issues both nationally and internationally.

He continues to champion the improvement of health and education.