A new gynaecological healthcare model for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women is seeing a 40 per cent decrease in missed medical appointments. The new model is set to result in better long-term health outcomes in a culturally safe environment.

The Women’s Business Shared Pathway was developed to deliver culturally appropriate patient-centred care for First Nations women, aiming to support care closer to home and remove barriers to healthcare appointment attendance related to all things “women’s business”.

The model is a collaboration between Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Metro North Health and the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH).

The Women’s Business Shared Pathway provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women with a range of supports, including a partnership approach with community organisations who they know and trust, a ‘one-stop shop’ in the community for women’s related healthcare needs, transport to and from appointments, ongoing support from staff of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, continuity of care across health sectors and multiple referral pathways. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women can also choose between three different clinic locations to receive care.

Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital physiotherapist and Women’s Business Shared Pathway Project Officer and Palawa woman Edwina Powe said the gynaecology pathway have seen great success since it commenced in December 2020.

“We identified an urgent need to remove the barries to care for these women and provide them with support from someone of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander decent who understands their culture and concerns,” Edwina said.

“The feedback we’ve received so far from our patients has been overwhelmingly positive, with one patient recently stating that women in her family may have lived much longer if a pathway of this kind was available when they had their illnesses.”