More than 30 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kidney patients and their carers will travel from across Australia to attend a two-day meeting in Adelaide next week.
The meeting aims to improve access to and outcomes from transplantation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, according to a statement from The National Indigenous Kidney Transplantation Taskforce (NIKTT), a multidisciplinary national network of clinical, patient, and community advocates.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kidney transplant recipients, dialysis patients, and their carers and family from the Kimberley, the Torres Strait, central Australia, far north Queensland, regional NSW and Victoria, and the Top End will travel to Adelaide to work together with clinicians, researchers, and policy makers to determine priorities and next steps for the NIKTT.
The program for the meeting on 5-6 December can be seen here.
Dialysis patients coming from interstate will be able to experience Adelaide’s innovative, culturally safe Caring House solution, as they receive dialysis on the Rural Support Service’s custom-designed mobile dialysis truck that will be stationed at Kanggawodli.
Hosted at Adelaide’s Aboriginal cultural centre Tandanya, the meeting will include sessions led by consumers about the complex pathway to transplantation. Consumers and clinicians will share experiences and solutions from pre-transplant to post-transplant, and everything in between.
Organisers say the meeting has been designed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kidney patients, non-Indigenous advocates, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers to be “a safe, shared, brave space that will allow us to co-design the future of transplantation equity together”.
New report
Meanwhile, don’t miss this 40-page report about the journey, work and outcomes of the Aboriginal Kidney Care Together – Improving outcomes Now (AKCTION) program.
Writing in the foreword, Associate Professor Shilpanjali Jesudason says:
I strongly urge you to read this Croakey report, understand the stories of the AKCTION team members and be inspired. While there remains much to do, take a moment to reflect on how far this incredible team have come.”
The publication contains three sponsored content articles produced by Croakey Professional Services and two editorial articles published by Croakey Health Media.
The Croakey team warmly thanks members of the AKction project and the Health Journey Mapping project, based at the University of Adelaide, for inviting us to collaborate on these articles and produce this publication. We are honoured for the opportunity to help share the news about this important work.
Please download, read and share the report.
