opha inaugural WORKSHOP: A RESOUNDING SUCCESS
Happy attendees after the inaugural OPHA Workshop - October 7 2023
On Saturday October 7th 2023, the inaugural workshop of the Oceania Pacific Health Association (OPHA) was convened at the Sofitel on Broadbeach at the Gold Coast on the lands of the Yugambeh people. Hosted by OPHA (the peak body for Pasifika healthcare practitioners, students and academics in Australia) and generously sponsored by the Queensland Government, My.Rivr and ForHealth, the gathering brought together doctors, nurses, psychologists, researchers, social workers, tertiary and high school students as well as community leaders of Pacific Islands heritage alongside policymakers and health service leaders under the theme of “Pacific Health in Australia: Reflect, Reconnect and Respond.”
Dr Leti Chang Wai and Dr Penina Perera from the OPHA Board of Directors
The Oceania Pacific Health Association was initially formed in 2021 by Queensland Pasifika doctors in the crucible of the COVID-19 pandemic, in response to overseas and interstate reports of disproportionate risk to Pasifika communities. In the midst of the pandemic, OPHA rose to the occasion in supporting our high-risk communities with tailored, culturally appropriate health education and accessible healthcare delivery, including partnering with local government in taking vaccination clinics into churches and to seasonal workers to ensure equitable access. Our workshop presented an opportunity to reflect on the history of the Pacific community in Australia, to reconnect with one another face to face after years of Zoom, and to chart the course in pursuit of some audacious dreams for the betterment of our community.
OPHA welcomed 40 clinicians, community and experts from across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Aotearoa-New Zealand, all seeking to advance the health and wellbeing of the Pasifika community in Australia and strengthen the Pacific health workforce by forging links with likeminded peers, being updated with the latest data and medical advances, and learning from emerging best practice models.
Our masterful MC and facilitator Tagaloa Dr Glenda Stanley masterfully guided our way through the program. After a moving evocative welcome to country by Aunty Linda Biumaiwai and welcoming remarks by OPHA Chair Dr Kuinileti Chang Wai, we started with a narrative journey through the history of Pasifika people in Australia by Rotuman emergency registrar Dr Matt Bray, culminating in a critical analysis of the “statistically invisible” label and an exploration of the emerging challenges arising from demographic trends for the Pasifika community.
This was followed by a sobering summary of the QLD Health CALD data report 2023 by Dr Moraa Nyanchoga and Mohammed Mohamud of the Multicultural Health and Language Services team in Queensland Health, which highlighted several of the known poorer health outcomes experienced by Pasifika people in Queensland, as a launching point to inform actions to address these disparities on a community and policy level. OPHA has been engaged by QLD Health to be part of the response in disseminating the results of this report to spur our community into action.
The third presentation of the morning session by local Samoan GP and OPHA treasurer Dr Luke Ward was a history of OPHA and report on our efforts during the COVID Pandemic, an inspiring reminder of the impact that Pasifika clinicians have on improved healthcare engagement by our communities. His talk was also an opportunity to congratulate and celebrate our Chair Dr Chang Wai who has recently been awarded the prestigious 2023 Queensland GP of the Year Prize by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners which places her in the running to be named the Australian GP of the Year.
OPHA Treasurer Dr Luke Ward
Our midday sessions started with an energising ice-breaker seeing the room teach one another traditional songs and chants from our respective island groups. Seeing students teaching senior academics and clinicians to dance brought home the values driving OPHA: a focus on fostering and encouraging youth, an openness to learning and doing things in an innovative and creative way, and platforming Pacific culture and ways of doing and being.
“Seeing students teaching senior academics and clinicians to dance brought home the values driving OPHA: a focus on fostering and encouraging youth, an openness to learning and doing things in an innovative and creative way, and platforming Pacific culture and ways of doing and being.”
Continuing with this theme, Dr Heena Akbar and Prini Avia presented on the Pasifika Womens Diabetes Wellness program which brings communal peer-led diabetes management and nutrition education to Pasifika women. They are looking forward to reporting on their successes soon. This was followed by Dr Inez Fainga’a-Manu Sione presenting on the inspiring work of Village Connect where she is the Community Research Fellow. Inez detailed a Pasifika model of holistic wellness underpinning the work of Village Connect for Pasifika families in Logan Queensland, where antenatal clinical services are being delivered in partnership with the local PHN, alongside comprehensive child, youth, family and elder social and community services out of Hosanna Church, Logan City. We were graced by the presence of Pss Faamanuia and Ruth Aloalii from Hosanna Church whose vision has forged this important model of healthcare delivery domiciled in a culturally safe space, improving engagement outcomes for Māori and Pasifika mothers in the area.
Dr Inez Fainga’a-Manu Sione presents on the groundbreaking work done by Village Connect.
The final presentation before lunch was given remotely via Zoom by Dr Will Reedy, a doctor of Samoan descent who is a Health Informatician passionate about improving health outcomes with Digital Health. He has worked in leadership roles around the world transforming health systems, most recently working as the Health Lead at Accenture Aotearoa alongside ongoing clinical work. His eye-opening talk covered the trajectory of health for Pasifika towards 2030 and the cutting edge of Digital Health with particular focus on the role of AI in optimising efficiency in care, and the impact of telehealth and remote delivery models to access hard to reach populations, and gave lots of food for discussion over the remainder of the day.
Our afternoon presentations closed out with an informative presentation by Dr Laura DeSouza (Nephrology Advanced Trainee, Metro North Health) on Outcome of Kidney Transplants for Māori and Pacific Islanders in Australia, highlighting a need for improved services for these groups. Dr Eta Raicebe, the OPHA Secretary presented on her important work on bringing developmental paediatrics into community settings with a primer on developmental paediatrics 101 for the audience. This presentation dovetailed well into Dr Glenda Stanley talking about her work with the FamilyLinq hub which will see public-private partnerships advancing early childhood support services, onsite health services, family support programs, adult education and training, and community activities and programs within Kingston State School.
Dr Glenda then guided the room through small group based talanoa for feedback to tease out the takeaways from the day and chart the course for future suggested courses of action. Emerging themes were:
the need for increased availability of the types of culturally safe healthcare delivery and community service hubs which we’d heard of through the day,
the need for improved data quality and availability covering Pasifika community in different contexts, and
a hunger for more visibility and networking for Pasifika clinicians as a means to encourage the next generation and forge support networks for practitioners including directories, scholarships and improved utilisation of marketing and social media.
The participants have broadly fed back that the inaugural OPHA workshop on the Gold Coast was a resounding success: a high quality and well-received opportunity to get to meet more peers and learn about the state of Pasifika health services in Australia at this time. OPHA is extremely grateful for the support we received from sponsors Queensland Health (Gold) and MyRivr NZ and ForHealth (Bronze) in enabling us to deliver this essential service to advance the wellbeing of Pasifika patients and clinicians in Australia. We look forward to building on these networks and growing our reach with the support of partners and members alike.
“OPHA is extremely grateful for the support we received from sponsors Queensland Health (Gold) and MyRivr NZ and ForHealth (Bronze) in enabling us to deliver this essential service to advance the wellbeing of Pasifika patients and clinicians in Australia.”