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Jo Symons, Health Workforce Strategy Manager, Sandra Bukumirovic, Health Workforce Solutions Team Leader and Meredith Connor, Future Workforce Team Leader recently attended the Indigenous Allied Health Australia Conference (IAHA) in Canberra. Mark Campbell, Talent Sourcing Coordinator, was also in attendance at the Rural Workforce Agencies trade booth, to provide information on our range of recruitment and support services, the Health Workforce Scholarship Program and professional development workshops.
Aside from the insightful presentations, the opportunity to catch up with friends and colleagues and connect with new professionals interested in a career in Queensland, a highlight for the team was meeting with social work student Marayah Taylor. Health Workforce Queensland was in the fortunate position to be able to sponsor Marayah to attend the conference where she also presented.
We caught up with Marayah again after the conference to see what her main take home messages were and what excites her most about her future in allied health.
‘The IAHA conferences are always inspiring, but this year the common themes of inter-professionalism and innovative care confirms my ways of being, knowing and doing’, Marayah explained. ‘Discipline stigma and pride is beginning to demise and collaboration is shining'.
Marayah presented ‘My Story’, at the conference, a highly successful culturally responsive goal setting program she has developed, utilising a narrative approach which has been very successful. She explains it is based on ‘the true inter-professional approach to person-centred care, oozing real responsiveness. ’She is refining the plan and has ‘a vision to travel and deliver training for locals in their communities to be the champions of change meaningful to the individual's.’
Marayah sees her approach to social work changing how First Nation people’s experience health care by aiming ‘to initiate first responders to child safety lead by community’. She says, ‘We have accountability to our people and our future, and I feel with the right scaffolding we can strengthen our future and overall family health’.
Marayah speaks highly of the support IAHA provides, sharing that ‘an exciting element for me personally is the invested interest, not only in me as a member, but IAHA also shows interest in the ones I hold dear to me, my family, and children. I can call IAHA and always be greeted by Amanda’s caring spirit asking how I am, how is my family, children, and study. In a nutshell, the positive family atmosphere’.
To future Indigenous high school students considering allied health as a career choice, Marayah says ‘you are not alone, you can do anything, surround yourself with like-minded people, be a part of IAHA, and never give up!’
Pictured above: Mark Campbell, Meredith Connor, Marayah Taylor, Sandra Bukumirovic and Jo Symons
Pictured below: Meredith Connor and Marayah Taylor
