Bachelor of Health Science (Mental Health) Clinical Placements
The challenge of developing competencies and clinical skills for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and alcohol and other drug workers is historically and currently complicated by a lack of professional standards and ethical guidelines for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and drug and alcohol workers.
Bachelor of Health Science (Mental Health) students complete a number of weeks of pracitcums during their degree. There are a total of 20 weeks of clinical placments that students need to successfully complete; 4 weeks in the 1st year and 8 weeks in the 2nd and 3rd year of the course.
Competency development has also been especially complicated by the fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health is a relatively new and emerging specialist profession within the Aboriginal Community controlled and mainstream health sectors.
The first recorded attempts at clinical competency and clinical skill development for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health workers occurred in 1994 during the establishment of the Koori Mental Health Outreach Worker Training Program at Queanbeyan Mental Health Service NSW (Kanowski and Westerway, 1996)
The current Bachelor of Health Science (Mental Health) course at Charles Sturt University originated from this pilot program. The pilot course eventually developed into the Djirruwang Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health Education and Training Program in Goulburn, NSW in late 1995. The Djirruwang program relocated to Charles Sturt University ( CSU ) in November 2000.
Clinical Skills Assessment Tests (CSAT's) were originally developed for the pilot course in 1994. The CSAT's were developed and adapted from sources including:
- Koori Mental Health Outreach Worker Program Education Committee comprising Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal representation
- Input and advice from Koori Mental Health Outreach Worker Trainees
- Kenmore Psychiatric Hospital Nursing Competencies
The CSAT's were further developed in 1996 and 1998 at the Djirruwang Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health Education Centre in Goulburn NSW and renamed Clinical Competency Assessments (CCA's). A broad range of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, mainstream mental health workers and Charles Sturt University staff were involved in the development of the competency assessments.
The CCA's were developed and adapted from the original CSAT's and informed by the:
- National Competency Standards for Aboriginal Health Workers and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers
- Macquarie Mental Health Service Core Competencies for Mental Health Workers
- Australian Nursing Council Inc Nursing Competencies
- Djirruwang mental health students