Thursday 20 November 2025 | 10:25-12:25 

Format: Presentation

Stream: People 

Part One: Advancing Culturally Responsive Quality Care in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services

This session will explore how Broome Regional Aboriginal Medical Service (BRAMS) has co-designed and embedded a culturally responsive Quality Care Framework within its primary health care, aged care, and NDIS services. BRAMS’ approach integrates person-centered care, clinical governance, and community engagement to enhance health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. At BRAMS, we have shifted from assuming what people want from us as a health care provider to actively responding and providing culturally responsive care through a person-centered model emphasising choice and control. Participants will gain insights into BRAMS’ Model of Care, which prioritises cultural safety, community-controlled decision-making, and continuous quality improvement. We will share key strategies, challenges, and successes in delivering high-quality, patient-centered care while meeting accreditation standards and operational demands. Attendees will leave with practical strategies to implement culturally responsive care within their own healthcare settings.

Cassie Atchison Broome Regional Aboriginal Medical Service; Australia

Part Two: Providing High-Quality Remote Care in Rural Alaska: Lessons from a Fully Indigenous-Owned System

Southcentral Foundation (SCF) is an Alaska Native-owned health care system responsible for providing health care and related services to Alaska Native and American Indian people in Alaska’s Cook Inlet region. Some of these people (called “customer-owners” at SCF) live in rural areas, and some of these areas are so remote that they can only be reached by air. To provide services in these remote areas, SCF uses a combination of telehealth and provider trips to villages, and employs community health aides. Many of SCF’s rural clinics include teleradiology and telepharmacy capabilities. Also, SCF provides other services such as dental and behavioural services in many of the villages it serves. This session will cover the specifics of SCF’s rural health care offerings, how SCF has partnered with rural communities to improve the quality of care offered, and SCF’s successes and lessons learned in providing rural and remote health care.

Danny Griffis Southcentral Foundation; USA
Melissa Caswell Southcentral Foundation; USA

Part Three: Health Partnering for Impact: Walking the Talk on Co-Design to Drive Improvement In Maternity Care for Australian First Nations families

First Nations researchers have achieved remarkable success in Australia in recent years in designing and implementing culturally safe models of maternity care that have significantly improved outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, including a halving of rates of preterm birth. Yet culturally safe services remain relatively few in number and vulnerable to research grant funds expiring. Through the National Preterm Birth Prevention Program’s Every Week Counts Collaborative, a rich new partnership is being forged between First Nations leaders, clinicians, improvement experts and mainstream maternity services aiming to amplify and spread Aboriginal-led, strengths based approaches to maternity care across Australia. We will share our progress with this important co-design journey, some key elements of success, some challenges and lessons learned, and reflections on the power of partnership to achieve impactful change for the benefit of healthcare patients.

Kiarna Brown Menzies School of Health Research and NT Lead for the National Preterm Birth Prevention Programme; Australia 
Barb Vernon Women’s Healthcare Australasia; Australia