Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku – Making all our families well

Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku (WDNWPT): Making all our families well

This project built on work undertaken by WDNWPT to address the concerns of Aboriginal People (Yanangu) from the Western Desert of Central Australia (Northern Territory and Western Australia) who have voiced concern for the past decade for the need for culturally appropriate dialysis services. Of particular concern to Yanangu were negative experiences, including poor health outcomes, associated with patient transition and ‘dislocation’ to the regional Renal Unit in Alice Springs.

The work of WDNWPT (which was undertaken over a five-year period and was fully funded by community-driven philanthropic activity) confronted issues of remote dialysis and chronic kidney disease and resulted in planning and instituting appropriate services (an innovation) to support a flexible, community-based, safe and viable alternative to existing mainstream models of centre-based institutionalised care for people with chronic kidney disease.

CRC for Aboriginal Health funding was provided to support presentation of the findings of an evaluation of this work, to ensure these findings could be presented to a broad audience of stakeholders, and in appropriate ways to members of the WDNWPT committee, patients and the WDNWPT communities.

The main outcomes of the project were to produce feedback resources, including a full report and summary, which would:

• describe the Yanangu process and characteristics of the WDNWPT model, including the implications for effective future Yanangu governance and the implications for mainstream program integration, including Yanangu involvement and control;
• broadcast the most important qualitative and quantitative issues arising from the completed WDNWPT evaluation.

This project paid for the evaluation officer to compile the final report of the evaluation findings, and to work collaboratively with existing partners and with the CRC for Aboriginal Health to put together a summary report document. This work was also supported by significant in-kind contributions from staff at the CRC for Aboriginal Health, the Northern Territory Department of Health and Community Services, and Menzies School of Health Research.

Related resources:

• Paul Rivalland & Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku 2006, Making all our Families Well, Summary Report: November 2006, CRCAH, Darwin with Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku.
• Paul Rivalland & Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku 2006, ‘It’s more than Machines and Medicine – They Should Understand there’s a Yanangu Way’: Providing kidney dialysis services to Yanangu, Indigenous people from the Western Desert: Full Report, February 2006.