clinical practice
Sean Choolburra performing at the Adelaide Fringe 2022 . Photo : Trent White
Breaking down barriers
Using humour to shed light on palliative care .
By Elise Hartevelt
A
new animation starring Indigenous characters uses humour to destigmatise palliative care , grief and death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples .
The ‘ Indigenous Program of Experience in Palliative Approach ’ ( IPEPA ), created by the Queensland University of Technology , will be shown in health care settings to improve the quality of palliative care across Indigenous communities .
The five animations each address a different topic , such as illness , grief and pain , using a light-hearted , witty approach .
Executive Dean of the QUT Faculty of Health , Professor and nurse Patsy Yates spearheaded the project .
“ We were very well aware that our First Nations peoples have particular needs and perspectives on care at the end of life , and that there are several barriers to delivering good care ,” she said .
“ We wanted to contribute to a better understanding of palliative care and try to dispel some of those barriers .”
Behind the scenes , the draw-up of the animation involved healthcare professionals and palliative care workers providing expert insight .
Most of the content was led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people , who drew inspiration from their cultural strengths and perspectives .
They decided that humour was the best way to engage people and turn a difficult topic into a more approachable one .
The hero of the animations , ‘ Sean ’, was voiced by Girramay , Kalkadoon , Pitta and Gugu Yalanji comedian Sean Choolburra .
He said he didn ’ t know of the existence of palliative care until he learned about it first-hand .
“ I was yarning with Mum one week and the next , she was in palliative care . I didn ’ t know what palliative care was ,” Sean said .
“ We only had a week or so left , but palliative care allowed me to prepare for Mum ’ s death and say my final goodbyes .”
In the animation , Sean ventures on a journey to explore what palliative care is and what happens when people are diagnosed with a severe illness .
Because of his previous experience , Sean said he was able to relate to the main character .
“ Once you experience someone close going through palliative care , you want to give them the best possible comfort and send off that you can do ,” he shared .
“ And also because people can relate to comedy , it ’ s a really good way of breaking down barriers .”
Yates said that many people in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are unaware of the healthcare services available to them .
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples tend to experience poorer overall health , particularly those living in remote areas .
65 per cent of Australia ’ s Indigenous peoples reside in regional or remote areas , compared to 29 per cent of the non-Indigenous population .
Underlying factors that cause poorer health outcomes for these groups are due to a lack of transport , private healthcare cover and cultural differences when seeking care .
“ There are particular cultural ways of words and communication and ways of talking about people in different communities that we don ’ t always do well in mainstream health ,” Yates said .
“ So because of how we even talk about death and dying across different communities , it ’ s essential that we understand what those differences might be because of culture , because of history , for example .”
Yates saw that people within the communities still found it difficult and frightening to speak about death . “ Through consultation with communities , we learned that the passing of a loved one can re-traumatise Indigenous communities and disconnect people spiritually and physically from each other .
“ Knowing a loved one was fulfilled and had everything they wanted can reduce conflict and emotion caused by their passing , so the community can instead focus on healing .”
It sparked the idea to create IPEPA and to engage a comedian like Sean in the process .
“ If we use humour , we can perhaps raise these concepts and help people to engage in what can be issues and concepts that people typically avoid ,” Yates said .
IPEPA aims to build the capacity of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous healthcare workers to offer a holistic and culturally-aware approach to palliative care .
The five short animations will be shown in specialist placements and workshops and can be viewed within 15 minutes .
“ We want to support people to change a potentially distressing experience of serious illness into a healing experience grounded in sovereignty , dignity and self-determination ,” Yates said . ■
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