FormalPara Key Points

  • Community consultation was used to inform the development of an Aboriginal cancer healing center in a rural Australian hospital.

  • The community recommended a combination of indoor and outdoor spaces, with a non-clinical feel and the ability to encompass traditional healing and complementary therapies.

  • In addition to wanting a more welcoming hospital environment, community participants requested more Aboriginal staff in the healing center and access to more information about support services.

The South Australian Aboriginal Chronic Disease Consortium (the Consortium) is a collaborative partnership of health organizations in South Australia that aims to improve the health and wellbeing of South Australia’s Aboriginal people through health promotion and support for those living with chronic diseases such as cancer. The Consortium developed a Cancer Healing Model to complement medical treatment by guiding service provision and designing an environment that supports healing [1]. The model was designed to support healing processes that support Aboriginal people’s spiritual, cultural, mental, and physical strengths throughout cancer treatment and recovery.

The Cancer Healing Model has three core elements:

  1. 1.

    Services to support the individual with cancer and their family and community.

  2. 2.

    A physical environment that offers culturally safe and welcoming clinical, indoor, and outdoor spaces.

  3. 3.

    Enablers to support the model, including careful attention to the workforce, governance, cultural safety, technology, and monitoring and evaluation.

In partnership with Nunyara Aboriginal Health Service in Whyalla (regional South Australia), the Consortium developed the Cancer Healing Model through community consultation to ensure it would meet the cultural and medical needs of Aboriginal people affected by cancer and their families and communities. In this case study, we discuss the model’s development. In future work, we will evaluate what constitutes a culturally appropriate and safe setting for cancer treatment in a rural hospital.

The model was developed through interviews, surveys, and workshops with the Aboriginal community, focusing on the most appropriate way to create a cancer healing center in the hospital—such as a space with a non-clinical feel and the ability to encompass traditional healing and complementary therapies. The community recommended the hospital needed both indoor and outdoor space, with the outdoor space including a garden with bush tucker, a firepit, some shelter with tables and comfortable chairs, and a “sensory” access pathway. They preferred to be outside in the open, not closed in.

Community participants suggested modifications for the consulting rooms and chemotherapy day treatment center to make them more welcoming, which included commissioning Aboriginal artwork (with the artists’ full names and language groups on display) and brighter curtains (perhaps using colors from the Aboriginal flag). Participants noted the importance of regional differences—for instance, they pointed out that dot paintings are not appropriate for the local Barngarla people in Whyalla. For the hospital entrance, participants suggested Aboriginal artwork to create a welcoming atmosphere.

Community participants were asked to prioritize their preferences and wishes beyond the hospital environment. They suggested that having Aboriginal staff in the healing center was important and requested additional information that listed support services (such as counseling, mental health, legal and financial services, traditional healers, and local yarning circles). They also requested resources to support bookings and transfers to major city hospitals and information about support services in those locations.

The healing spaces are currently being developed, and the project will be formally evaluated when complete. If successful, the model will be disseminated.

We acknowledge with gratitude that the Cancer Healing Center Project was funded with a grant from the Hospital Research Foundation Group in South Australia.