Co-designing a framework for culturally responsive infant resuscitation education for Aboriginal parents

Nakita Stephens

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have some of the highest rates of infant deaths in the developed world and the reasons for this are many and varied. However, one common phenomenon is critical, and that is the swift initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) techniques to saves lives. Prompt administration of CPR has been demonstrated to not only save lives but improve recovery without sequalae. Teaching infant CPR to new parents is not routinely undertaken even for infants being discharged from Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) or Special Care Nurseries (SCN). Furthermore, standard CPR and first aid classes often present a number of barriers to attendance for Aboriginal1 peoples. Current provision of CPR and first aid courses are costly, time consuming and frequently require pre-reading and coursework that can create barriers for some people to access and participate in the courses. It is noted that current CPR courses do not provide culturally congruent education for Aboriginal peoples, and there is a paucity of research relating to teaching CPR to Aboriginal communities. Given the increased likelihood of parents being first responders and needing to initiate CPR in the event of a collapsed infant, this research sought to identify Aboriginal peoples’ perspectives of infant CPR education. To work in a culturally congruent way the Aboriginal Participatory Action Research (APAR) approach was implemented. Two yarning circles were held at the Winjan Aboriginal Corporation (Winjan) community centre located in Mandurah in the southwest of Western Australia. This centre serviced the local Bindjareb Noongar people on whose land it is located. During the first yarning circle it was determined that CPR was not well understood, and many community members had never attended a CPR course of any kind. Therefore, in discussion with community members it was decided that a standard CPR course should be held for community members to experience, and a follow up yarning circle would be held to determine how the course could be made more culturally responsive for Aboriginal people. Once the yarning data was collected it was transcribed and thematically analysed using NVivo® software. Member checking was undertaken by community members to ensure accuracy of the data analysis and resultant findings. Findings from data analysis identified five themes and 16 subthemes. The identified themes included: Acknowledging collective kanya (shame); Kadadjiny (learning) the cultural way: Koolangka Life Saving is moorditj kartitjiny (good knowledge); Koorliny moorditj wangkiny kadadjiny (coming [together] for good talking and learning) about Koolangka Life Saving for our mob; and Kaadadjiny (learning) and Kartitjiny (knowledge) to become a ngangk (mother) and maaman (father). The findings were then used to develop the Koolangka Infant Life Saving Education Framework (KILSEF) for implementing CPR education in a culturally responsive way for Aboriginal Bindjareb people. The framework identified four key aspects for implementing culturally responsive CPR education: Location, Content, Cultural Learning and Removal of Barriers. The KILSEF will assist training and health organisations to work with Bindjareb Aboriginal communities and other similar communities to provide culturally responsive infant resuscitation education for Aboriginal parents and families.

Co-designing a framework for culturally responsive infant resuscitation education for Aboriginal parents

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