title: The challenges of change management in Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations. Are there learnings for Cape York health reform?
abstract: The health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continues to be significantly poorer than Australia's general population. Clearly there is a need for change, hence the renewed interest in transitioning to a community control model for health services as a health intervention. Yet this requires a significant change management process, which is a process developed using Western business philosophies, and may not be applicable for community-controlled services that need to operate within the Aboriginal cultural domain. This paper examines the literature on organisational change management processes, and features of Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations and Aboriginal management styles. It identifies challenges and synergies that can be used to inform more effective transition processes to a community-control model for health services. The findings also highlight the need for a fundamental systems change approach to achieve such major reform agendas through the creation of a "collective responsibility" to achieve the vision for change, utilising participatory change management processes both internally and externally.
authors.affiliation: Apunipima Cape York Health Council, Cairns QLD. leanne_coombe@yahoo.com.au
authors.forename: Leanne L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Coombe
mesh_terms: D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006303:Health Services, Indigenous / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D011793:Queensland; D000095283:Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples