title: Promoting the uptake of preventative Aboriginal child health policy in Western Australia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Australian Aboriginal children are over-represented on all negative health indicators compared with non-Aboriginal children.Contributing factors to the disparity include the impact of historical events, racism and social determinants of health. Despite the benefits of child health checks, offered through the Medicare Benefit Schedule and community health services, uptake of these is low.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 2012, Western Australia Health implemented the Enhanced Aboriginal Child Health Schedule (EACHS) policy to address specific health needs of Aboriginal children. The Aboriginal Child Heath Project (the Project), was a five-year initiative funded through the Council of Australian Governments. Project staff promoted the profile of preventative child health and the uptake of the EACHS policy across the state by agencies operating in the sector.
  
  
  METHODS
  Western Australia.
  Reach of the implementation workshop was measured by the number of staff attending policy implementation and the total number for agencies represented. One measure of impact was the number of agencies requesting the EACHS policy who adapted or adopted it to deliver evidence based comprehensive child health programs.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Project offered policy implementation workshops to health staff delivering services to young Aboriginal children. In addition to the evidence-based policy, a suite of resources were made available to support service delivery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The EACHS is a framework used by agencies to deliver consistent care and support governance when providing child health services to Aboriginal families across Western Australia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Providing a policy that was consistent with identified service strengths allowed agencies to individually build their capacity to deliver child health checks, using existing resources, at their own pace.
authors.affiliation: WA Department of Health, Child and Adolescent Community Health, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bradshaw
authors.affiliation: WA Department of Health, Child and Adolescent Community Health, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Leonie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hellwig
authors.affiliation: WA Department of Health, Child and Adolescent Community Health, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Diann
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Peate
authors.affiliation: WA Department of Health, Child and Adolescent Community Health, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006284:Health Plan Implementation; D006291:Health Policy; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014904:Western Australia
keywords: aboriginal; child; children; prevention; training