Improving the Health and Well-Being of ATSI Women. The Role of Health Librarian

  • Dr Jane Simon, QEII Hospital, Brisbane, Australia
  • Janet Iffinger, Rockhampton Base Hospital, Australia
  • Health professionals such as librarians are in a unique position to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women's access to health information and health services. In order to meet the health needs of this client group services must be accessible, flexible and supportive. As argued by Nakata (2006:11), any provision of sustainable, relevant and useful services must take into account demographics and the knowledge and information needs and interests of people in different communities. It must provide access to knowledge and information from the quite distinct Western and Indigenous knowledge tradition to meet these needs and interests. Librarians and their ability to access information and their excellent communication skills may therefore improve the health and well-being of these women as shown in the experiences of one health librarian working within a Queensland Health medical library in Rockhampton.