Unit of competency

Modification History

Not applicable.

Application

This unit describes the performance outcomes, skills and knowledge required to provide primary support to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander clients affected by grief, loss or trauma. It requires the ability to use empathy, sensitivity and culturally safe communication skills to clarify the client’s experience and offer appropriate support, referral and information. Support is based on a sound knowledge of how loss, grief and trauma impact on Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities.

This unit is specific to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people working as health workers or health practitioners. They work as part of a multidisciplinary primary health care team to provide primary support to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander clients but this unit does not provide skills for counselling clients.

The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State or Territory legislation, Australian standards and industry codes of practice.

No regulatory requirement for certification, occupational or business licensing is linked to this unit at the time of publication. For information about practitioner registration and accredited courses of study, contact the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia (ATSIHPBA).

Pre-requisite Unit

Nil

Competency Field

Social and Emotional Wellbeing

Unit Sector

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health

Elements and Performance Criteria

Foundation Skills

Unit Mapping Information

This unit supersedes and is not equivalent to HLTAHW051 Respond to loss, grief and trauma.

Links

Companion Volume implementation guides are found in VETNet - https://vetnet.gov.au/Pages/TrainingDocs.aspx?q=ced1390f-48d9-4ab0-bd50-b015e5485705

Assessment requirements

Modification History

Not applicable.

Performance Evidence

Evidence of the ability to complete tasks outlined in elements and performance criteria of this unit in the context of the job role, and:

• provide support to three different Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander clients affected by loss, grief or trauma
• for each of the three clients, and according to their individual needs:

• source credible consumer based education resources from loss, grief or trauma support services and clearly explain these to the client
• explain different types of self-care coping strategies
• source information about loss, grief or trauma support services, explain their key features and advise the client how to access services
• plan and organise continuity of support in consultation with the client and multidisciplinary team
• document, in client records, accurate details of each client contact including details of services, information and referrals provided.

Knowledge Evidence

Demonstrated knowledge required to complete the tasks outlined in elements and performance criteria of this unit:

• organisational policies and procedures for client record keeping
• distinctions between providing counselling and primary support to those affected by loss, grief and trauma
• techniques used to communicate with clients and families dealing with the emotional impacts of loss, grief and trauma
• the meaning of the following principles of trauma informed care, and how these can be practically implemented when providing support to clients:

• safety
• trustworthiness
• choice
• collaboration
• empowerment

• concepts of loss and grief at the individual, family and community level:

• types of loss:

• death of loved ones
• loss of culture
• loss of job
• loss of contact with loved ones
• loss of security
• illness, physical injury and disability, of self and loved ones

• the spectrum of loss:

• primary loss
• secondary loss
• cumulative loss
• integration of loss

• features and expressions of grief and how these may vary:

• complex grief
• disenfranchised grief
• Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander views on death, dying, grief and bereavement compared to views in non-Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities

• stages of the grief process

• trauma:

• how trauma is defined, including complex trauma
• impacts of inter-generational and trans-generational trauma on Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander individuals, families and communities around loss of:

• identity
• land
• culture
• language
• ceremony
• connections with family through forced removal and separation

• ways that individuals cope with the impacts of trauma
• the potential for and causes of re-traumatisation, including accessing and receiving services

• historical factors of colonisation and institutional racism and their impacts on Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people
• local cultural protocols and taboos that relate to loss, grief and trauma, including those related to gender
• own values and attitudes around loss, grief and trauma and how these may impact on work with others
• how loss, grief and bereavement can impact on broader social and emotional health and wellbeing
• for people at risk of self-harm and suicide:

• common risk factors
• common verbal and non-verbal behavioural indicators
• types of rapid response assessment questions and actions that can be used to triage
• emergency referral pathways

• indicators of imminent risk to the safety of client or other people and protocols for responding to these situations
• plain language explanations of client self-care practices:

• techniques for monitoring and managing distress
• stress management techniques and activities
• how to seek assistance and engage with own support networks including family, friends and community groups

• support services available in the community, state or territory:

• services to support clients who are caring for family members with life-limiting illness or who are at the end stages of life
• for those experiencing loss, grief and bereavement
• trauma services, particularly specialist services for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people
• how to access information about the types of services and consumer based education resources they provide
• how clients can access services and the role of health workers and practitioners in facilitating access

• the importance of current and credible consumer based education resources about loss, grief and trauma in the client decision-making process to access support
• the importance of continuity of support for clients affected by loss, grief or trauma
• how to use client information systems to follow-up clients for care.

Assessment Conditions

Skills must be demonstrated in a health service workplace within a multidisciplinary primary health care team.

Evidence of performance must be gathered:

• during on-the-job assessments in the workplace under live conditions while interacting with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, or
• during off-the-job assessments in the workplace, not under live conditions, using simulated activities while interacting with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.

Evidence of workplace performance can be gathered and reported through third party report processes. (Refer to the Companion Volume Implementation Guide for information on third party reporting.)

Evidence can be supplemented by assessments in a simulated workplace environment using simulated activities, scenarios or case studies only when:

• the full range of situations covered by the unit cannot be provided in the individual’s workplace, or
• situations covered by the unit occur only rarely in the individual’s workplace.

Assessment must ensure the use of:

• client records
• current and credible consumer based education resources from loss, grief and trauma support services
• information about different types of loss, grief and trauma support services designed to meet the needs of people of different ages, genders, and those for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people if available
• organisational policies and procedures for client record keeping.

Assessors must satisfy the Standards for Registered Training Organisations requirements for assessors, and:

• be an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person who has applied the skills and knowledge covered in this unit of competency through experience working as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander health worker or practitioner, or
• be a registered health practitioner or a community services worker with experience relevant to this unit of competency and be accompanied by, or have assessments validated by, an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person.

Links

Companion Volume implementation guides are found in VETNet - https://vetnet.gov.au/Pages/TrainingDocs.aspx?q=ced1390f-48d9-4ab0-bd50-b015e5485705