Recently the CarerHelp team was able to meet with the Yarning Circle, a group of First Nations health workers, brought together by Palliative Care Australia to support the National Palliative Care Projects (which are funding by the Australian Government). The CarerHelp project had an aim to develop some resources for First Nations families who are caring for someone at the end of life. One particular resource that we wanted to develop was focused on grief and self-care in the months following bereavement. We were aware that this topic was potentially more complex for First Nations people and we wanted to ensure that we were creating something culturally appropriate and useful.

We were impressed with the warm, yet formal, reception and by the facilitation of the Yarning Circle. There was a very clear process which involved introductions, which included identifying your country, setting out the aims of the sessions, our team presenting some background on the project and planned resource, and hearing feedback from each member of the circle in turn. Many different views were shared but there was no arguing, just acceptance that there were different ways of seeing things. Despite the differing views, there were overarching themes that were consistent and strong. We felt like our questions were really considered by the group and the responses were genuine and extremely valuable. The group thought that there was a need for a resource and that while First Nations people understood caring for community, there was less understanding of the importance of self-care.

The members spoke about cultural responsibility to their community, the importance of being on country and connecting to spiritual ancestors, and the detail around how to present the information in a visually engaging way to help deliver the information. Some changes to our proposed content, were as simple as changing a word or phrase (e.g. from ‘talk’ to ‘yarn’) and other times it was a total shift in thinking (e.g. to ensure wording was strengths focused rather than highlighting problems or weakness).

My favourite thing about the Yarning Circle was that they asked us to summarise what we had heard from them. This was an opportunity for us to recognise and summarise the key learnings, an opportunity for clarification, and to connect with them and validate that they had been heard. We went away with lots of ideas and enthusiasm to create something better. We were also invited to share the next version of the resource with the group.

In reflection, I felt very privileged to have been able to attend the Yarning Circle. The experience left me with a deeper understanding and connection to a rich culture. I sincerely hope I get an opportunity to attend the Yarning Circle in the future.

Have a look at the new CarerHelp resource: Keeping your body and spirit strong after loss.