The Marurra-U Partnership: providing a hybrid, multidisciplinary, wraparound model of care for Aboriginal children living with complex needs in the remote Fitzroy Valley, Australia.

INTRODUCTION

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have knowledge and strengths to promote health and wellbeing in their communities. There is a need to understand how multidisciplinary models of care and partnerships between Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations and health service providers can improve outcomes for children with complex needs. The aim of this study is to describe the development, characteristics, and implementation of the Marurra-U Partnership, which is a hybrid (telecare and in-person), multidisciplinary, wraparound model of care for children with complex neurodevelopmental needs and their families in the Fitzroy Valley, Kimberley Region, Western Australia.

METHODS

This study is part of a broader research program that used an Aboriginal Participatory Action Research approach. In-depth interviews were conducted with eleven staff involved in designing and implementing the Marurra-U Partnership. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Five themes were constructed relevant to the aim of the study: 1) responding to the need for multidisciplinary, wraparound services for Aboriginal children with complex needs in the Kimberley; 2) strengths, resilience, and future directions of the partnership; 3) principles and characteristics of the model of care; 4) climate change, environmental factors and geographic remoteness as consistent challenges to implementation of the model of care; and 5) shared recognition of the importance of genuine community partnership and leadership to implement models of care like Marurra-U. DISCUSSION: The Marurra-U Partnership, between an Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisation and a non-government organisation that provide neurodevelopmental services, has developed a model of care for delivering wraparound, trauma-informed, multi-disciplinary developmental health and capacity-building services. It offers insights for supporting Aboriginal children with complex neurodevelopmental needs and their families in remote Australia.