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Follow the links below to find material targeted to the unit's elements, performance criteria, required skills and knowledge

Elements and Performance Criteria

1. Elements define the essential outcomes.
2. Prepare to work with clients in confinement
   • Clarify prison policies and procedures to identify potential for providing primary health care services to inmates
   • Clarify overlapping and complementary roles of workers in the prison environment
   • Identify boundaries and constraints relating to own work role in the prison environment
   • Seek to identify level of awareness of own role among staff and inmates in the prison environment
   • Clarify potential for own role to enhance client care in the prison environment
   • Professionally assert scope of practice appropriate to own role and skills with prison staff
3. Advocate for clients effectively from within prison
   • Clarify inmate needs for health care and support as appropriate to own role
   • Recognise potential impacts and challenges of providing client advocacy from inside the prison
   • Employ strategies to effectively manage conflict or resentment arising from client advocacy activities
   • Clarify rights and responsibilities of inmates and assert as required
   • Support inmates in relation to parole and release issues as required
   • Contribute to post-release support as appropriate
4. Support inmates to make informed health choices
   • Use accurate information about the inmate’s health and potential care as a basis for informing clients about available options
   • Explain potential consequences of available options to clients
   • Support clients through the continuum of care in line with own work role
5. Contribute to enhancing awareness of cultural safety issues
   • Raise cultural safety issues in the prison environment with staff in relation to health issues for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander clients
   • Build own tolerance and mutual respect of colleagues by seeking to understand reasons for any insensitivity or culturally unsafe practices
   • Reinforce colleagues’ application of cultural safety practices in the workplace through public and/or personal recognition
   • Provide leadership in the implementation of culturally safe principles and practice
6. Promote change to enhance cultural safety in the prison environment
   • Participate in the development and/or refinement of prison policies on cultural safety
   • Identify change agents who may facilitate and/or champion needed change
   • Identify potential blockages to change
   • Mobilise available support to enhance cultural safety in the prison environment
   • Enlist community support to enhance cultural safety in the prison environment

Performance Evidence

The candidate must show evidence of the ability to complete tasks outlined in elements and performance criteria of this unit, manage tasks and manage contingencies in the context of the job role.

There must be evidence that the candidate has:

worked effectively with at least three clients in a prison or corrective services environment by:

using appropriate strategies for protection of self and others in a culturally unsafe work environment

using self-protective behavioural strategies to maintain resilience in the prison environment

providing information and advice to assist at least three inmates to maintain a level of physical, mental and spiritual health in the prison environment

supporting at least three inmates with parole and release issues

communicating effectively with clients and stakeholders. This includes:

clarifying inmate needs

advocating for cultural safety of clients in the prison environment

discussing and reinforcing cultural safety practices with colleagues

dealing with conflict.

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Knowledge Evidence

The candidate must be able to demonstrate essential knowledge required to effectively do the task outlined in elements and performance criteria of this unit, manage the task and manage contingencies in the context of the identified work role.

This includes knowledge of:

cultural safety principles, practices and issues

scope of own professional role and roles of associated health professionals

components of culturally safe health care

overview of Australian justice and prison systems

techniques to empower clients to make choices relating to health care in the prison system

assertive communication techniques

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