Application
This unit describes the required skills and knowledge to provide information about cancer and support for people and their families, to enable informed choices about prevention and screening, diagnosis and treatment, through to survivorship or palliation.
This unit applies to those Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Workers providing a range of primary health care services to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander clients and communities.
The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State/Territory legislation, Australian/New Zealand standards and industry codes of practice.
Elements and Performance Criteria
ELEMENT | PERFORMANCE CRITERIA |
Elements define the essential outcomes | Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element. |
1. Promote the awareness of cancer prevention, screening and early detection | 1.1 Provide accurate and current information about the nature, incidence and potential impacts of cancer in relation to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities 1.2 Provide health information regarding cancer in plain language, using visual aids where appropriate 1.3 Discuss risk factors relating to cancer in the context of local, cultural, community, family and individual issues 1.4 Provide information on ways to prevent or reduce the risk of cancer 1.5 Provide information about best-practice guidelines around early detection of specific cancers, in line with current recommendations |
2. Provide support to clients with cancer | 2.1 Provide support for clients with cancer and their families in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities in line with health service guidelines and identified protocols 2.2 Provide culturally appropriate and current educational resources about cancer and its treatment to clients and their families 2.3 Inform clients about services available in the community and statewide in relation to addressing cancer issues 2.4 Support clients to take a patient-choice lead in determining their treatment and cancer care 2.5 Facilitate appropriate referrals for clients with cancer in line with organisational guidelines and multidisciplinary clinical partnerships 2.6 Maintain confidentiality to reflect community and health service guidelines |
3. Organise follow-up care for clients with cancer | 3.1 Organise follow-up care for clients with cancer using recall functions on computer information systems 3.2 Provide current information about cancer survivorship and what this may mean in relation to family, community and returning to work 3.3 Explain palliation in a timely and culturally sensitive way to clients and their families 3.4 Provide feedback about the effectiveness of cancer information and support provided by local health services 3.5 Identify social and environmental factors that impact on cancer and address them in partnership with the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community and other agencies |
Evidence of Performance
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:
communicated effectively and in a culturally safe and appropriate manner, on at least one occasion, to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander clients to promote community awareness of and current information about cancer and its different signs and symptoms and risk factors
provided support to at least three clients diagnosed with cancer and/or undergoing cancer treatment by:
- providing information about diagnostic tests and investigation techniques
- equipping clients with resources and explaining support services and their roles for the client and their families
- providing information regarding different treatment options
- liaising with other services to ensure appropriate exchange of client information
- assisting in planning and implementing care needs
- identifying and addressing barriers to receiving treatment
- explaining palliation options, if required
- facilitating appropriate referrals for clients.
Evidence of Knowledge
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:
epidemiology and pathophysiology including:
- common signs and symptoms that aid early detection of cancer
- how cancer is detected and treated
- the basic definition of cancer and how cancer multiplies and spreads (i.e. the ‘weed’ analogy)
- the outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and why outcomes are generally worse for them than other Australians
- the statistical incidence of the main cancers affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people including the common cancers affecting men and women
prevention and risk factors such as:
- how the social determinants of health affect wellbeing in relation to family, community and culture
- an understanding that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face a much higher burden of tobacco-related cancers than other people in the community
- ways to prevent or reduce the risk of cancer, including lifestyle-associated risk factors, such as smoking, alcohol, physical inactivity, overweight, obesity, poor diet, overexposure to sunlight, unsafe sex, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, human papillomavirus (HPV) and the role of vaccinations
screening and early detection, including:
- factors that influence an individual’s decision to participate in screening programs relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
- benefits of early diagnosis
- national screening programs available
- locations of where treatment options and support services are available
- the importance of patient choices (including the engagement of traditional healers and adherence to religious belief systems)
support during the cancer journey such as:
- the emotional and psychosocial impact of cancer diagnosis and treatment
- ways to access Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and other agencies and networks coordinating care for clients and their families who have experienced cancer
- ways to access referral agencies and other resources
- ways to communicate with clients and families during the emotional and psychosocial impact of cancer diagnosis and treatment
follow-up care, including:
- mechanisms for ensuring clients attend local health services for regular check-ups
- support mechanisms to manage physical and psychosocial care upon client’s return home
palliation, including:
- methods of managing the psychosocial aspects of symptoms and pain
- pain management methods and advanced symptoms management for people with terminal cancer
- ways to judge the appropriate time and to use culturally sensitive language to talk about the principles and philosophy of palliative care with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people
administration and quality control, incorporating:
- the use of client information systems and recall functions to follow-up clients
- ways to enable Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Workers to provide feedback on cancer programs in the local health services where they are employed, to management and community
methods that are patient-choice led and individualised to cultural values of people under treatment:
- whereby multidisciplinary team principles and practices (including supportive care needs) are identified before treatment starts
- including common forms of treatment, such as surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, non-active and traditional healing.
Assessment Conditions
Skills must be demonstrated working:
in a health service or centre
as part of a multidisciplinary primary health care team
with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander clients and communities.
In addition, simulations and scenarios must be used where the full range of contexts and situations cannot be provided in the workplace or may occur only rarely. These are situations relating to emergency or unplanned procedures where assessment in these circumstances would be unsafe or is impractical.
Simulated assessment environments must simulate the real-life working environment where these skills and knowledge would be performed, with all the relevant equipment and resources of that working environment.
Assessors must satisfy the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015/AQTF mandatory competency requirements for assessors.
Assessment must be undertaken by a workplace assessor who has expertise in this unit of competency and who is:
an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Worker
or:
accompanied by an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person who is a recognised member of the community with experience in primary health care.
Foundation Skills
The Foundation Skills describe those required skills (language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills) that are essential to performance. | |
Learning | in order to locate, evaluate and organise information to suit intended audience and purpose |
Numeracy | in order to interpret, calculate and express the level of incidence of cancer using ratios and percentages |
Other foundation skills essential to performance are explicit in the performance criteria of this unit.