Aboriginal child health partnership — communication OSCE

Objectives

1. Demonstrate recipient-defined cultural safety and respectful identity practice. [2] [3]
2. Validate prior racism/harm without defensiveness and rebuild a partnership plan. [5]
3. Prioritise ear/hearing assessment before behavioural labels. [9] [11]
4. Explain why prolonged wet cough needs active management, not normalisation. [12]
5. Co-design follow-up with ACCHO/Aboriginal Health Worker involvement. [2]

Candidate brief

12-minute station. Mother and grandmother present. Child is at preschool today. Family wants clear answers and respectful care. No emergency features on the stem. [2]

Expected actions

• Welcome both adults; ask who should lead decisions; offer Aboriginal Health Worker support. [2]
• Ask and record Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander status if not already documented. [2]
• Acknowledge previous dismissal; avoid deficit language; thank them for returning. [5]
• Take focused history: ear infections, hearing, speech, wet cough duration, housing/smoke, immunisation, school impact, strengths. [9] [12]
• Explain plan: ear examination and hearing pathway; wet-cough treatment and review; written plan; ACCHO shared letter with consent. [9] [11] [12]
• Safety-net for breathing difficulty, persistent fever, or new joint symptoms. [12]

Marking

Pass: cultural safety in action; hearing before behaviour labels; wet cough taken seriously; ACCHO/AHW partnership; no stereotyping. [2] [9] [12]
Fail: assumed identity; minimised concerns as “normal for Aboriginal kids”; ignored grandmother; no shared community-controlled follow-up; defensive response to racism history. [3] [5]