What resilience (strength) means for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals and practitioners: An exploratory study

This article explores the concept of resilience from the perspective of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals and practitioners, with the aim of describing what it is and how it is practiced in the workplace. Interviews in the form of Yarns were conducted with ten Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals in regional North Queensland. We found that for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals and practitioners, resilience encompasses cultural identity and an ability to manage both Indigenous and western cultures and structures. Resilience, understood as ‘Strength’, draws on strong relationships to family and Country, often nurtured through strong women, who have overcome intergenerational trauma. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals and practitioners, resilience is practiced through challenging the existing structural barriers experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients who must deal with racism and a system not organised to meet their needs. Further research on the relationship between culture and resilience/strength is required.