Yarning Circles

HCQ Yarning Circles blend traditional First Nations Yarning Circles with contemporary research topics. Yarning Circles are held by hosts/facilitators who have strong connections to their local First Nations community and innately provide cultural safety to participants as they are grounded in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing.

HCQ Yarning Circles are community consultation sessions led by local people for local people at a time of day, and in a place, that suits them. The process enables health consumers to lead consultations with their own community networks without the need for health professionals or external consultants to be in attendance.

How does it work?

HCQ provides the information, training, guidance, and support needed for hosts to run successful Yarning Circles with up to 10 community members. HCQ Yarning Circles enable health consumers, carers and community members who do not ordinarily participate in healthcare consultations to have their say in a safe, informal, and supportive environment. This is an outcome Yarning Circles share with Kitchen Table Discussions.

The host of a Yarning Circle encourages participants to share their lived experience which is collected, de-identified and provided back to HCQ. HCQ First Nations Lead then collates, understands, conceptualises, and themes the feedback collected to ensure participants stories are correctly and appropriately reported back to the client organisation with a First Nations lens. This informs best practice for health and wellbeing services across Queensland. This is an outcome Yarning Circles share with Kitchen Table Discussions.