Stanley Ozies, Aboriginal Health Worker

Stanley Ozies

Former driver and now Aboriginal health worker Stanley Ozies is a great example of life’s journey taking some unusual turns – and of the opportunities offered by a career in Indigenous health.

Stanley had been an underground worker and a heavy machine operator when he came to the Derby Aboriginal Health Service as a temporary driver.

“I had been working as a grader driver and came into town on a break,” he recalls.  “I was asked if I could do some driving for a couple of weeks, and it led to a full-time job.”

It was then that he “started to see things differently” – particularly the issue of men’s health and how men like himself weren’t very good at looking after themselves, and were reluctant to see a doctor or have a checkup.

“People like me are too proud and too stubborn to get treatment,” he says. He’d seen about five mates die from prostate cancer – and he asked himself: “What’s the point of being so tough? We need to get some help.”

After attending a men’s health conference in Adelaide with two workmates, Stanley decided that a career in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health was for him. Today, he is a fully qualified Aboriginal health worker – and he knows he has made the right choice.

“I enjoy working with the wider community, and it’s gratifying to help people,” he says. “I encourage men who are reluctant to seek medical treatment or advice to come into the clinic for an annual health check.”

Stanley would like to see more men working in Indigenous health. “It would make things better for our blokes – bring them out of their shell so that they know that, if they need help, we’re here.

“If you want a job in Aboriginal health, there’s a job there for you in all sorts of areas. You’ve got to be a good listener and be able to explain the importance of good health. And you’ve got to look not just at their health on its own, but at the person’s total social and emotional wellbeing.”

Stanley works in the area of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, and has taken a real interest in online ophthalmology. Teleophthalmology – using digital technology to screen for eye disease, transmit high quality images of the eye over the internet and deliver eye care remotely – is one of the fastest evolving online health technologies. It means geographically isolated patients need never be without specialist eye attention.

“When I started, it was with a Polaroid camera.  You’d take a photo, send a memory stick to Perth, then two months later we would get the results,” Stanley says.

“Now we’re moving with the times. A bloke passing through showed me some new digital retinal cameras, and how to download the images and send them off.  Now I deal directly with the ophthalmologist in Perth.”

Stanley travels throughout the Kimberley to places such as Kununurra, Halls Creek, Bidyadanga and Fitzroy Crossing, taking retinal scans and training other Aboriginal Health Workers to use the new cameras – resulting in real improvements in remote eye care treatment to people who need it most.