Our History
The CARPA Standard Treatment Manual and the Women’s Business Manual were first published in the early 1990s by practising remote health clinicians to provide straightforward and culturally appropriate advice to health staff working in remote and/or Indigenous communities. The Clinical Procedures Manual and Medicines book for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners were developed in the early 2000s and in 2014 the suite of manuals was brought together.
A distinctive feature of these manuals is their development and updating ‘by the user for the user’. In this way the collective knowledge of topic experts and contextual knowledge of local clinicians is harnessed to produce practical, relevant, and evidence-based health protocols.
Our Logo
The RPHCM logo, developed by Margie Lankin, tells this story:
The people out remote, where they use the manuals, are coming into their health service. They are being seen from one of the manuals … desert rose, the colours of the petals. The people sitting around are people who use the manuals – men and women. People who are working for Indigenous health…doctors and nurses and health workers. Messages are being sent out to the community from the clinic, from the people, to come into the clinic to be seen. Messages about better health outcomes. People are walking out with better plans, better health, better health outcomes.
Standard Treatment Manual
The Standard Treatment Manual protocols cover ‘what to do’ in remote
settings for conditions that are common, high risk, unfamiliar or dangerous.
The Standard Treatment Manual was initially developed in response to a critical need to support clinicians in remote and rural communities in Central Australia. Over time its use has extended to be used across remote Australia. The Manual supports clinicians who may not have remote-specific training but are expected to provide a wide range of clinical services in an unfamiliar and often challenging environment. The protocols cover ‘what to do’ in remote settings for conditions that are common, high risk, unfamiliar, or dangerous, have important public health implications and need coordinated, standardised care.
Minymaku Kutju Tjukurpa — Women’s Business Manual
The Minymaku Kutju Tjukurpa Women’s Business Manual contains evidence-based protocols to care for the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in remote Australia.
The Women’s Business Manual was initially developed in response to the wishes of Aboriginal women to keep women’s health private and separate from other health issues. It provides essential information and ‘what to do’ treatment guidelines for women’s health issues in remote Australia. This culturally respectful resource is particularly relevant for female doctors, midwives, nurses, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners.
Clinical Procedures Manual for Remote and Rural Practice
The Clinical Procedures Manual is a practical, best-practice guide to the many routine and emergency procedures carried out in remote primary health care settings.
The Clinical Procedures Manual is designed to support remote health practitioners who need to undertake a wide range of clinical procedures as part of providing a primary health care service. This challenging work often occurs in isolation and with populations experiencing high health needs and treatment delays. The Clinical Procedures Manual describes ‘how to do’ procedures covered in the other manuals in the suite.
Medicines Book for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners
The Medicines Book for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners is a user-friendly reference and guide for the medicines recommended in the CARPA Standard Treatment Manual and Women’s Business Manual.
The Medicines Book is an illustrated, plain English medicines reference book. It is designed to be used by clinicians, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners who supply and monitor medicines and want to share information on medicines with people who have low levels of English literacy.
Reference and Change Report
This document provides the evidence to support the protocols in the Remote Primary Health Care Manuals and sets out the key changes for each protocol in the new editions.
How we update the manuals
Our Project Team together with a team of volunteers including Expert Advisory Groups and Cultural Advisory Groups regularly review the manual content to ensure that is in line with current evidence and appropriate for context. Protocols undergo several levels of review.