Above: FPW Damascena Tipakalippa with baby Gabrielle and mum Christina

TEHS Family Partnership Worker Damascena Tipakalippa has not allowed the COVID-19 pandemic to stop her from the goal of completing her ASQ-TRAK child developmental screening training. 

Despite a ‘pause’ of three months due to Covid-19 travel restrictions to remote communities, Damascena Tipakalippa is now consolidating her learning by implementing the ASQ TRAK developmental screening tool for observing and monitoring the developmental progress of Australian Aboriginal children.

Damascena has embraced the implementation of this tool and is quickly gaining confidence in its use with the ANFPP families in Wurrumiyanga, a community on the southern coast of Bathurst Island in the Northern Territory.

Damascena, in partnership with the NHV, Ann Van Haaren, are helping parents gain confidence in identifying their parenting and child’s areas of strength, areas for further learning and areas for following up with other professionals such as the Community Child Health Nurse, Hearing Health and doctors.

Damascena has identified child development as an area where she would like to strengthen her learning. This is being addressed by the Nurse Supervisor who is also a Child Health Nurse by providing additional training opportunities on site and by linking Damascena with the local Health Clinic to participate in future professional development. Already, the NHV and Damascena have gone on to identify various developmental areas for immediate referral, ensuring Aboriginal children in Wurrumiyanga grow up to be strong and meet their full potential.