There were very few opportunities for the Yolŋu patients to initiate or influence the topics of discussion in these encounters and the issues of concern to patients, mostly expressed through the interviews, were very different from those of central interest to the staff.
It must be noted, however, that the interactions in this study were all concerned with medical management and it is likely that interactions with the social worker and Aboriginal Liaison Officer (ALO) are very different. Encounters with these staff are often initiated by patients to deal with issues patients are concerned about. As a consequence of the compartmentalised approach to management in this setting, non-medical aspects of patient care are segmented from the biomedical and excluded or marginalised in medical interactions.
Most of the concerns which emerged as Yolŋu priorities (primarily through the interviews and informal discussions) were social, cultural and economic. This project did not attempt an in-depth analysis of Yolŋu perspectives overall, although this is clearly important for improving the quality of renal care.
Those Yolŋu priorites that were identifed are discussed in more detail below.