'I'm not sure it paints an honest picture of where my health's at' – identifying community health and research priorities based on health assessments within an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community: a qualitative study

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey K. Spurling ◽  
Chelsea J. Bond ◽  
Philip J. Schluter ◽  
Corey I. Kirk ◽  
Deborah A. Askew
Keyword(s):  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Health Priorities ◽  
Assessment Data ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Key Informants ◽  
Health Assessments ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Torres Strait Islander Health

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health assessments are conducted annually in Australian primary care to detect risk factors, chronic diseases and implement preventive health measures. At the Inala Indigenous Health Service, health assessment data have also been used for research purposes. This research has been investigator-driven, which risks misinterpreting or ignoring community priorities compared with community-led research. The objective of this research was to learn about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community’s health priorities that could be translated into research themes, and investigate these using health assessment data. A thematic analysis of data was conducted from 21 semi-structured interviews with purposively selected key informants from an urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. Key informants articulated an authoritative understanding of how interrelated, inter-generational, social, cultural and environmental determinants operated in a ‘cycle’ to influence the community’s health. Key informant views supported the inclusion of these determinants in health assessments, reinforced the importance of comprehensive primary healthcare and strengthened referral pathways to community resources. Some key informants were ambivalent about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health assessments because of their biomedical emphasis. This research also revealed limitations of health assessment-based research and the biomedical emphasis of the health system more broadly.

‘For the Life of Me, I Can't See Why Those Students were Let Go on So Long’: Educating the Educators, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-Style

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Plater
Keyword(s):  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Individual Student ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Student Effort ◽  
The Past ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
The University ◽  
Study Participants

In 2008, almost 40% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students enrolled in the Graduate Diploma in Indigenous Health Promotion at The University of Sydney failed to complete the course. Although this was not considered unusual when compared to previous years, the decision was made to investigate why so many students struggled to meet the expectations of a course that was pedagogically progressive, culturally affirming, taught by highly regarded academics and strongly supported by the university and its stakeholders. A qualitative study using in-depth semi-structured interviews was conducted, and many complex and interrelated issues were explored. One issue that was raised both unexpectedly and emphatically by almost half the study participants who completed the course was the unintentional stifling of individual student effort and achievement through the development of co-dependent relationships between academic staff and students. This article presents the data relevant to this particular issue, reflects on the findings, and outlines some of the strategies implemented since this study commenced that have contributed to a healthy completion rate of 98% over the past 3 years.

scholarly journals Emerging evidence of the value of health assessments for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the primary healthcare setting

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jodie Bailie ◽  
Alison Laycock ◽  
Veronica Matthews ◽  
David Peiris ◽  
Ross Bailie
Keyword(s):  
Preventive Care ◽  
Primary Healthcare ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Healthcare Setting ◽  
Preventive Health ◽  
Torres Strait Islander People ◽  
Recommended Care ◽  
Health Assessments ◽  
Torres Strait

The launch of the third edition of the National guide to preventive health assessment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in March 2018 heralds a renewed commitment to improving the delivery of preventive care, and should reinvigorate discussions on the effectiveness of Indigenous-specific health assessments and how best to implement them. A substantial body of evidence on adherence to guideline-recommended care has been generated through a research-based continuous quality improvement (CQI) initiative conducted between 2010 and 2014. The research, which involved clinical audits of more than 17000 client records and 119 systems assessments relating to preventive care in 137 Indigenous primary healthcare centres across Australia, shows that a structured CQI program can improve the delivery of preventive health assessments and use of evidence-based guidelines. However, program implementation has also seen the emergence of new challenges. This paper reflects on four major lessons from this collaborative program of applied research that will lead to more effective delivery of preventive care.

How the Social Determinants of Indigenous Health became Policy Reality for Australia's National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
MATTHEW FISHER ◽  
SAMANTHA BATTAMS ◽  
DENNIS MCDERMOTT ◽  
FRAN BAUM ◽  
COLIN MACDOUGALL
Keyword(s):  
Social Determinants ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Aboriginal Health ◽  
Advocacy Coalition ◽  
Health Networks ◽  
Policy Actors ◽  
The Social ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Torres Strait Islander Health

AbstractThe paper analyses the policy process which enabled the successful adoption of Australia's National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013–2023 (NATSIHP), which is grounded in an understanding of the Social Determinants of Indigenous Health (SDIH). Ten interviews were conducted with key policy actors directly involved in its development. The theories we used to analyse qualitative data were the Advocacy Coalition Framework, the Multiple Streams Approach, policy framing and critical constructionism. We used a complementary approach to policy analysis. The NATSIHP acknowledges the importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter, Aboriginal) culture and the health effects of racism, and explicitly adopts a human-rights-based approach. This was enabled by a coalition campaigning to ‘Close the Gap’ (CTG) in health status between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. The CTG campaign, and key Aboriginal health networks associated with it, operated as an effective advocacy coalition, and policy entrepreneurs emerged to lead the policy agenda. Thus, Aboriginal health networks were able to successfully contest conventional problem conceptions and policy framings offered by government policy actors and drive a paradigm shift for Aboriginal health to place SDIH at the centre of the NATSIHP policy. Implications of this research for policy theory and for other policy environments are considered along with suggestions for future research.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health — Current Policy Issues

1998 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-24
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous People ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Australian Bureau ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
Current Policy ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Australian Bureau Of Statistics ◽  
Torres Strait Islander Health

This article addresses Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health problems and critically investigates current government policies which are attempting to raise the health standards of these Indigenous people. Particular emphasis will be placed on the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, which, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics census in 1986, stood at just over 61,000 or 2.4 per cent of the State's population.

scholarly journals Release of the National Scheme’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety Strategy 2020-2025; the impacts for podiatry in Australia: a commentary

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Gerrard ◽  
Shirley Godwin ◽  
Vivienne Chuter ◽  
Shannon E. Munteanu ◽  
Matthew West ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Cultural Safety ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Torres Strait Islander Health ◽  
Safety Strategy

Abstract Background Developing since colonisation, Australia’s healthcare system has dismissed an ongoing and successful First Nations health paradigm in place for 60,000 years. From Captain James Cook documenting ‘very old’ First Nations Peoples being ‘far more happier than we Europeans’ and Governor Arthur Phillip naming Manly in admiration of the physical health of Gadigal men of the Eora Nation, to anthropologist Daisy Bates’ observation of First Nations Peoples living ‘into their eighties’ and having a higher life expectancy than Europeans; our healthcare system’s shameful cultural safety deficit has allowed for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child born in Australia today to expect to live 9 years less than a non-Indigenous child. Disproportionately negative healthcare outcomes including early onset diabetes-related foot disease and high rates of lower limb amputation in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples contribute to this gross inequity. Main body In 2020, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority released the National Scheme’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety Strategy 2020–2025 - empowering all registered health practitioners within Australia to provide health care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples that is inclusive, respectful and safe, as judged by the recipient of care. This recently released strategy is critically important to the podiatry profession in Australia. As clinicians, researchers and educators we have a collective responsibility to engage with this strategy of cultural safety. This commentary defines cultural safety for podiatry and outlines the components of the strategy in the context of our profession. Discussion considers the impact of the strategy on podiatry. It identifies mechanisms for podiatrists in all settings to facilitate safer practice, thereby advancing healthcare to produce more equitable outcomes. Conclusion Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples access health services more frequently and have better health outcomes where provision of care is culturally safe. By engaging with the National Scheme’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety Strategy, all registered podiatrists in Australia can contribute to achieving equity in health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

An appreciative inquiry to identify the continuing education needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners in regional Queensland

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Julie-Anne Martyn ◽  
Ann Woolcock
Keyword(s):  
Continuing Education ◽  
Appreciative Inquiry ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Quality Care ◽  
Career Aspirations ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Advisory Group ◽  
Health Practitioners ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Torres Strait Islander Health

Abstract Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners (Practitioners) have a broad scope of practice and play a pivotal role in addressing health disparities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Practitioners are required to maintain knowledge and skill levels to provide ongoing quality care. However, continuing education (CE) opportunities for Practitioners in regional areas are limited and little is known about the types of CE best suited to Practitioners. This study aimed to identify the CE needs of Practitioners working in a South-East Queensland region in Australia. Participatory action research and appreciative inquiry were combined in this multi-staged study. A local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advisory group provided cultural guidance for the study design and implementation. Supervisors and Practitioners from two Aboriginal Medical Services consented to participate. In stage one of this study, the supervisors were interviewed and the Practitioners contributed to focus groups. The Practitioners prioritised their CE needs in the second study stage using a questionnaire. The participants identified Practitioner CE needs and group 2 listed their career aspirations and the best practitioners were described as ‘Deadly’. The Deadly practitioner had diverse practice knowledge, skills and attributes. The Practitioners had career aspirations beyond their role and a desire to learn. However, their career advancement was stifled by a lack of CE opportunities. CE in regional areas is limited. Practitioners are disadvantaged by exclusion. Enhancing CE opportunities for Practitioners will positively impact the health of regional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities by building social capital. Therefore, future research on Practitioner roles and CE is needed.

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