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.

scholarly journals Process evaluation of a primary healthcare validation study of a culturally adapted depression screening tool for use by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: study protocol

BMJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. e017612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Farnbach ◽  
John Evans ◽  
Anne-Marie Eades ◽  
Graham Gee ◽  
Jamie Fernando ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Process Evaluation ◽  
Primary Healthcare ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Screening Tool ◽  
Depression Screening ◽  
Healthcare Staff ◽  
Torres Strait Islander People ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Culturally Adapted ◽  
Torres Strait

IntroductionProcess evaluations are conducted alongside research projects to identify the context, impact and consequences of research, determine whether it was conducted per protocol and to understand how, why and for whom an intervention is effective. We present a process evaluation protocol for the Getting it Right research project, which aims to determine validity of a culturally adapted depression screening tool for use by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In this process evaluation, we aim to: (1) explore the context, impact and consequences of conducting Getting It Right, (2) explore primary healthcare staff and community representatives’ experiences with the research project, (3) determine if it was conducted per protocol and (4) explore experiences with the depression screening tool, including perceptions about how it could be implemented into practice (if found to be valid). We also describe the partnerships established to conduct this process evaluation and how the nationalValues and Ethics: Guidelines for Ethical Conduct in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Researchis met.Methods and analysisRealist and grounded theory approaches are used. Qualitative data include semistructured interviews with primary healthcare staff and community representatives involved with Getting it Right. Iterative data collection and analysis will inform a coding framework. Interviews will continue until saturation of themes is reached, or all participants are considered. Data will be triangulated against administrative data and patient feedback. An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group guides this research. Researchers will be blinded from validation data outcomes for as long as is feasible.Ethics and disseminationThe University of Sydney Human Research Ethics Committee, Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of New South Wales and six state ethics committees have approved this research. Findings will be submitted to academic journals and presented at conferences.Trial registration numberACTRN12614000705684.

'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.

Considering the Impact of Social Media on Contemporary Improvement of Australian Aboriginal Health: Scoping Review (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Troy Walker ◽  
Claire Palermo ◽  
Karen Klassen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Aboriginal Health ◽  
Health Messages ◽  
Community Control ◽  
Torres Strait Islander People ◽  
Australian Aboriginal ◽  
Torres Strait

BACKGROUND Social media may have a significant role in influencing the present and future health implications among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, yet there has been no review of the role of social media in improving health. OBJECTIVE This study aims to examine the extent of health initiatives using social media that aimed to improve the health of Australian Aboriginal communities. METHODS A scoping review was conducted by systematically searching databases CINAHL Plus; PubMed; Scopus; Web of Science, and Ovid MEDLINE in June 2017 using the terms and their synonyms “Aboriginal” and “Social media.” In addition, reference lists of included studies and the Indigenous HealthInfonet gray literature were searched. Key information about the social media intervention and its impacts on health were extracted and data synthesized using narrative summaries. RESULTS Five papers met inclusion criteria. All included studies were published in the past 5 years and involved urban, rural, and remote Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people aged 12-60 years. No studies reported objective impacts on health. Three papers found that social media provided greater space for sharing health messages in a 2-way exchange. The negative portrayal of Aboriginal people and negative health impacts of social media were described in 2 papers. CONCLUSIONS Social media may be a useful strategy to provide health messages and sharing of content among Aboriginal people, but objective impacts on health remain unknown. More research is necessary on social media as a way to connect, communicate, and improve Aboriginal health with particular emphasis on community control, self-empowerment, and decolonization.

scholarly journals In the pursuit of equity: COVID-19, data and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-45
Author(s):  
Kalinda Griffiths ◽  
Ian Ring ◽  
Richard Madden ◽  
Lisa Jackson Pulver
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Quality Of Data ◽  
Success Story ◽  
Torres Strait Islander People ◽  
Pandemic Planning ◽  
The Future ◽  
Torres Strait

Since March 2020 in Australia, there has been decisive national, and state and territory policy as well as community led action involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as information about COVID-19 arose. This has resulted in, what could only be framed as a success story in self-determination. However, there continues to be issues with the quality of data used for the surveillance and reporting of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people during the pandemic. This article discusses some of the important events in pandemic planning regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and how this relates to surveillance and monitoring in the emerging and ongoing threat of COVID-19 within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The authors also identify some of the data considerations required in the future to monitor and address public health.

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