Understanding the Context: The Case of Central Australian Aboriginal Health

2019 ◽  
pp. 7-13
Author(s):  
Komla Tsey
Keyword(s):  
Aboriginal Health ◽  
Australian Aboriginal

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 SToP (See, Treat, Prevent) skin sores and scabies trial: study protocol for a cluster randomised, stepped-wedge trial for skin disease control in remote Western Australia

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. e030635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne J Mullane ◽  
Timothy C Barnett ◽  
Jeffrey W Cannon ◽  
Jonathan R Carapetis ◽  
Ray Christophers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Skin Disease ◽  
Aboriginal Health ◽  
Skin Infections ◽  
Stepped Wedge ◽  
Aboriginal Communities ◽  
Australian Aboriginal ◽  
Cluster Randomised

IntroductionSkin is important in Australian Aboriginal culture informing kinship and identity. In many remote Aboriginal communities, scabies and impetigo are very common. Untreated skin infections are painful, itchy and frequently go untreated due to under-recognition and lack of awareness of their potential serious complications. We hypothesise that the skin infection burden in remote Aboriginal communities can be reduced by implementing streamlined training and treatment pathways integrated with environmental health and health promotion activities, tested in the See, Treat, Prevent (SToP skin sores and scabies) trial.Methods and analysisSToP will evaluate a skin control programme using a stepped-wedge, cluster randomised trial design with three intervention components (the ‘SToP activities’): (1) seeing skin infections (development of training resources implemented within a community dermatology model); (2) treating skin infections (employing the latest evidence for impetigo, and scabies treatment); and (3) preventing skin infections (embedded, culturally informed health promotion and environmental health activities). Four community clusters in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia will participate. Following baseline data collection, two clusters will be randomly allocated to the SToP activities. At 12 months, the remaining two clusters will transition to the SToP activities. The primary outcome is the diagnosis of impetigo in children (5–9 years) at school-based surveillance. Secondary outcome measures include scabies diagnosis, other child health indicators, resistance to cotrimoxazole in circulating pathogenic bacteria, determining the economic burden of skin disease and evaluating the cost effectiveness of SToP activities.Ethics and disseminationThis study protocol was approved by the health ethics review committees at the Child and Adolescent Health Service (Approval number RGS0000000584), the Western Australian Aboriginal Health Ethics Committee (Reference number: 819) and the University of Western Australia (Reference RA/4/20/4123). Study findings will be shared with community members, academic and medical communities via publications and presentations, and in reports to funders. Authorship for all publications based on this study will be determined in line with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals published by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Sharing results with organisations and communities who contributed to the study is paramount. The results of the SToP trial will be shared with participants in a suitable format, such as a single summary page provided to participants or presentations to communities, the Kimberly Aboriginal Health Planning Forum Research Subcommittee and other stakeholders as appropriate and as requested. Communication and dissemination will require ongoing consultation with Aboriginal communities to determine appropriate formats.Trial registration numberACTRN12618000520235.

scholarly journals Equity in health care and institutional trust: a communitarian view

2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 1162-1167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin Mooney ◽  
Shane Houston
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Aboriginal Health ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Institutional Trust ◽  
Specific Context ◽  
Equity In Health ◽  
Australian Aboriginal ◽  
Equity In Health Care

Communitarianism acknowledges and values, and not just instrumentally, the bonds that unite and identify communities. Communitarians also value community per se. This paper argues that trust is likely to be stronger in communities where these bonds are greater. Equity in health care is a social phenomenon. In health care, it is apparent that more communitarian societies, such as Scandinavia and within Aboriginal Australia, are likely to value more equity-orientated systems. Where, as in the latter case, this desire for equity takes place against a background of the powerful dominant (white) society treating the minority (black) society as dependent, Aboriginal trust in Australian society and in its public institutions is eroded. Lack of trust and inequity then come to the fore. This paper discusses institutional trust as a facilitator of equity in health care in the specific context of Indigenous health. The example used is Australian Aboriginal health but the principles would apply to other Indigenous populations as in for example South America.

scholarly journals Developing the rural health workforce to improve Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health outcomes: a systematic review

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kylie Gwynne ◽  
Michelle Lincoln
Keyword(s):  
Health Workforce ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Aboriginal Health ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Rural And Remote ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Australian Aboriginal ◽  
Health Delivery ◽  
Remote Health ◽  
Rural And Remote Health

Objective The aim of the present study was to identify evidence-based strategies in the literature for developing and maintaining a skilled and qualified rural and remote health workforce in Australia to better meet the health care needs of Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (hereafter Aboriginal) people. Methods A systematic search strategy was implemented using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement and checklist. Exclusion and inclusion criteria were applied, and 26 papers were included in the study. These 26 papers were critically evaluated and analysed for common findings about the rural health workforce providing services for Aboriginal people. Results There were four key findings of the study: (1) the experience of Aboriginal people in the health workforce affects their engagement with education, training and employment; (2) particular factors affect the effectiveness and longevity of the non-Aboriginal workforce working in Aboriginal health; (3) attitudes and behaviours of the workforce have a direct effect on service delivery design and models in Aboriginal health; and (4) student placements affect the likelihood of applying for rural and remote health jobs in Aboriginal communities after graduation. Each finding has associated evidence-based strategies including those to promote the engagement and retention of Aboriginal staff; training and support for non-Aboriginal health workers; effective service design; and support strategies for effective student placement. Conclusions Strategies are evidenced in the peer-reviewed literature to improve the rural and remote workforce for health delivery for Australian Aboriginal people and should be considered by policy makers, funders and program managers. What is known about the topic? There is a significant amount of peer-reviewed literature about the recruitment and retention of the rural and remote health workforce. What does this paper add? There is a gap in the literature about strategies to improve recruitment and retention of the rural and remote health workforce for health delivery for Australian Aboriginal people. This paper provides evidence-based strategies in four key areas. What are the implications for practitioners? The findings of the present study are relevant for policy makers, funders and program managers in rural and remote Aboriginal health.

Australian aboriginal health and health-care

1984 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 939-948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Aboriginal Health ◽  
Australian Aboriginal

Culturally Appropriate Training for Remote Australian Aboriginal Health Workers

2015 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita DʼAprano ◽  
Sven Silburn ◽  
Vanessa Johnston ◽  
Frank Oberklaid ◽  
Collette Tayler
Keyword(s):  
Health Workers ◽  
Aboriginal Health ◽  
Culturally Appropriate ◽  
Australian Aboriginal
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