‘Working Together’: An Intercultural Academic Leadership Programme to Build Health Science Educators’ Capacity to Teach Indigenous Health and Culture

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Durey ◽  
Kate Taylor ◽  
Dawn Bessarab ◽  
Marion Kickett ◽  
Sue Jones ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Academic Leadership ◽  
Health Science ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Learning Spaces ◽  
Working Together ◽  
Science Educators ◽  
The Impact

Progress has been slow in improving health disparities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians and other Australians. While reasons for this are complex, delivering healthcare respectful of cultural differences is one approach to improving Indigenous health outcomes. This paper presents and evaluates an intercultural academic leadership programme developed to support tertiary educators teaching Indigenous health and culture prepare interdisciplinary students to work respectfully and appropriately as health professionals with Indigenous peoples. The programme acknowledges the impact of colonisation on Indigenous Australians and draws on theories of the intercultural space to inform reflection and discussion on Indigenous/non-Indigenous relations and their impact on healthcare. Furthermore, the programme encourages establishing a community of practice as a resource for educators. Evaluation indicated participants’ confidence to teach Indigenous content increased following the programme. Participants felt more able to create intercultural, interdisciplinary and interactive learning spaces that were inclusive and safe for students from all cultures. Participants learned skills to effectively facilitate and encourage students to grapple with the complexity of the intercultural space, often tense, uncertain and risky, to enable new understandings and positions to emerge that could better prepare graduates to work in Indigenous health contexts.

scholarly journals Developing Interdisciplinary Team Competencies in a Blended Learning Course: Impact on Student Learning

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharla King ◽  
Elizabeth Taylor ◽  
Franziska Satzinger ◽  
Mike Carbonaro ◽  
Elaine Greidanus
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Interdisciplinary Team ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Health Science ◽  
Team Development ◽  
On Line ◽  
Science Educators ◽  
The Impact

Purpose: Health science educators increasingly focus on preparing health science students to work in interdisciplinary environments. Interdisciplinary communication is often hindered by geographic distances, creating barriers to effective interdisciplinary practice. Information and communication technologies are tools that can help reduce these barriers. Therefore, it is critical to ensure that students learn to communicate and collaborate with other disciplines in both face-to-face and on-line settings. The purpose of this article is to describe students’ perceptions of developing team skills in an interdisciplinary team context using a blended learning format. Understanding the students’ experiences will help health science educators prepare students effectively to use these technologies to facilitate interdisciplinary teamwork. Method: An interdisciplinary team development course was redesigned to be offered in a blended (70% on-line asynchronous/synchronous activities) format to increase flexibility and to provide experience with using the advanced communication technologies. This paper presents qualitative results obtained from student focus groups. The focus groups captured the students’ perspectives of the development of interdisciplinary team competencies in a blended learning format.Results: Although students generally felt they developed interdisciplinary team skills in a blended learning environment, they also expressed mixed feelings about how the environment affected the process of team development. Conclusions: Students’ perceptions of developing and practicing team skills in an interdisciplinary team context were not compromised in a blended learning format. Future research can further explore the on-line dynamics among students from various disciplines and the impact of this type of learning as a team on clinical practice.

scholarly journals The missing voices of Indigenous Australians in the social, cultural and historical experiences of tuberculosis: a systematic and integrative review

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. e001794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Devlin ◽  
David MacLaren ◽  
Peter D Massey ◽  
Richard Widders ◽  
Jenni A Judd
Keyword(s):  
Social Determinants Of Health ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Social Determinant ◽  
Determinants Of Health ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
The Social ◽  
Biomedical Diagnosis

IntroductionDisparities in tuberculosis (TB) rates exist between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations in many countries, including Australia. The social determinants of health are central to health inequities including disparities in TB rates. There are limitations in the dominant biomedical and epidemiological approaches to representing, understanding and addressing the unequal burden of TB for Indigenous peoples represented in the literature. This paper applies a social determinants of health approach and examines the structural, programmatic and historical causes of inequities for TB in Indigenous Australia.MethodsAboriginal Australians’ families in northern New South Wales who are affected by TB initiated this investigation. A systematic search of published literature was conducted using PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus and Informit ATSIhealth databases, the Australian Indigenous Health, InfoNet and Google. Ninety-five records published between 1885 and 2019 were categorised and graphed over time, inductively coded and thematically analysed.ResultsIndigenous Australians’ voices are scarce in the TB literature and absent in the development of TB policies and programmes. Epidemiological reports are descriptive and technical and avoid analysis of social processes involved in the perpetuation of TB. For Indigenous Australians, TB is more than a biomedical diagnosis and treatment; it is a consequence of European invasion and a contributor to dispossession and the ongoing fight for justice. The introduction and spread of TB has resulted in the stealing of lives, family, community and cultures for Indigenous Australians. Racist policies and practices predominate in the experiences of individuals and families as consequences of, and resulting in, ongoing structural and systematic exclusion.ConclusionDevelopment of TB policies and programmes requires reconfiguration. Space must be given for Indigenous Australians to lead, be partners and to have ownership of decisions about how to eliminate TB. Shared knowledge between Indigenous Australians, policy makers and service managers of the social practices and structures that generate TB disparity for Indigenous Australians is essential.A social determinant of health approach will shift the focus to the social structures that cause TB. Collaboration with Indigenous partners in research is critical, and use of methods that amplify Indigenous peoples' voices and reconfigure power relations in favour of Indigenous Australians in the process is required.

THE CAAV 2017 Immersive Scholar Presentation: Visualizing Digital Scholarship Across Institutions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelby Hallman ◽  
Mike Nutt
Keyword(s):  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Annual Conference ◽  
State University ◽  
Scholarly Work ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
Learning Spaces ◽  
Immersive Environments ◽  
Digital Scholarship ◽  
The Impact

NC State University Libraries has been awarded a three-year, $414,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to develop extensible models and programs for the creation and sharing of digital scholarship in large-scale and immersive environments. Entitled “Visualizing Digital Scholarship in Libraries and Learning Spaces,” or Immersive Scholar for short, the grant aims to 1) build a community of practice of scholars and librarians to help visually immersive scholarly work enter the research lifecycle; and 2) overcome technical and resource barriers that limit the number of scholars and libraries who use visualization environments and the impact of generated knowledge. This presentation introduced the grant and it's components to The Higher Education Campus Alliance of Advanced Visualization (THE CAAV) at THE CAAV's 2017 annual conference.

scholarly journals Arts-Based Compassion Skills Training (ABCST): Channelling Compassion Focused Therapy Through Visual Arts for Australia’s Indigenous Peoples

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Bennett-Levy ◽  
Natalie Roxburgh ◽  
Lia Hibner ◽  
Sunita Bala ◽  
Stacey Edwards ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Visual Arts ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Group Processes ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Compassion Focused Therapy

The last 20 years have seen the development of a new form of therapy, compassion focused therapy (CFT). Although CFT has a growing evidence base, there have been few studies of CFT outside of an Anglo-European cultural context. In this paper, we ask: Might a CFT-based approach be of value for Indigenous Australians? If so, what kind of cultural adaptations might be needed? We report the findings from a pilot study of an arts-based compassion skills training (ABCST) group, in which usual CFT group processes were significantly adapted to meet the needs of Indigenous Australians. At face value, CFT appeared to be a promising approach to enhancing the social and emotional wellbeing of Australia’s Indigenous peoples. However, despite initial consultations with Indigenous health professionals, the first attempts to offer a more conventional group-based CFT to Indigenous clients were largely unsuccessful. Following a review and advice from two Indigenous clients, we combined elements of CFT with visual arts to develop a new approach, “arts-based compassion skills training” (ABCST). This paper reports an evaluation of this pilot ABCST group. The group had 6 × 4 h sessions of ABCST, facilitated by two psychologists (1 Indigenous, 1 non-Indigenous) and two artists (1 Indigenous, 1 non-Indigenous). There were 10 participants, who attended between 2 and 6 sessions: five were clients, five were health professionals. Between 1 and 3 months later, six of the participants (2 clients, 4 health professionals) were interviewed. Qualitative analysis of interview data identified that two key processes—creating a positive group atmosphere and channeling compassion skills training through the medium of visual arts—led to four positive outcomes for participants: planting the seeds of new understandings, embodying the skills of compassion, strengthening relationships with others, and evolving a more self-compassionate relationship. We suggest that the preliminary results are sufficiently encouraging to warrant further development of ABCST in Indigenous communities.

scholarly journals Climate change and Indigenous Health Promotion

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 73-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhys Jones
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health And Well Being

Climate change poses a serious threat to the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples around the world. Despite living in diverse contexts, Indigenous peoples face a number of common challenges. Disproportionate threats from climate change exist due to a range of factors including unique relationships with the natural environment, socioeconomic deprivation, a greater existing burden of disease, poorer access to and quality of health care, and political marginalization. Responses to climate change at global, national, and local levels also threaten Indigenous people’s rights. While climate action presents many opportunities to improve health and reduce inequities, there is also significant potential for climate mitigation and adaptation policies to inflict harm on Indigenous peoples. An important aspect of this is the impact on traditional lands, which are acknowledged as a fundamental determinant of Indigenous health and well-being. This article seeks to elucidate the relationships between climate change and Indigenous health and to inform health promotion solutions to achieve climate justice for Indigenous peoples. The underpinning analysis is founded on a Kaupapa Māori positioning, which seeks transformative change and involves critiquing Western knowledges and structures that undermine Indigenous rights. A central theme is that anthropogenic climate change is intimately connected to the ideologies, systems and practices of colonialism, and that the impacts on Indigenous peoples can be conceptualized as an intensification of the process of colonization. It is not possible to understand and address climate-related health impacts for Indigenous peoples without examining this broader context of colonial oppression, marginalization and dispossession. The challenge for health promotion is to engage in a process of decolonization. This involves deconstructing its own systems and practices to avoid reinforcing colonialism and perpetuating inequities. It also requires health promotion practitioners to support Indigenous self-determination and recognize Indigenous knowledges as a critical foundation for climate change and health solutions.

Indigenous Australians, Specialist Courts, and The Intergenerational Impacts of Child Removal in The Criminal Justice System

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 378-400
Author(s):  
Amelia Radke ◽  
Heather Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Community Justice ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Kinship Ties ◽  
The Impact

Murri Courts are a specialist criminal law practice that includes Elders and respected persons of the local Community Justice Group in the sentencing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander defendants. Drawing on an ethnographic study of two southeast Queensland Murri Courts, this article explores the impact of State ordered out-of-home care on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander defendants and their children. We show how Community Justice Groups and specialist courts help to address the intergenerational impacts of child protection interventions. The rights of Australian Indigenous peoples to enjoy, maintain, control, protect and develop their kinship ties is recognised under the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld) and international human rights treaties. We suggest that policymakers and legislators should better recognise and support Community Justice Groups and specialist courts as they provide an important avenue for implementing the rights of Australian Indigenous peoples to recover and maintain their kinship ties.

scholarly journals Historical foundations and contemporary expressions of a right to health care in Circumpolar Indigenous contexts

Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Josée G. Lavoie ◽  
Jon Petter Stoor ◽  
Elizabeth Rink ◽  
Katie Cueva ◽  
Elena Gladun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Policy ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Native People ◽  
Culturally Appropriate ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
The Impact

Although numerous comparative Indigenous health policy analyses exist in the literature, to date, little attention has been paid to comparative analyses of Circumpolar health policy and the impact these policies may have on Indigenous peoples’ rights to health. In this article, we ground our discussion of Indigenous peoples’ right to access culturally appropriate and responsive health care within the context of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Under UNDRIP, signatory states are obligated to guarantee that Indigenous peoples have access to the same services accessible to all citizens without discrimination. Signatory states must also guarantee access to services that are grounded in Indigenous cultures, medicines, and practices and must address Indigenous peoples’ determinants of health at least to the same extent as their national counterparts. Our analysis finds that the implementation of this declaration varies across the Circumpolar north. The United States recognizes an obligation to provide health care for American Indian and Alaska Native people in exchange for the land that was taken from them. Other countries provide Indigenous citizens access to care in the same health care systems as other citizens. Intercultural models of care exist in Alaska and to some extent across the Canadian territories. However, aside from Sámi Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Mental Health and Substance Use in northern Norway, intercultural models are absent in Nordic countries and in Greenland. While Russia has not ratified UNDRIP, Russian policy guarantees access to health care to all citizens, although access is particularly limited in rural and remote environments, including the Russian Arctic. We conclude that Circumpolar nations should begin and/or expand commitments to culturally appropriate, self-determined, access to health care in Circumpolar contexts to reduce health inequities and adhere to obligations outlined in UNDRIP.

scholarly journals Transformative Learning: A Precursor to Preparing Health Science Students to Work in Indigenous Health Settings?

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Bullen ◽  
Lynne Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Indigenous Studies ◽  
Health Science ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Transformative Experiences

Australian undergraduate programmes are implementing curriculum aimed at better preparing graduates to work in Indigenous health settings, but the efficacy of these programmes is largely unknown. To begin to address this, we obtained baseline data upon entry to tertiary education (Time 1) and follow-up data upon completion of an Indigenous studies health unit (Time 2) on student attitudes, preparedness to work in Indigenous health contexts and transformative experiences within the unit. The research involved 336 health science first-year students (273 females, 63 males) who completed anonymous in-class paper questionnaires at both time points. Paired sample t-tests indicated significant change in student attitudes towards Indigenous Australians, perceptions of Indigenous health as a social priority, perceptions of the adequacy of health services for Indigenous Australians and preparedness to work in Indigenous health settings. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that after controlling for Time 1 measures, the number of precursor steps to transformative learning experienced by students accounted for significant variance in measures of attitudes and preparedness to work in Indigenous health contexts at Time 2. The knowledge gained further informs our understanding of both the transformative impact of such curriculum, and the nature of this transformation in the Indigenous studies health context.

scholarly journals The Portrayal of Indigenous Health in Selected Australian Media

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa J Stoneham ◽  
Jodie Goodman ◽  
Mike Daube
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Indigenous Australian ◽  
Media Portrayal ◽  
The Media ◽  
Deaths In Custody ◽  
Negative Subject

It is acknowledged that health outcomes for Australian Indigenous peoples are lower than those of non-Indigenous Australians. Research suggests negative media in relation to Indigenous Australians perpetuates racist stereotypes among the wider population and impacts on the health of Indigenous Australians. This study examined the media portrayal of Indigenous Australian public health issues in selected media over a twelve month period and found that, overwhelmingly, the articles were negative in their portrayal of Indigenous health. A total of 74 percent of the coverage of Australian Indigenous related articles were negative, 15 percent were positive, and 11 percent were neutral. The most common negative subject descriptors related to alcohol, child abuse, petrol sniffing, violence, suicide, deaths in custody, and crime.

scholarly journals Social Determinants of Indigenous Health and Indigenous Rights in Policy: A Scoping Review and Analysis of Problem Representation

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma George ◽  
Tamara Mackean ◽  
Fran Baum ◽  
Matt Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Problem Representation ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
The Impact

Despite evidence showing the importance of social determinants of Indigenous health and Indigenous rights for health and equity, they are not always recognised within policy. This scoping review identified research on public policy and Indigenous health through a systematic search. Key themes identified included the impact of ongoing colonisation; the central role of government in realising rights; and the difficulties associated with the provision of mainstream services for Indigenous Peoples, including tokenism towards Indigenous issues and the legacy of past policies of assimilation. Our approach to problem representation was guided by Bacchi (2009). Findings from the review show social determinants of Indigenous health and Indigenous rights may be acknowledged in policy rhetoric, but they are not always a priority for action within policy implementation.

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