Australian Football League clinics promoting health, hygiene and trachoma elimination: the Northern Territory experience

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josie R. Atkinson ◽  
Andrea I. Boudville ◽  
Emma E. Stanford ◽  
Fiona D. Lange ◽  
Mitchell D. Anjou
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
State Government ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Holistic Health ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Developed Country ◽  
Australian Football League ◽  
Australian Football

Australia is the only developed country to suffer trachoma and it is only found in remote Indigenous communities. In 2009, trachoma prevalence was 14%, but through screening, treatment and health promotion, rates had fallen to 4% in 2012. More work needs to be done to sustain these declining rates. In 2012, 25% of screened communities still had endemic trachoma and 8% had hyperendemic trachoma. In addition, only 58% of communities had reached clean face targets in children aged 5–9 years. Australian Football League (AFL) players are highly influential role models and the community love of football provides a platform to engage and strengthen community participation in health promotion. The University of Melbourne has partnered with Melbourne Football Club since 2010 to run trachoma football hygiene clinics in the Northern Territory (NT) to raise awareness of the importance of clean faces in order to reduce the spread of trachoma. This activity supports Federal and state government trachoma screening and treatment programs. Between 2010 and 2013, 12 football clinics were held in major towns and remote communities in the NT. Almost 2000 children and adults attended football clinics run by 16 partner organisations. Awareness of the football clinics has grown and has become a media feature in the NT trachoma elimination campaign. The hygiene station featured within the football clinic could be adapted for other events hosted in remote NT community events to add value to the experience and reinforce good holistic health and hygiene messages, as well as encourage interagency collaboration.

scholarly journals An Approach to Treating Depressive and Psychotic Illness in Indigenous Communities

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tricia Nagel ◽  
Gary Robinson ◽  
Thomas Trauer ◽  
John Condon
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Problem Solving Therapy ◽  
Randomised Controlled ◽  
Indigenous Mental Health

This study is one of the activities of a multi-site research program, the Australian Mental Health Initiative (AIMhi), funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council. AIMhi in the Northern Territory collaborated with Aboriginal mental health workers and Northern Territory remote service providers in developing a range of resources and strategies to promote improved Indigenous mental health outcomes. A brief intervention that combines the principles of motivational interviewing, problem solving therapy and chronic disease self-management is described. The intervention has been integrated into a randomised controlled trial. Early findings suggest that the strategy and its components are well received by clients with chronic mental illness, and their carers, in remote communities.

scholarly journals A Kickstart to Life: Australian Football League as a Medium for Promoting Lifeskills in Cape York Indigenous Communities

2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 152-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maree Dinanthompson ◽  
Juanita Sellwood ◽  
Felicity Carless
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Indigenous Youth ◽  
Far North ◽  
Australian Football League ◽  
Lifestyle Choices ◽  
Australian Football ◽  
Cape York

AbstractThis paper presents evidence collected from an evaluatory study of the Kickstart program conducted by Australian Football League (AFL) Cape York in far North Queensland. The aim of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of the Kickstart program in meeting its overall objective of enhancing lifeskills of Indigenous Australians through participation in AFL. Evidence collected via interviews with Indigenous youth, parents, teachers and Kickstart stakeholders (including community representatives) suggest mixed meanings surrounding the interpretation of “lifeskills”, and yet improvement in the education, attitudes and lifestyle choices of Indigenous youth in the selected Cape York communities.

Two-way approaches to Indigenous mental health literacy

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tricia M. Nagel ◽  
Carolyn Thompson ◽  
Gary Robinson ◽  
John Condon ◽  
Thomas Trauer
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Mental Health Promotion ◽  
Story Telling ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Indigenous Mental Health

This study was designed to provide important new information about relapse prevention in Indigenous 1 people with chronic mental illness. It aimed to explore Indigenous mental health promotion with Aboriginal mental health workers (AMHW) in order to develop strategies for effective mental health intervention. The research was conducted in three remote Indigenous communities in the top end of the Northern Territory with AMHW. Assessment, psycho-education, and care-planning resources were developed with local AMHW through exploration of local Indigenous perspectives of mental health promotion. Qualitative research methods and an ethnographic approach were used to elicit information, and data included key informant interviews, participant observation, music, photography and story telling. The study confirms that Indigenous people in remote communities prefer to use story telling and local language, local artwork and local music to convey health information. It also confirms that family and local practitioners are key cultural informants and that indirect, holistic and ‘two-way’ messages are preferred.

Development of community based Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) workers in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory

1999 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-80
Author(s):  
Carol Atkinson ◽  
Janice Jessen
Keyword(s):  
Community Development ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Substance Misuse ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Residential Facility ◽  
Health Clinic ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Community Based

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to document community development initiatives undertaken to address substance misuse issues in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory (NT). This paper is describing work in progress that primarily focuses on the early stage of an evolving community development process to provide alcohol and drug services, particularly in the “treatment” domain, in remote NT communities. Treatment in this context refers to counselling and various support and caring activities, which can take place in a variety of settings, such as a residential facility, a health clinic, a women's or community drop-in centre. The context is community development as the paper explores options to address a community defined need to have effective alcohol and other drug programs available to people living in remote communities.

scholarly journals Trachoma elimination in remote Indigenous Northern Territory communities: baseline health-promotion study

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona D. Lange ◽  
Emma Baunach ◽  
Rosemary McKenzie ◽  
Hugh R. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Baseline Survey ◽  
Health Board ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Work Settings ◽  
Attitudes And Practices ◽  
Community Acceptance ◽  
Additional Support

Identify trachoma knowledge, attitudes and practice of staff in clinics, schools and community workplace settings to optimise trachoma-elimination health-promotion programs in the Katherine West Health Board region of the Northern Territory. Prior to the introduction of a suite of health promotion resources the Indigenous Eye Health Unit and Katherine West Health Board conducted a baseline survey of open, multi-choice and closed questions regarding knowledge, attitudes and practices in relation to trachoma with 72 staff members over a 6-month period in 2010−11. Data were analysed for differences between settings. Two significant barriers and one enabling factor were identified. One in five staff members in clinics and 29% of staff members in schools were unaware they lived and worked in a trachoma-endemic area. One-third of school staff and 38% of clinic staff considered it normal for children to have dirty faces. However, the majority of participants felt comfortable talking about hygiene issues with others. The presence of dirty faces in young Indigenous children underpins the continuing prevalence of trachoma. Increasing the awareness of the health effects of children’s nasal and ocular secretions and changing community acceptance of dirty faces as the norm will reduce the risk of trachoma and other childhood infections. Staff in clinics, schools and community work settings can play a role in trachoma elimination by actively encouraging clean faces whenever they are dirty and by including face washing in holistic hygiene and health education. Staff in schools may need additional support. Trachoma-elimination health promotion should increase awareness of trachoma prevalence and encourage all who work and live in remote Indigenous communities to take action to promote facial cleanliness and good hygiene practices.

Classifying player positions in second-tier Australian football competitions using technical skill indicators

2021 ◽  
pp. 174795412110102
Author(s):  
Adrian J Barake ◽  
Heather Mitchell ◽  
Constantino Stavros ◽  
Mark F Stewart ◽  
Preety Srivastava
Keyword(s):  
Positional Information ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Model ◽  
Sports Science ◽  
Lower Tier ◽  
Australian Football League ◽  
Australian Football ◽  
Second Tier ◽  
Performance Statistics ◽  
Player Performance ◽  
Player Positions

Efficient recruitment to Australia’s most popular professional sporting competition, the Australian Football League (AFL), requires evaluators to assess athlete performances in many lower tier leagues that serve as pathways. These competitions and their games are frequent, widespread, and challenging to track. Therefore, independent, and reliable player performance statistics from these leagues are paramount. This data, however, is only meaningful to recruiters from AFL teams if accurate player positions are known, which was not the case for the competitions from which most players were recruited. This paper explains how this problem was recently solved, demonstrating a process of knowledge translation from academia to industry, that bridged an important gap between sports science, coaching and recruiting. Positional information which is only available from the AFL competition was used to benchmark and develop scientific classification methods using only predictor variables that are also measured in lower tier competitions. Specifically, a Multinomial Logistic model was constructed to allocate players into four primary positions, followed by a Binary Logit model for further refinement. This novel technique of using more complete data from top tier competitions to help fill informational deficiencies in lower leagues could be extended to other sports that face similar issues.

A prospective study of risk factors for hamstring injury in Australian football league players

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Nigel A. Smith ◽  
Melinda M. Franettovich Smith ◽  
Matthew N. Bourne ◽  
Rod S. Barrett ◽  
Julie A. Hides
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Prospective Study ◽  
Hamstring Injury ◽  
Australian Football League ◽  
Australian Football ◽  
A Prospective Study
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