Resetting the Narrative in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nutrition Research

ABSTRACT As the oldest continuous living civilizations in the world, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have strength, tenacity, and resilience. Initial colonization of the landscape included violent dispossession and removal of people from Country to expand European land tenure and production systems, loss of knowledge holders through frontier violence, and formal government policies of segregation and assimilation designed to destroy ontological relationships with Country and kin. The ongoing manifestations of colonialism continue to affect food systems and food knowledges of Aboriginal peoples, and have led to severe health inequities and disproportionate rates of nutrition-related health conditions. There is an urgent need to collaborate with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to address nutrition and its underlying determinants in a way that integrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ understandings of food and food systems, health, healing, and well-being. We use the existing literature to discuss current ways that Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are portrayed in the literature in relation to nutrition, identify knowledge gaps that require further research, and propose a new way forward.

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Intergenerational and early life influences on the well-being of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children: overview and selected findings fromFootprints in Time, the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children

Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease ◽

10.1017/s204017441800017x ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 17-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

M. Salmon ◽

F. Skelton ◽

K. A. Thurber ◽

L. Bennetts Kneebone ◽

J. Gosling ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Longitudinal Study ◽

Early Life ◽

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Well Being ◽

National Study ◽

Annual Data ◽

Data Set ◽

Australian Aboriginal ◽

Indigenous Children ◽

Torres Strait

AbstractFootprints in Time: The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC) is a national study of 1759 Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living across urban, regional and remote areas of Australia. The study is in its 11th wave of annual data collection, having collected extensive data on topics including birth and early life influences, parental health and well-being, identity, cultural engagement, language use, housing, racism, school engagement and academic achievement, and social and emotional well-being. The current paper reviews a selection of major findings fromFootprints in Timerelating to the developmental origins of health and disease for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Opportunities for new researchers to conduct further research utilizing the LSIC data set are also presented.

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Applying strengths-based approaches to nutrition research and interventions in Australian Indigenous communities

Critical Dietetics ◽

10.32920/cd.v1i3.600 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 1 (3) ◽

pp. 11

Author(s):

Wendy Foley ◽

Lisa Schubert

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Indigenous Communities ◽

Social Resources ◽

The Other ◽

Public Health Nutrition ◽

Australian Aboriginal ◽

What Works ◽

Nutrition Research ◽

Torres Strait

This paper provides a background to strengths-based approaches used in health and considers what these have to offer in the context of public health nutrition, with particular reference to work with Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Deficit, disease and dysfunction permeate approaches in health fields, including nutrition. Public health has focused on gathering evidence about ‘what works’ from this deficit perspective, particularly in those communities identified as vulnerable. Strengths-based approaches, on the other hand, work with the assets already existing in individuals, communities and institutions to support the conditions for health. Although strengths-based approaches are used in some health fields, they are under-utilised in public health nutrition. A strengths-based paradigm draws on the theory of salutogenesis to accentuate positive capacities so that nutrition professionals and clients/communities can jointly identify problems and activate solutions. Research processes and findings from a number of participatory Indigenous nutrition health projects will be discussed. This research has identified significant social resources within Australian Indigenous communities and these assets offer points from which to work. A strengths-based paradigm offers a different language with which to address nutrition inequalities. It can contribute to empowering Indigenous individuals and communities towards healthier nutrition. We propose that redressing the current imbalance between strengths and deficit-based approaches is needed in public health nutrition and consider the nature and potentials of strengths-based approaches in nutrition, with particular reference to their use in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups.

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

10.2196/preprints.11573 ◽

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.

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health — Current Policy Issues

The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education ◽

10.1017/s1326011100001782 ◽

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.

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Psychometric properties of the EQ-5D-5L for aboriginal Australians: a multi-method study

Health and Quality of Life Outcomes ◽

10.1186/s12955-021-01718-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Pedro Henrique Ribeiro Santiago ◽

Dandara Haag ◽

Davi Manzini Macedo ◽

Gail Garvey ◽

Megan Smith ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Discriminant Validity ◽

Reference Group ◽

Characteristic Curve ◽

Well Being ◽

Two Dimensions ◽

Future Research ◽

Partial Credit Model ◽

Validity And Reliability ◽

Torres Strait

Abstract Introduction In Australia, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) instruments have been adopted in national population surveys to inform policy decisions that affect the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. However, Western-developed HRQoL instruments should not be assumed to capture Indigenous conceptualization of health and well-being. In our study, following recommendations for cultural adaptation, an Indigenous Reference Group indicated the EQ-5D-5L as a potentially valid instrument to measure aspects of HRQoL and endorsed further psychometric evaluation. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the construct validity and reliability of the EQ-5D-5L in an Aboriginal Australian population. Methods The EQ-5D-5L was applied in a sample of 1012 Aboriginal adults. Dimensionality was evaluated using Exploratory Graph Analysis. The Partial Credit Model was employed to evaluate item performance and adequacy of response categories. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was used to investigate discriminant validity regarding chronic pain, general health and experiences of discrimination. Results The EQ-5D-5L comprised two dimensions, Physiological and Psychological, and reliability was adequate. Performance at an item level was excellent and the EQ-5D-5L individual items displayed good discriminant validity. Conclusions The EQ-5D-5L is a suitable instrument to measure five specific aspects (Mobility, Self-Care, Usual activities, Pain/Discomfort, Anxiety/Depression) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander HRQoL. A future research agenda comprises the investigation of other domains of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander HRQoL and potential expansions to the instrument.

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