scholarly journals Concerns and priorities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples regarding food and nutrition: a systematic review of qualitative evidence

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Christidis ◽  
Mark Lock ◽  
Troy Walker ◽  
Mikaela Egan ◽  
Jennifer Browne
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Food System ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
Cooking Skills ◽  
Food Knowledge ◽  
Food And Nutrition ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
The Right

Abstract Background Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians experience persistent health and social inequities. Chronic conditions, many of which are diet-related, are leading contributors to the burden of disease and health inequity in Australia. First Nations Peoples have the right to be involved in all policy decisions affecting them. This review aimed to synthesise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ concerns and priorities about food and nutrition in order to inform policies to improve health equity. Methods MEDLINE, CINAHL, Informit and Google Scholar were systematically searched to identify qualitative studies–published from January 2008–that included data from Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples about their concerns and priorities related to food and nutrition. Data were extracted from included studies using a pre-determined template and study quality was assessed using the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Quality Appraisal Tool. Qualitative findings were synthesised using inductive thematic analysis and categorised based on an ecological model of health. Results Twenty-one studies were included. Key factors influencing food and nutrition were identified across all levels of the ecological framework. These included interpersonal and institutional racism, junk food availability and marketing, food accessibility and affordability, housing conditions, food knowledge and cooking skills, and connection to family and culture. Conclusions Documenting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ lived experiences of the colonised food system is one step necessary for informing policy to tackle food and nutrition inequities. Based on existing qualitative research, food and nutrition policymakers should prioritise building a supportive food environment by focusing on self-determination; ensuring access to healthy, affordable food and safe housing; and by eliminating systemic racism.

scholarly journals Release of the National Scheme’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety Strategy 2020-2025; the impacts for podiatry in Australia: a commentary

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Gerrard ◽  
Shirley Godwin ◽  
Vivienne Chuter ◽  
Shannon E. Munteanu ◽  
Matthew West ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Cultural Safety ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Torres Strait Islander Health ◽  
Safety Strategy

Abstract Background Developing since colonisation, Australia’s healthcare system has dismissed an ongoing and successful First Nations health paradigm in place for 60,000 years. From Captain James Cook documenting ‘very old’ First Nations Peoples being ‘far more happier than we Europeans’ and Governor Arthur Phillip naming Manly in admiration of the physical health of Gadigal men of the Eora Nation, to anthropologist Daisy Bates’ observation of First Nations Peoples living ‘into their eighties’ and having a higher life expectancy than Europeans; our healthcare system’s shameful cultural safety deficit has allowed for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child born in Australia today to expect to live 9 years less than a non-Indigenous child. Disproportionately negative healthcare outcomes including early onset diabetes-related foot disease and high rates of lower limb amputation in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples contribute to this gross inequity. Main body In 2020, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority released the National Scheme’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety Strategy 2020–2025 - empowering all registered health practitioners within Australia to provide health care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples that is inclusive, respectful and safe, as judged by the recipient of care. This recently released strategy is critically important to the podiatry profession in Australia. As clinicians, researchers and educators we have a collective responsibility to engage with this strategy of cultural safety. This commentary defines cultural safety for podiatry and outlines the components of the strategy in the context of our profession. Discussion considers the impact of the strategy on podiatry. It identifies mechanisms for podiatrists in all settings to facilitate safer practice, thereby advancing healthcare to produce more equitable outcomes. Conclusion Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples access health services more frequently and have better health outcomes where provision of care is culturally safe. By engaging with the National Scheme’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety Strategy, all registered podiatrists in Australia can contribute to achieving equity in health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

A First Nations Voice: Institutionalising Political Listening

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-542
Author(s):  
Gabrielle Appleby ◽  
Eddie Synot
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Structural Response ◽  
The Political ◽  
Governance Structures ◽  
Torres Strait Islander People ◽  
Australian State ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Careful Design

The Uluru Statement from the Heart offers an opportunity to reorder the Australian constitutional hierarchy as it relates to First Nations. The proposal for a First Nations Voice provides a tailored, structural response to the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people under the Australian state. For the First Nations Voice to meet this potential, it will require more than careful design of the Voice as a new constitutional institution; it will require existing constitutional institutions within the legislature and executive to learn to ‘listen’. This article draws on the political and democratic listening literature to examine how political listening might be practised at the interface between the First Nations Voice and existing constitutional institutions. We suggest five principles to guide this cross-institutional relationship together with ways these principles might be incorporated into governance structures.

Burn Injuries in Hospitalized Australian Children—An Epidemiological Profile

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney Ryder ◽  
Tamara Mackean ◽  
Kate Hunter ◽  
Kris Rogers ◽  
Andrew J A Holland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Total Body Surface Area ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
Hospital Length ◽  
Burn Injuries ◽  
Hospital Length Of Stay ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Epidemiological Profile

Abstract Globally, First Nations children sustain burns at a higher rate than other children. Little is understood about how health inequities contribute, especially from an Indigenous viewpoint. We analyzed data from the Burns Registry of Australian and New Zealand (BRANZ) for acute burns in children (<16 years) admitted to hospital between October 2009 and July 2018. Descriptive statistics examined equity variables in patient and injury characteristics. Poisson regression was used to describe factors associated with bacterial infection. Indigenous research methods were used throughout. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children represented 10.4% of the study population. Health inequities were present for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with longer hospital length of stay (9.5 vs 4.6 days), rural residency (61.3% vs 13.9%), lower socioeconomic status (72.2% vs 34.9%), and more flame burns (19.5% vs 10.6%) compared to other Australian children. Streptococcus sp. infection risk was four times greater in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children compared to other Australian children. Flame burns and high percentage total body surface area burns were a risk for Staphylococcus sp. and Streptococcus sp. infection in all children. The epidemiological profile for burn injuries managed in Australian burns centers differs between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and other children, indicating persistent health inequities. These differences should be considered in the development of injury prevention strategies and the clinical management of burn injuries for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families.

Improving the Service to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders through Innovative Practices Between Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officers and Social Workers in Hospitals in Victoria, Australia†

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Bnads ◽  
Elizabeth Orr ◽  
C John Clements
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
Cultural Safety ◽  
Colonial Legacy ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
First Nations People

Abstract Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have suffered violence and extreme prejudice in every walk of life as a result of the European colonisation of Australia. We acknowledge the ongoing colonial legacy to this suffering and discuss how cultural safety is a solution to overcoming some elements of the disadvantages that still beset Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in terms of accessing health care. Accessible and culturally safe health services are critical in reducing health inequalities for First Nations’ people because of the burden of ill-health they experience. ‘Cultural safety’ in this context refers to approaches that strengthen and respectfully engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures in mainstream services. Alongside holistic Indigenous health and primary prevention approaches, a broad range of medical, socio-cultural and allied health support is needed to alleviate these inequalities. In this article, we describe how the working relationship between Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officers and Social Workers in public hospitals in Victoria, Australia, contributes to cultural safety, and thereby improves the quality of care and a reduction in discharges against medical advice by Aboriginal patients. We conclude that elements of this model may be applicable to improving care for First Nation peoples in other countries.

Australia—golden soil and wealth for toil

2019 ◽  
pp. 104-111
Author(s):  
Mark Britnell
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
New World ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Life Index ◽  
Better Life Index ◽  
The World ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
The Right

Australia has set a new world record by enjoying 27 consecutive years of economic growth. It is on the right side of the world at just the right time in history, as Asia rises. It consistently ranks highly in the OECD Better Life Index which looks at the level of well-being in society. Indeed, the title of this chapter takes some of the lyrics out of the Australian national anthem, Advance Australia Fair. Its healthcare staff are well paid and looked after and clinical facilities are often good, but Australia’s workforce challenges are shaped by the vastness of its land and the enduring inequalities in health outcomes of its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In this chapter, Mark Britnell takes a closer look at the Australian healthcare system and how it affects the country as a whole.

Food and nutrition programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians: an overview of systematic reviews

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Browne ◽  
Karen Adams ◽  
Petah Atkinson ◽  
Deborah Gleeson ◽  
Rick Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Multiple Components ◽  
Nutrition Programs ◽  
Food And Nutrition ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
Torres Strait

Objective To provide an overview of previous reviews of programs that aimed to improve nutritional status or diet-related health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, in order to determine what programs are effective and why. Methods A systematic search of databases and relevant websites was undertaken to identify reviews of nutrition interventions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Pairs of reviewers undertook study selection and data extraction and performed quality assessment using a validated tool. Results Twelve papers reporting 11 reviews were identified. Two reviews were rated high quality, three were rated medium and six were rated low quality. The reviews demonstrated that a positive effect on nutrition and chronic disease indicators can be a result of: 1) incorporating nutrition and breastfeeding advice into maternal and child health care services; and 2) multifaceted community nutrition programs. The evidence suggests that the most important factor determining the success of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander food and nutrition programs is community involvement in (and, ideally, control of) program development and implementation. Conclusions Community-directed food and nutrition programs, especially those with multiple components that address the underlying causes of nutrition issues, can be effective in improving nutrition-related outcomes. What is known about the topic? More effective action is urgently required in order to reduce the unacceptable health inequalities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians. Food insecurity and nutrition-related chronic conditions are responsible for a large proportion of the ill health experienced by Australia’s First Peoples. What does this paper add? This narrative overview of 11 reviews published between 2005 and 2015 provides a synthesis of the current evidence for improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nutrition across the lifespan. The findings suggest that community-based and community-controlled programs, especially those with multiple components that address the underlying causes of nutrition issues, have the greatest potential to improve nutrition-related health outcomes. What are the implications for practitioners? Food and nutrition programs that are initiated and designed by local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are most likely to be effective. Nutrition and breastfeeding education and advice should be consistently incorporated into maternal and child healthcare services. Nutrition issues should be addressed through multifaceted approaches that address improving individual knowledge and skills, as well as strategies that increase access to nutritious food and provide a healthy food environment.

scholarly journals Social Exclusion/Inclusion and Australian First Nations LGBTIQ+ Young People’s Wellbeing

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 42-51
Author(s):  
Karen Soldatic ◽  
Linda Briskman ◽  
William Trewlynn ◽  
John Leha ◽  
Kim Spurway
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Population Group ◽  
Emotional Wellbeing ◽  
Structural Racism ◽  
The Social ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
The Impact

There is little known about the social, cultural and emotional wellbeing (SCEWB) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ+ young people in Australia. What research exists does not disaggregate young people’s experiences from those of their adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ+ peers. The research that forms the basis for this article is one of the first conducted in Australia on this topic. The article uses information from in-depth interviews to inform concepts of social inclusion and exclusion for this population group. The interviews demonstrate the different ways in which social inclusion/exclusion practices, patterns and process within First Nations communities and non-Indigenous LGBTIQ+ communities impact on the SCEWB of these young people. The research demonstrates the importance of acceptance and support from families in particular the centrality of mothers to young people feeling accepted, safe and able to successfully overcome challenges to SCEWB. Non-Indigenous urban LGBTIQ+ communities are at times seen as a “second family” for young people, however, structural racism within these communities is also seen as a problem for young people’s inclusion. This article contributes significant new evidence on the impact of inclusion/exclusion on the SCEWB of Australian First Nations LGBTIQ+ youth.

scholarly journals The Uluru statement

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse John Fleay ◽  
Barry Judd
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Aboriginal Peoples ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Social Reconstruction ◽  
The Road ◽  
Australian State ◽  
Commonwealth Government ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Economic Future

From every State and Territory of Australia, including the islands of the Torres Strait over 200 delegates gathered at the 2017 First Nations National Constitutional Convention in Uluru, which has stood on Anangu Pitjantjatjara country in the Northern Territory since time immemorial, to discuss the issue of constitutional recognition. Delegates agreed that tokenistic recognition would not be enough, and that recognition bearing legal substance must stand, with the possibility to make multiple treaties between Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders and the Commonwealth Government of Australia.  In this paper, we look at the roadmap beyond such a potential change. We make the case for a redistributive approach to capital, and propose key outcomes for social reconstruction, should a voice to parliament, a Makarrata[1] Commission and multiple treaties be enabled through a successful referendum. We conclude that an alteration of the Commonwealth Constitution (Cth) is the preliminary overture of a suite of changes: the constitutional change itself is not the end of the road, but simply the beginning of years of legal change, which seeks provide a socio-economic future for Australia’s First Peoples, and the oldest continuing cultures in the world. Constitutional change seeks to transform the discourse about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander relations with the Australian state from one centred on distributive justice to one that is primarily informed by retributive justice. This paper concerns the future generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and their right to labour in a market that honours their cultural contributions to humanity at large.   [1] Yolŋu ceremony for coming together after a struggle.

Strengthening Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health policy: lessons from a case study of food and nutrition

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (15) ◽  
pp. 2868-2878
Author(s):  
Jennifer Browne ◽  
Deborah Gleeson ◽  
Karen Adams ◽  
Deanne Minniecon ◽  
Rick Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Strategic Communication ◽  
Nutrition Policy ◽  
Policy Problem ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Food And Nutrition ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Torres Strait Islander Health

AbstractObjective:To examine key factors influencing the prioritisation of food and nutrition in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health policy during 1996–2015.Design:A qualitative policy analysis case study was undertaken, combining document analysis with thematic analysis of key informant interviews.Setting:Australia.Participants:Key actors involved in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health policy between 1996 and 2015 (n 38).Results:Prioritisation of food and nutrition in policy reduced over time. Several factors which may have impeded the prioritisation of nutrition were identified. These included lack of cohesion among the community of nutritionists, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and civil society actors advocating for nutrition; the absence of an institutional home for nutrition policy; and lack of consensus and a compelling policy narrative about how priority nutrition issues should be addressed. Political factors including ideology, dismantling of public health nutrition governance structures and missing the opportunities presented by ‘policy windows’ were also viewed as barriers to nutrition policy change. Finally, the complexity and multifaceted nature of nutrition as a policy problem and perceived lack of evidence-based solutions may also have constrained its prioritisation in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health policy.Conclusions:Future advocacy should focus on embedding nutrition within holistic approaches to health and building a collective voice through advocacy coalitions with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership. Strategic communication and seizing political opportunities may be as important as evidence for raising the priority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health issues.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document