scholarly journals Health-Promoting Food Pricing Policies and Decision-Making in Very Remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Stores in Australia

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 2908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Ferguson ◽  
Kerin O'Dea ◽  
Jon Altman ◽  
Marjory Moodie ◽  
Julie Brimblecombe
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Pricing Policies ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Health Promoting ◽  
Torres Strait

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in remote communities in Australia experience a disproportionate burden of diet-related chronic disease. This occurs in an environment where the cost of store-purchased food is high and cash incomes are low, factors that affect both food insecurity and health outcomes. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storeowners and the retailers who work with them implement local policies with the aim of improving food affordability and health outcomes. This paper describes health-promoting food pricing policies, their alignment with evidence, and the decision-making processes entailed in their development in community stores across very remote Australia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of retailers and health professionals identified through the snowball method, September 2015 to October 2016. Data were complemented through review of documents describing food pricing policies. A content analysis of the types and design of policies was undertaken, while the decision-making process was considered through a deductive, thematic analysis. Fifteen retailers and 32 health professionals providing services to stores participated. Subsidies and subsidy/price increase combinations dominated. Magnitude of price changes ranged from 5% to 25% on fruit, vegetables, bottled water, artificially sweetened and sugar sweetened carbonated beverages, and broadly used ‘healthy/essential’ and ‘unhealthy’ food classifications. Feasibility and sustainability were considered during policy development. Greater consideration of acceptability, importance, effectiveness and unintended consequences of policies guided by evidence were deemed important, as were increased involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storeowners and nutritionists in policy development. A range of locally developed health-promoting food pricing policies exist and partially align with research-evidence. The decision-making processes identified offer an opportunity to incorporate evidence, based on consideration of the local context.

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.

scholarly journals “My work? Well, I live it and breathe it”: The seamless connect between the professional and personal/community self in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Dickson
Keyword(s):  
Health Worker ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Indigenous Australian ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Torres Strait Islander Health

Abstract Background Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals often juggle the challenges of working and living in the same community in ways that are positive for both themselves and their clients. This study specifically examines the strategies Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals have developed to enable them to feel empowered by the sense of being always visible or perceived as being always available. Findings provide examples of how participants (Team Members) established a seamless working self, including how they often held different perspectives to many work colleagues, how Team Members were always visible to community and how Team Members were comfortable to be seen as working when not at work. Methods This qualitative study engages an Indigenous research methodology and uses an Indigenous method, PhotoYarning, to explore lived experiences of a group (n = 15) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers as they worked in the Australian health sector. Results The analysis presented here comes from data generated through PhotoYarning sessions. Team Members in this study all work in health care settings in the communities in which they also live, they manage an extremely complex network of interactions and relationships in their daily working lives. They occupy an ambivalent, and sometimes ambiguous, position as representing both their health profession and their community. This article explores examples of what working with seamlessness involved, with findings citing four main themes: (1) Being fellow members of their cultural community, (2) the feeling of always being visible to community as a health worker, (3) the feeling of always being available as a health worker to community even when not at work and (4) the need to set an example. Conclusions While creating the seamlessness of working and living in the same community was not easy, Team Members considered it an important feature of the work they did and vital if they were to be able to provide quality health service to their community. However, they reported that the seamless working self was at odds with the way many of their non-Indigenous Australian colleagues worked and it was not well understood.

scholarly journals The Power of Words: Bias and Assumptions in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melitta Hogarth
Keyword(s):  
Policy Development ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Dominant Ideology ◽  
Educational Attainments ◽  
Policy Development Process ◽  
Indigenous Voice ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Power Of Words

This paper argues that genuine engagement and consultation is required where Indigenous voice is prevalent within the policy development process for true progress to be achieved in the educational attainments of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. It is important to note that there has been little critical analysis of policy discourses. More specifically, analysis of how language is used to maintain societal constructs. By providing an Indigenous standpoint, it is anticipated that this paper makes explicit to policymakers the bias and taken for granted assumptions held by those who produced it. This paper is derived from a larger project, namely my Masters of Education (Research) thesis (Hogarth, 2015). The major findings that emerged from the data included (a) the homogenous grouping of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, (b) the maintenance of the prevalent dominant ideology of a deficit view within policy and finally (c) the expectation of government of increased engagement and connections with and by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in education without consideration of the detrimental effects of past policies and reforms. The potential implications of making explicit how language positions Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students’ educational attainment can inform future policymaking and contribute to the struggle for self-determination.

scholarly journals Effects of Nutritional Interventions on Cardiovascular Disease Health Outcomes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians: A Scoping Review

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 4084
Author(s):  
Bobby Porykali ◽  
Alyse Davies ◽  
Cassandra Brooks ◽  
Hannah Melville ◽  
Margaret Allman-Farinelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Quality Appraisal ◽  
Nutritional Interventions ◽  
Nutrition Programs ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Appraisal Tool

Nutrition interventions can support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This review examines nutritional interventions aiming to improve CVD outcomes and appraises peer-reviewed interventions using an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Quality Appraisal Tool. Five electronic databases and grey literature were searched, applying no time limit. Two reviewers completed the screening, data extraction and quality assessment independently. The study quality was assessed using the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute and the Centre of Research Excellence in Aboriginal Chronic Disease Knowledge Translation and Exchange Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Quality Appraisal Tool (QAT). Twenty-one nutrition programs were included in this review. Twelve reported on anthropometric measurements, ten on biochemical and/or hematological measurements and sixteen on other outcome domains. Most programs reported improvements in measurable CVD risk factors, including reduced body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), weight, blood pressure and improved lipid profiles. Most programs performed well at community engagement and capacity strengthening, but many lacked the inclusion of Indigenous research paradigms, governance and strengths-based approaches. This review highlights the need for contemporary nutrition programs aimed at improving cardiovascular health outcomes to include additional key cultural components.

scholarly journals The effectiveness of Ear Nose and Throat outreach programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians: a systematic review

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Gotis-Graham ◽  
Rona Macniven ◽  
Kelvin Kong ◽  
Kylie Gwynne
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
List Type ◽  
Torres Strait Islander People ◽  
Outreach Programs ◽  
Outreach Services ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Nose And Throat ◽  
Improve Health

AbstractBackgroundAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children experience a higher prevalence of ear, nose, and throat (ENT) diseases than non-Indigenous children. Many programs exist that aim to prevent and treat these diseases. Culturally appropriate and timely specialist outreach services may help improve access, service use, and outcomes but there has been a lack of rigorous evaluation of ENT outreach programs to date.ObjectiveTo examine the ability of ENT outreach programs to improve health outcomes among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peopleMethodsWe performed a systematic literature search of nine databases (Medline, CINAHLS, PsychINFO, Embase, Cochrane, Scopus, Global health, Informit Rural health database and Indigenous collection) and grey literature sources for primary studies evaluating ENT outreach services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Two authors independently evaluated the eligible articles and extracted relevant information.ResultsOf the 506 studies identified, 15 were included in this review. These 15 studies evaluated eight different programs/activities. Studies were heterogeneous in design so a meta-analysis could not be conducted. Seven studies measured health-related outcomes in middle ear or hearing status; six reported overall positive changes one reported no clinically significant improvements. Five programs/activities and their corresponding studies involved Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations in delivery and evaluation, but involvement in program or study design was unclear.ConclusionWhile some studies demonstrated improved outcomes, the overall ability of ENT programs/activities to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children is unclear. The impact of ENT outreach may be limited by a lack of evidence quality, a lack of coordination of services, and the provision of potentially unsustainable services. Improvements in the quality of evidence, service coordination and sustainability would likely improve health outcomes.Strengths and limitations of this studyStudies were identification based on a clearly defined and extensive search strategy based on a priori inclusion and exclusion criteriaStudy appraisal was performed using a relevant tool for mixed methods studiesThe involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in all aspects of programs and their evaluation was examinedPROSPERO registration numberCRD42019134757

scholarly journals Getting A Job

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bronwyn Fredericks
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Torres Strait Islander People ◽  
Aboriginal Women ◽  
Education Levels ◽  
Indigenous Participation ◽  
Torres Strait

Indigenous participation in employment has long been seen as an indicator of Indigenous economic participation in Australia. Researchers have linked participation in employment to improved health outcomes, increased education levels and greater self-esteem. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of Indigenous workforce policies and employment strategies as employers and industries attempt to employ more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Coupled with this has been a push to employ more Indigenous people in specific sectors to address the multiple layers of disadvantage experienced by Indigenous people, for example, the health sector. This paper draws on interview discussions with Aboriginal women in Rockhampton, Central Queensland, along with findings from the research of others to offer a greater understanding of the mixed benefits of increased Indigenous employment. What is demonstrated is that the nature of Indigenous employment is complex and not as simple as ‘just getting a job’.

Networking, Leadership, Empowerment

2009 ◽  
Vol 06 (02) ◽  
pp. 69-74
Author(s):  
I. T. Calliess ◽  
K. Treichel ◽  
J. Nikitopoulos ◽  
A. Malik ◽  
M. Rojnic Kuzman
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Educational Programs ◽  
Educational Policies ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Fit For Purpose

SummaryAs society’s expectations of mental health professional change radically, educational programs and policies need to keep pace with this change. Trainees and young psychiatrists have established their distinct identity and assured that educational policies are reformed to create competent mental health professionals who are fit for purpose in tomorrow’s world. In order for this to happen, it has taken over a decade of dedication, hard work and motivation from past and present psychiatric trainees and young psychiatrists to travel the journey from having a vision of an international network to develop the existing highly structured network. Networking and empowerment facilitated by national and international young psychiatrists’ organizations has allowed young psychiatrists to participate in decision-making processes and create frameworks for their own professional development. This paper outlines the principles and objectives that underpin the existing networks of national and international young psychiatrists’ organizations. It also describes the various educational and networking activities undertaken by these organizations and uses the case study from Croatia to describe the role of these networks in the formation of national associations of young psychiatrists and trainees.

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