Ngununggula: The story of a cancer care team for aboriginal people

In Dharawal Country in regional New South Wales, a small and powerful team provides cancer prevention, screening, support and care for Australian Aboriginal people, their families and communities. In keeping with Aboriginal practices and values, their uniquely holistic approach encompasses everything from food security and finding childcare, to support at diagnosis, surgical, radiation or chemo treatment, through to holding funerals, facilitating yarning groups, and Ceremony for survivors of cancer and their carers. The team created a manual for Aboriginal Health Workers, and other staff of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, together with training webinars, and modules. The program is also designed for Aboriginal Liaison Officers and Palliative Care Workers who work in hospitals. The book and the training modules are called Ngununggula. The name, from the Gundungurra language, means working and walking together. “We’ll make ourselves available to anyone that wants to tread this path because we know all the pitfalls. We’ve learned them. We’ve tripped and had to climb out of them again. Anyone that wants the shortcuts—more learning, less pain—here they are. We want to share and help. I want the message to get out all over the place. I want to share the resources, to support anyone else who wants to run programs or build a team like we do.” Kyla Wynn, Counsellor/Co-ordinator Cancer Care Team, Illawarra Aboriginal Medical Service. Partners include: Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council, Illawarra Aboriginal Medical Service, University of Sydney, University of Wollongong, Menzies School of Health Research.

Quality of Life in the First Year of Cancer Diagnosis among Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal People Living in Regional and Remote Areas of Australia

Little is known of the quality of life (QoL) of cancer patients in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia, where healthcare delivery is geographically challenged. This exploratory study describes QoL among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cancer patients in the NT, in the first year of diagnosis. Participants were recruited from the only cancer care centre in the NT and completed the Assessment of Quality-of-Life questionnaire (AQoL-4D). The results were descriptively analysed. The participants’ (n = 63; mean age 58.8 years) mean AQoL utility score was 0.72 (SD 0.26); patients scored lowest in the relationships and mental health dimensions of the questionnaire (mean 0.89, SD 0.19, and 0.89, SD 0.17, respectively). Participants living in remote and very remote areas (46%) reported higher QoL scores, compared with participants in the outer regional capital city of the NT in the overall (mean 0.76, SD 0.22 and 0.78, SD 0.20 vs. 0.67, SD 0.29, respectively), and mental health dimensions (mean 0.92, SD 0.09 and mean 0.94, SD 0.06 vs. 0.85, SD 0.22, respectively). The findings were suggestive of clinically meaningful differences across socioeconomic groups, cancer and treatment types, and comorbidity status. Mean QoL scores were consistent with previous reports in other Australian cancer cohorts. The findings suggest a need to support cancer patients’ mental health and relationships during the diagnosis and treatment phase of their cancer journey.

Diaspora as a Repercussion of Colonization in the Kim Scott’s ‘Benang’

Colonization created upheavals around the world. The worlds of Native Americans, Australian Aboriginals which were unaware of the other world that existed were shattered and scattered by the colonial rule. The indigenous people were subjected to cruel treatment at the hands of colonizers. In the Americas the mass killings of the natives took place by intentional spreading of the epidemics. Same incidents took place in Australia. The colonial rule always invented novel ways to destroy the native people, culture and their society. For instance, the policy of Doctrine of lapse which was introduced in India destroyed the local rulers and the princely states. Due to this many princely states in India came under the rule of British. In Australia to eliminate aboriginals the white government came up with the idea of assimilation policy. Assimilation policy was a policy of absorbing aboriginal people onto white society through the process of removing children from their aboriginal families forcefully. The ultimate intent of the policy was the destruction of Aboriginal society. The protagonist of the novel Benang is the victim of this process. He also goes through the diasporic experiences of alienation, isolation and loss of identity. This paper analyses the diaspora as a repercussion of colonization in the novel Benang.

Commercial Cultivation of Australian Wild Oryza spp.: A Review and Conceptual Framework for Future Research Needs

Wild Oryza species are being targeted for commercial cultivation due to their high nutritional grain profile, and their association with Aboriginal people in many regions. Australian wild Oryza species have potential as high-value, low-volume, culturally identified, and nutritious food, especially in gourmet food, tourism, restaurants, and value-added products. However, the basic agronomic protocols for their cultivation as a field crop are unknown. In this review, we identify the major factors supporting the commercial production of wild Oryza, including their stress-tolerant capacity, excellent grain quality attributes, and Indigenous cultural identification of their grains. The key challenges to be faced during the development of a wild rice industry are also discussed which include management barriers, processing issues, undesirable wild traits, and environmental concern. This manuscript proposes the use of agronomic research, in combination with breeding programs, as an overarching framework for the conceptualization and implementation of a successful wild rice industry, using the North American wild rice industry as a case study. The framework also suggests an integrated system that connects producers, industry, and government stakeholders. The suggested procedures for developing a wild rice industry in Australia are also applicable for other wild Oryza species.

Staying moving, staying strong: Protocol for developing culturally appropriate information for Aboriginal people with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and gout

Introduction Addressing disparities in arthritis care is an important yet unmet health need for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia (respectfully Aboriginal people herewith). Despite the significant prevalence and burden of arthritis within Aboriginal communities, access to care for arthritis is low. One means to reduce existing disparities in health care is to address current challenges relating to the appropriateness and acceptability of health care information resources for Aboriginal people. Health information sources can help to empower patients and their families to have greater involvement in their care and to engage in self-management of their condition. Despite an extensive range of arthritis information resources being available, currently no resources have been culturally adapted and developed in collaboration with Aboriginal consumers with arthritis. This paper outlines the processes that will be undertaken within the Staying Moving, Staying Strong project. This project aims to develop culturally secure arthritis information for Aboriginal people with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and gout. Methods and analysis The overarching principle guiding this project is cultural security, referring to the incorporation of processes such that the research will not compromise the cultural rights, values and expectations of Aboriginal people. This project will prioritise partnerships, community engagement, community benefit, sustainability, transferability, and capacity building and therefore uphold the cultural rights and values of Aboriginal people. In this six-phase project we will; 1) Establish a community reference group and advisory committee; 2) Explore the health information needs and preferences of Aboriginal people with arthritis; 3) Synthesise the existing key recommendations in high quality clinical practice guidelines on arthritis care; 4) Culturally adapt key clinical recommendations; 5) Develop culturally appropriate arthritis resources and; 6) Qualitatively evaluate the developed resources.

A geophysical analysis of Aboriginal earth mounds in the Murray River Valley, South Australia

Earth mounds are common archaeological features in some regions of Australia, particularly within the Murray-Darling Basin. These features are generally considered to have formed via the repeated use of earth oven cookery methods employed by Aboriginal people during the mid- to late-Holocene. This study assesses the relative effectiveness of key geophysical methods including magnetometry, groundpenetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) in mapping, and determining the stratigraphy of earth mound sites. Three earth mounds adjacent to Hunchee Creek, on Calperum Station in South Australia's Riverland region, were chosen to conduct a comparative trial of these methods. This research demonstrated that geophysics can be used to both locate mounds and provide information as to deposit thickness and size. Individual ovens within mounds can also be located. This suggests a greater potential role for geophysics in understanding the Holocene archaeological record in Australia.

Ensuring food security of indigenous peoples in Latin America by the UN food and agricultural organization (FAO)

The activities of the United Nations in the 21st century, as in the earlier period, are undoubtedly devoted to protection and promotion of human rights. It promotes the realization of fundamental human rights through specialized agencies in various fields taking in account concerns and needs of vulnerable groups of population, in particular indigenous peoples. The World Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), in its turn, develops policies and implements strategies and programs to guarantee food security and the right to food to aboriginal people around the world, including in Latin America.

Law, Justice, and Indigenous Intergenerational Trauma—A Genealogy

Aboriginal Australians experience trauma that is linked to continuing colonising practices in the present, and which are also reproduced throughout the more than 230 years of colonisation. Intergeneration trauma intersects with the over-representation of Aboriginal people in the welfare and justice systems. This paper examines evidence of the relations between trauma and colonialising practices imposed on Indigenous peoples, as past and present conditions leading to intergenerational trauma. Historical and present-day conditions affecting Aboriginal children and families are shown to set in place the conditions producing trauma over time.

Very high prevalence of infection with the human T cell leukaemia virus type 1c in remote Australian Aboriginal communities: Results of a large cross-sectional community survey

Infection with the human T cell leukaemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) subtype C is endemic among Aboriginal people in central Australia. To provide insights into the risk factors for transmission, we conducted the first large-scale, community-based prevalence study in seven remote Aboriginal communities. Residents >2 years old were invited to participate in the study between August 2014 and June 2018. HTLV-1 infection was defined as a positive western blot (WB) test or a positive HTLV-1 PCR. 720 community residents participated in the study (children <15 years, 142; adults, 578). Prevalences for children and adults were 3.5% (5/142) and 36.8% (213/578), respectively, reaching 49.3% (106/215) for those older than 45 years. A wide range of proviral loads were measured for both asymptomatic and symptomatic participants with no difference within groups according to age or gender; however, median PVL was 1.34 log10 higher for symptomatic participants. The adult prevalence of HTLV-1 infection in central Australia is the highest reported worldwide. Sexual contact is likely to be the predominant mode of transmission.