“We are not stray leaves blowing about in the wind”: exploring the impact of Family Wellbeing empowerment research, 1998–2021

Background An Aboriginal-developed empowerment and social and emotional wellbeing program, known as Family Wellbeing (FWB), has been found to strengthen the protective factors that help Indigenous Australians to deal with the legacy of colonisation and intergenerational trauma. This article reviews the research that has accompanied the implementation of the program, over a 23 year period. The aim is to assess the long-term impact of FWB research and identify the key enablers of research impact and the limitations of the impact assessment exercise. This will inform more comprehensive monitoring of research impact into the future. Methods To assess impact, the study took an implementation science approach, incorporating theory of change and service utilisation frameworks, to create a logic model underpinned by Indigenous research principles. A research impact narrative was developed based on mixed methods analysis of publicly available data on: 1) FWB program participation; 2) research program funding; 3) program outcome evaluation (nine studies); and 4) accounts of research utilisation (seven studies). Results Starting from a need for research on empowerment identified by research users, an investment of $2.3 million in research activities over 23 years produced a range of research outputs that evidenced social and emotional wellbeing benefits arising from participation in the FWB program. Accounts of research utilisation confirmed the role of research outputs in educating participants about the program, and thus, facilitating more demand (and funding acquisition) for FWB. Overall research contributed to 5,405 recorded participants accessing the intervention. The key enablers of research impact were; 1) the research was user- and community-driven; 2) a long-term mutually beneficial partnership between research users and researchers; 3) the creation of a body of knowledge that demonstrated the impact of the FWB intervention via different research methods; 4) the universality of the FWB approach which led to widespread application. Conclusions The FWB research impact exercise reinforced the view that assessing research impact is best approached as a “wicked problem” for which there are no easy fixes. It requires flexible, open-ended, collaborative learning-by-doing approaches to build the evidence base over time. Steps and approaches that research groups might take to build the research impact knowledge base within their disciplines are discussed.

Boosting emotional intelligence in the post-Covid. Flexible approaches in teaching social and emotional skills

The Covid pandemic has opened new challenges for education, especially for the social and emotional wellbeing of children and adolescents who had to face unprecedented and upsetting changes in their daily lives. The paper explores the possibilities offered by the social-emotional intelligence framework in helping children and youths develop the good emotional literacy needed for facing such a challenging time and growing as wholesome adults. This is done through an in-depth analysis of the concept of replication and generalization and by proposing a perspective working model for embedding social and emotional learning in daily teaching and learning activities. Promuovere l’intelligenza emotiva nel post-Covid. Approcci flessibili per insegnare le competenze sociali e emotive. La pandemia di Covid ha introdotto nuove sfide nel mondo dell’educazione, in modo particolare per quanto riguarda il benessere sociale e emotivo di bambini e adolescenti che hanno dovuto affrontare cambiamenti sconvolgenti senza precedenti nel loro vivere quotidiano. L’articolo esplora le possibilità offerte dal costrutto di educazione socio-emotiva a supporto dello sviluppo in bambini e ragazzi di un’alfabetizzazione emotiva solida, necessaria per affrontare un periodo così sfidante e per la loro crescita futura. Tutto questo è fatto attraverso un’analisi approfondita dei concetti di replicabilità e generalizzazione e attraverso la proposta di un nuovo modello di lavoro per integrare l’educazione socio-emotiva all’interno delle azioni didattiche quotidiane

Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Information: Progress, Pitfalls, and Prospects

Despite significant developments in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health information over the last 25 years, many challenges remain. There are still uncertainties about the accuracy of estimates of the summary measure of life expectancy, and methods to estimate changes in life expectancy over time are unreliable because of changing patterns of identification. Far too little use is made of the wealth of information that is available, and formal systems for systematically using that information are often vestigial to non-existent. Available information has focussed largely on traditional biomedical topics and too little on access to, expenditure on, and availability of services required to improve health outcomes, and on the underpinning issues of social and emotional wellbeing. It is of concern that statistical artefacts may have been misrepresented as indicating real progress in key health indices. Challenges and opportunities for the future include improving the accuracy of estimation of life expectancy, provision of community level data, information on the availability and effectiveness of health services, measurement of the underpinning issues of racism, culture and social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB), enhancing the interoperability of data systems, and capacity building and mechanisms for Indigenous data governance. There is little point in having information unless it is used, and formal mechanisms for making full use of information in a proper policy/planning cycle are urgently required.

From Digital Mental Health to Digital Social and Emotional Wellbeing: How Indigenous Community-Based Participatory Research Influenced the Australian Government’s Digital Mental Health Agenda

This paper describes the first six years of a government-initiated project to train Indigenous health professionals in digital mental health (d-MH). It illustrates how community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods were used to enable this “top-down” project to be transformed into a ‘ground-up’ community-guided process; and how, in turn, the guidance from the local Indigenous community partners went on to influence the national government’s d-MH agenda. The CBPR partnership between five community partners and a university rural health department is described, with illustrations of how CBPR harnessed the community’s voice in making the project relevant to their wellbeing needs. The local Indigenous community’s involvement led to a number of unexpected outcomes, which impacted locally and nationally. At an early stage, the conceptual framework of the project was changed from d-MH to the culturally-relevant Indigenous framework of digital social and emotional wellbeing (d-SEWB). This led to a significant expansion of the range and type of digital resources; and to other notable outcomes such as successful advocacy for an Aboriginal-specific online therapy program and for a dedicated “one-stop-shop” d-SEWB website, Wellmob, which was funded by the Australian government in 2019–2021. Some of the implications of this project for future Indigenous CBPR projects are discussed.

Student Wellbeing in Contexts of Protracted Violent Conflict

In contexts of protracted violent conflict, school environments play a key role in children’s psychological, social, and emotional wellbeing. Research by the REALISE education project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) provides a better understanding of how violent conflict penetrates schools; the relationship between school staff, students, parents, and the local community; and the role of children’s social entourage. It identifies key considerations for education projects operating in these contexts and how they can best support the wellbeing of children, including those who are extremely isolated or experience marginalisation on the basis of gender or minority status.

“We Are Not Stray Leaves Blowing About In The Wind”: Summing Up The Impact of Family Wellbeing Empowerment Research, 1998-2021

Background: An Aboriginal-developed empowerment and social and emotional wellbeing program, known as Family Wellbeing (FWB), has been found to strengthen the protective factors that help Indigenous Australians to deal with the devastating legacy of colonisation and intergenerational trauma. This article reviews the research that has accompanied the implementation of FWB over a 23 year period to assess the long-term impact of FWB research and the strengths and limitations of the impact data. This will inform more comprehensive monitoring of research impact.Methods: The study took a theory of change approach, following the steps of a research program logic, to assess impact. A mixed methods evaluation of publicly available research outputs was conducted. We analysed FWB participation data and research funding using descriptive statistics. We conducted systematic scoping reviews of: 1) nine evaluative studies to show reported social and emotional wellbeing benefits of FWB; and 2) seven FWB research translation-related resources to show impact of research outputs on further reach and uptake. Results: The investment of $2.3 million in research-related activities over 23 years resulted in a range of research outputs that evidenced social and emotional wellbeing benefits arising from participation in FWB. This evidence, in part, facilitated more demand for FWB. Overall the FWB program, and accompanying research, had a direct positive impact on the social and emotional wellbeing of approximately 7,500 participants.Conclusions: The study raised a range of issues relevant to demonstrating research impact in the context of Indigenous health research including the value of a logic model that is informed by Indigenous research principles; the need to take a longer-term incremental approach to building evidence when dealing with complex or messy social health interventions; and the importance of collecting evidence, especially from the point of view of end users, about the extent to which research influenced their decisions and actions regarding the program. This lesson, and the impact logic, highlight that researchers need to create appropriate databases from the beginning and collect data well beyond the life of the project, even though we acknowledge that such endeavours are rarely funded.

Measuring Social and Emotional Wellbeing in Aboriginal Youth Using Strong Souls: A Rasch Measurement Approach

Currently, there are few robustly evaluated social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) measures available for use with Aboriginal youth in research, policy, and practice. As such, this study used a Rasch measurement approach to examine the psychometric properties of Strong Souls, a 25-item self-reported SEWB instrument, created for use with Aboriginal youth in the Northern Territory. Our sample (N = 154) included youth (15–25 years old) living on Whadjuk (metropolitan Western Australia; N = 91) and Kamilaroi countries (rural New South Wales; N = 63). Using Rasch modelling techniques, evidence for multidimensionality in the scale was observed, resulting in subsequent analyses conducted separately on two subscales: Psychological Distress and Resilience. The Resilience subscale did not meet the Rasch model assumptions, with poor person and item separation and reliability indexes suggesting the scale was not reliably differentiating between participants’ Resilience scores. The Psychological Distress subscale had mixed separation and reliability index results, with good construct validity implied but poorer ability to target the distress of participants. Our findings provide novel evidence demonstrating the functioning of Strong Souls in a contemporary sample of Aboriginal youth, suggesting further modifications of the instrument are required before it can be used with confidence as a reliable measure in this population group.