Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health: an overview
This chapter initially examines the concepts of physical and mental health and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as they were understood and practiced over the vast majority of the last 40,000 years or so. The devastating consequences of the European colonisation of Australia for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are described. […]
Addressing fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in Aboriginal communities
This chapter begins with a description of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and examples of reported prevalence of FASD in the international context. It then draws on international and Australian studies to describe the burden of FASD, including studies relevant to the Aboriginal population. The section on the Australian context provides a description of some […]
Negotiating worldviews: Indigenous place in academic space
This chapter describes and critiques, from the perspective of an Indigenous global scholar, the development and delivery of a series of degree courses of study designed to respond to the historical, social and cultural trauma consequent to colonial worldviews interfacing with Aboriginal Australian Peoples and the expressed need for healing – not a word commonly […]
Harmful Substance Use and Mental Health
In this chapter, we briefly examine harmful substance use and mental health among Aboriginal Australians. We explore a range of issues including current substance use and related harms, social and emotional wellbeing and comorbidity, and the social determinants of mental health and harmful substance use. We examine the range of services that have been developed […]
Experiencing racism in health care: the mental health impacts for Victorian Aboriginal communities
Developing an exploratory framework linking Australian Aboriginal peoples’ connection to Country and concepts of wellbeing
Aboriginal people across Australia suffer significant health inequalities compared with the non-Indigenous population. Evidence indicates that inroads can be made to reduce these inequalities by better understanding social and cultural determinants of health, applying holistic notions of health and developing less rigid definitions of wellbeing. The following article draws on qualitative research on Victorian Aboriginal […]
Making Tracks: A Trauma-Informed Framework for Supporting Aboriginal Young People Leaving Care
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people leaving out-of-home care are even more likely to experience poor outcomes and with more serious consequences This framework is a trauma and attachment-informed approach embedded in a cultural, ecological and developmental perspective. It aims to help workers recognise and make sense of many of the young people’s behaviours, […]
Key Messages – Making Tracks: Trauma-Informed Practice Guide for Aboriginal Young People Leaving Care
This practice guide highlights key messages arising from the development of a trauma and attachment-informed framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people leaving care. The more detailed framework is described in the Making Tracks: A trauma-informed framework for supporting Aboriginal young people leaving care (Jackson, Waters, Meehan, Hunter & Corlett, 2013). This practice […]
Trauma-informed services and trauma-specific care for Indigenous Australian children
This report provides comprehensive information on trauma in Indigenous Australian children. It examines the effects of trauma while also providing an overview of recent government initiatives implemented to address the negative consequences of trauma exposure in childhood and adulthood. The report also describes the delivery of trauma-informed services and trauma-specific care. Complementing the information in […]
A reference list for teaching about Indigenous Australians in psychology
The purpose of the list is to compile a reference list for psychology professionals who might be searching for relevant research to cover in their undergraduate courses. The list is partial and doubtless will expand in future updates. Sections include: 1) Scholarly articles 2) Coverage of relevant issues in psychology textbooks; 3) Psychology studies with […]
The role of traditional medicine practice in primary health care within Aboriginal Australia: a review of the literature
The practice of traditional Aboriginal medicine within Australia is at risk of being lost due to the impact of colonisation. Displacement of people from traditional lands as well as changes in family structures affecting passing on of cultural knowledge are two major examples of this impact. Prior to colonisation traditional forms of healing, such as […]
Traditional Healers of the Central Desert : Ngangkari
Traditional Healers of the Central Desert contains unique stories and imagery and primary source material: the ngangkari speak directly to the reader. Ngangkari are senior Aboriginal people authorised to speak publicly about Anangu (Western Desert language speaking Aboriginal people) culture and practices. It is accurate, authorised information about their work, in their own words. The […]
Measures of Indigenous social capital and their relationship with well-being
Objective: To provide the first estimates of a comprehensive measure of social capital for the Indigenous population and to link the indicators to well-being. Design: Observational study-based. Setting: Household survey. Participants: Nationally representative sample of 7823 Indigenous Australians aged 15 years and over who were usual residents of private dwellings. Main outcome measure: Whether or […]
Our healing, our solutions: Volume 3
In May 2010, the Healing Foundation announced its first funding initiative aimed at acknowledging and addressing the pain and hurt caused by colonisation, forced removals and other past government policies. The primary purpose of the healing initiatives was to improve the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous people and communities, focusing on the wellbeing of […]
Challenging hidden assumptions: colonial norms as determinants of Aboriginal mental health
This paper examines how mental health service research and discourse reflect such remnant colonial ideas and, as such, constitute a social determinant of mental health for Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The paper is organized as follows. First, the methods used to gather information are briefly described. A second section looks at what areas research tends […]
Mental health impacts of racial discrimination in Victorian Aboriginal communities: The Localities Embracing and Accepting Diversity (LEAD) Experiences of Racism Survey,
We surveyed 755 Aboriginal Australians in four communities across Victoria in 2011. • Aboriginal people were asked about their background, experiences of racism and where they occurred, response strategies and the impact of racism on anxiety, mental distress (measured using the K5 scale for psychological distress) and behaviour and the impact of racism on their […]
Hear our voices: community consultattions for the development of an empowerment, healing and leadership program for Aboriginal people living in the Kimberley, Western Australia. Final Research Report
This research Project was initiated in response to the high number of suicides in the Kimberley, northern Western Australia over more than ten years, which sadly, has only worsened in the past 12 months. Between 1999 and 2006, there were 96 Aboriginal suicide deaths in the Kimberley, an average of one suicide per month over […]
Reducing the health disparities of Indigenous Australians: time to change focus
Background: Indigenous peoples have worse health than non-Indigenous, are over-represented amongst the poor and disadvantaged, have lower life expectancies, and success in improving disparities is limited. To address this, research usually focuses on disadvantaged and marginalised groups, offering only partial understanding of influences underpinning slow progress. Critical analysis is also required of those with the […]
Do indigenous health curricula in health science education reduce disparities in health care outcomes?
The DRUID study: Exploring mediating pathways between racism and depressive symptoms among Indigenous Australians
Purpose: Racism is an important determinant of mental and physical health for minority populations. However, to date little is known about the relationship between racism and ill-health outside of the U.S. or the causal pathways between racism and poor health. This paper focuses on the relationship between racism and depression in a non-U.S. indigenous population, […]
Community psychology, critical theory, and community development in Indigenous empowerment
In this chapter, we argue that community, liberation and peace psychology and the psychology of oppression share a common concern with issues of social exclusion, social inequality and peacebuilding. This shared concern is reflected in a commitment to developing theories and modes of practice that can address problems of structural violence and that can contribute […]
Racism and health among urban Aboriginal young people
Background: Racism has been identified as an important determinant of health but few studies have explored associations between racism and health outcomes for Australian Aboriginal young people in urban areas. Methods: Cross sectional data from participants aged 12-26 years in Wave 1 of the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service’s Young People’s Project were included in hierarchical […]
Responding to racism: Insights on how racism can damage health from an urban study of Australian Aboriginal people
This paper examines responses to racism and the pathways through which racism can affect health and wellbeing for Aboriginal people living in an urban environment. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in 2006/07 with 153 Aboriginal people living in Adelaide, Australia. Participants were asked about their experience of, and responses to, racism, and the impact of these […]
A framework for decolonization intervention: broadening the focus for improving the health and wellbeing of Indigenous communities
Colonization has spread around the world and inexorably affected millions of people over the last few centuries. There have been many scattered intervention strategies to overcome some of the long-term effects of colonization, especially for health, education, and employment. With respect to the inequalities and discriminations that have remained after centuries, however, it is less […]
Closing the gaps in and through Indigenous health research: guidelines, processes and practices
Research in Aboriginal contexts remains a vexed issue given the ongoing inequities and injustices in Indigenous health. It is widely accepted that good research providing a sound evidence base is critical to closing the gap in Aboriginal health and wellbeing outcomes. However, key contemporary research issues still remain regarding how that research is prioritised, carried […]