Lost in the great desert, preventing Aboriginal suicide
“We are working at a pace to make a real difference but in the end it will come down to governments recognising that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide is a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. If you are an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged 15 to 35, nearly one in three deaths will be a […]
Health services explore new technology to overcome language barriers in Indigenous healthcare
With a life expectancy gap of about 10 years and poor health outcomes, some health services are looking towards new forms of technology to bridge the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health services in Australia.
Racial Bias in Health Care and Health: Challenges and Opportunities
This Viewpoint describes the contribution of racial bias to disparities in health care and discusses the need to increase awareness of disparities and work toward eliminating discrimination and its adverse effects. A landmark report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2003 documented that from the simplest to the most technologically advanced diagnostic and therapeutic […]
What constitutes benefit from health care interventions for Indigenous Australians?
The health of Indigenous Australians is poor compared to that of their counterpart Australians. Further, their health is worse by international standards. The Australian Government recently made a commitment to improving the health status of Indigenous Australians through the ‘closing the health gap’ initiative. Achieving this requires an improvement in the priority setting process through […]
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2014 Report
This is the fifth report against the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework (HPF). The HPF monitors progress in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health outcomes, health system performance and the broader determinants of health. The health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is improving for a number of measures, although there […]
Developing a best practice pathway to support improvements in Indigenous Australians’ mental health and well-being: a qualitative study
Objective There is a need to adapt pathways to care to promote access to mental health services for Indigenous people in Australia. This study explored Indigenous community and service provider perspectives of well-being and ways to promote access to care for Indigenous people at risk of depressive illness. Design A participatory action research framework was […]
Assessing the social and emotional well-being of Indigenous students
Indigenous people are a vulnerable and disadvantaged population whom collectively face much higher levels of health risks and challenges than non-Indigenous people. Indigenous youth in particular represent a population that are at even greater risk, as interaction between socio-economic, geographic, and cultural differences contributes to a lack of opportunity for youth to experience positive outcomes […]
Like drawing into sand’: acceptability, feasibility, and appropriateness of a new e-mental health resource for service providers working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Cross-cultural considerations and difficulties recruiting and retaining skilled workers in rural and remote regions may contribute to poorer service use for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. However, electronic resources may provide the opportunity for remote workforces to deliver structured, evidence-based, culturally appropriate treatments with limited training burden. The aim was to develop and determine […]
Traditional Aboriginal Healing & Western Medicine, The Missing Gap
The sixth Slice of LIME Seminar was hosted by the Poche Indigenous Health Network in Sydney, on Thursday 28th April 2016. Do we need traditional Aboriginal medicine working with western medicine to close the gap? This Close the Gap forum considered the health maintenance and traditional healing practices of Aboriginal Ngangkari in western medicine. Could […]
A tertiary approach to improving equity in health: quantitative analysis of the Māori and Pacific Admission Scheme (MAPAS) process, 2008–2012
Introduction Achieving health equity for indigenous and ethnic minority populations requires the development of an ethnically diverse health workforce. This study explores a tertiary admission programme targeting Māori and Pacific applicants to nursing, pharmacy and health sciences (a precursor to medicine) at the University of Auckland (UoA), Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). Application of cognitive and […]
Aboriginal communities improving Aboriginal health: An evidence review on the contribution of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services to improving Aboriginal health
Aboriginal communities have a long history of working to address the needs of Aboriginal peoples. Since the first Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS) was established in Redfern, NSW in 1971, more than 150 ACCHSs have been established around Australia. While the Aboriginal community controlled health sector has long argued that ACCHSs are a vital […]
The value of partnerships: lessons from a multi-site evaluation of a national social and emotional wellbeing program for Indigenous youth
Objective: To evaluate the first three years of a national program to improve the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous youth in remote and regional Australia. Methods: Combination of open inquiry and audit review involving investigation of process and outcomes, with a broad national overview supplemented by five in-depth case studies in diverse settings. Results: […]
Yarning about parenthood and your bub
This booklet for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander audiences aims to help support the mental health of new parents. It is adapted from the What Were We Thinking program and provides practical approaches to adjusting to the new role of being a parent.
Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Declaration: National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership in Mental Health
The Wharerātā Group of Indigenous mental health leaders from Canada, the United States, Australia, Samoa and New Zealand developed the Wharerātā Declaration in 2010.1 It comprises five themes on the importance of Indigenous leadership in addressing the common mental health challenges faced by Indigenous peoples around the world. Member countries of the International Initiative for […]
Red Dust Healing: Acknowledging the past, changing the future
This chapter provides a view from a new angle. It briefly describes a critical perspective on how a history of dispossession, rejection and powerlessness negatively affected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family structures and individual development and behaviour, and gave rise to the intergenerational transmission of trauma. However, it is important to note that conveying […]
Preventing suicide among Aboriginal Australians
This chapter begins with an overview of the recent epidemiological trends in suicide and attempted suicide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal Australians and how this compares with the situation in other post-colonial English speaking nations such as Canada and New Zealand. It then reviews studies exploring the historical and social aetiology of […]
The Marumali Program: healing for Stolen Generations
There are an estimated 10,625 people who directly experienced the trauma generated by forcible removal, an estimated 25,844 children (second generation) who have been living with parents affected by forcible removal, and an estimated 40,612 grandchildren who continue to experience the effects of their grandparents’ removal.1 Two models developed by Aboriginal people have been evaluated […]
Working with behavioural and emotional problems in young people
This chapter outlines specific issues relating to behavioural and emotional problems in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people. It describes the most common disorders and their consequences, and how young Aboriginal people are at higher risk for developing such problems than other young Australians. The chapter also discusses the importance of psychosocial, cultural and […]
Promoting Aboriginal health: The family wellbeing empowerment approach
This book highlights the health gap that exists between Indigenous and other Australians and proposes that one solution is to empower Indigenous Australians to take control of their own health and wellbeing. In particular, the book describes an Aboriginal family wellbeing model of empowerment which has been used successfully in programs across Australia. The book […]
Community life and development programs: pathways to healing
This chapter provides an overarching framework for understanding the components of healthy communities through a healing and community life development approach. The chapter explores three major themes covering the nature of the trauma that has occurred over many generations and continues to be experienced in the present. These are: – the extreme sense of powerlessness […]
Reframing Aboriginal family caregiving
This chapter describes the experiences of caregiving for Aboriginal families living with a serious mental illness. It highlights the disconnection with mental health providers and their lack of knowledge of Aboriginal concepts of caregiving. Indeed, there is limited knowledge of the complexity of caregiving across the mental health sector. This chapter explores Aboriginal caregiving through […]
“You’ve got to make it relevant”: barriers and ways forward for assessing cognition in Aboriginal clients
Background: Reliable cognitive assessment for non-western cultures is difficult given that mainstream tests typically rely on western concepts, content and values. Despite recognition of the scarcity of appropriate tests for Aboriginal people over many years, limited practical development has occurred. This study aimed to identify barriers to assessment for clinicians working with Aboriginal people in […]
Aboriginal offender rehabilitation programs
This chapter highlights the ongoing over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the criminal justice system and emphasises an urgent need for the development of appropriate responses to this problem. A key response to this issue is through the provision of culturally secure, relevant and effective rehabilitation programs for Aboriginal people within the […]
Social determinants of social and emotional wellbeing
This chapter explores current understandings of the social determinants of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing and its development. We show that the determinants of this wellbeing are multiple, interconnected, and develop and act across the lifecourse from conception to late life. This chapter firstly focuses on the theoretical frameworks linking social […]
Cultural respect strategies in Australian Aboriginal primary health care services: beyond education and training of practitioners
Objective: There is little literature on health-service-level strategies for culturally respectful care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. We conducted two case studies, which involved one Aboriginal community controlled health care service and one state government-managed primary health care service, to examine cultural respect strategies, client experiences and barriers to cultural respect. Methods: Data […]