This article reflects on the progress that has been made in Britain since publication of the Blac... more This article reflects on the progress that has been made in Britain since publication of the Black report on workplace health in 2008. It provides an overview of the key recommendations of the report, reflecting on the interventions that have been put in place in response to these recommendations by the end of September 2011.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Global Public Health, 2019
There are an estimated 370 million Indigenous peoples living in more than 70 countries. Indigenou... more There are an estimated 370 million Indigenous peoples living in more than 70 countries. Indigenous populations are defined as the First Peoples occupying countries or regions at times of colonization, with distinct cultural, religious, and social practices that distinguish them from other populations. Indigenous peoples across the globe have deep, intimate, holistic, localized, and reciprocal relationships and connections to their “Country” (as it is known in Australia), which includes elements of the land, sea, waterways, sky, stars, and living and nonliving entities. This relationship is largely unacknowledged through Western biomedical models of health, which tend to focus on individual risk behaviors and disease outcomes, thereby situating Indigenous health inequities in terms of deficiency and ignoring the ongoing impacts and trauma of colonization. Indigenous concepts of health are holistic, encompassing emotional, physical, cultural, and spiritual health. Country is central t...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022
This study documents evaluation of the Her Tribe and His Tribe Aboriginal-designed empowerment pi... more This study documents evaluation of the Her Tribe and His Tribe Aboriginal-designed empowerment pilot programs. The programs were designed to support Victorian Aboriginal people to strengthen mental health, social and emotional wellbeing, community connection, and to reduce psychological distress. A second aim was to explore participants’ experiences of the programs, including the feasibility and acceptability of the evaluation component. Her Tribe ran for 16 weeks and His Tribe for 12 weeks. In total, 43 women and 26 men completed assessments at pre- and post-program completion, and 17 and 10, respectively, participated in yarning circles at the 6-month follow up. For both programs, there were significant increases in participants’ access to personal strengths and resources, relationship–community–cultural strengths and resources, and decreases in psychological distress. These changes were associated with small to moderate effects that were maintained at the 6-month follow up. There...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021
Social-epidemiology that excludes Aboriginal voices often fails to capture the full and complex s... more Social-epidemiology that excludes Aboriginal voices often fails to capture the full and complex social worlds of Aboriginal people. Using data from an existing co-designed Victorian government Adolescent Health and Wellbeing Survey (2008/9), we worked with Aboriginal organizations to identify data priorities, select measures, interpret data, and contextualize findings. Using this participatory co-analysis approach, we selected “cultural” and “structural” determinants identified by Aboriginal organizations as important and modelled these using principal component analysis. Resulting components were then modelled using logistic regression to investigate associations with “likely being well” (Kessler-10 score < 20) for 88 Aboriginal adolescents aged 11–17 years. Principal component analysis grouped 11 structural variables into four components and 11 cultural variables into three components. Of these, “grew up in Aboriginal family/community and connected” associated with significantl...
Aboriginal 'gathering places' have been described as cultural hubs, healing centres, and ... more Aboriginal 'gathering places' have been described as cultural hubs, healing centres, and social meeting places. This article explores a gap in the literature on the health and wellbeing outcomes of gathering places from the perspectives of Aboriginal people who attend them. The aim of this study was to develop a framework to articulate the enablers, principles, and outcomes of 'successful' Aboriginal gathering places. In this study, sixty-nine (n = 69) community members participated in qualitative interviews or focus group discussions across thirteen gathering place sites in Victoria (Australia). The research found that gathering places address social health disparities through the provision of a broad range of health and wellbeing programs that benefit Aboriginal community members accessing them. Gathering places were described by participants as providing connections to place, Aboriginal culture, and healing and mainstream health services that enhanced wellbeing. These findings contribute to a better understanding of how Aboriginal gathering places function and offer strategies for creating culturally safe and welcoming settings for Aboriginal peoples, with potential for consideration in international contexts. This research informed a best-practice framework and outlines different models for developing community empowering and culturally affirming gathering places for improving Aboriginal people's access to culturally appropriate health and support services, while simultaneously reducing health and social inequalities. Key elements of this framework that contribute to a successful gathering place include the people, place (location/facilities), programs and community themselves, whilst the principles that enable these places include elements like self-determination, respect of culture, sustainability and strong governance.
This second discussion paper commissioned by the Lowitja Institute follows on from the successful... more This second discussion paper commissioned by the Lowitja Institute follows on from the successful paper Legally Invisible - How Australian Laws Impede Stewardship and Governance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health(Howse 2011). Researchers from the Universities of Melbourne, La Trobe and Notre Dame conducted an analysis of national, State and regionally constructed engagement policies and strategies in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing to identify best practice examples and lessons learned. These learnings aim to support those working on the challenges of effective implementation of policies and programs within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health arena, and Indigenous affairs more generally. They have particular relevance for practitioners concerned with the difficulties of contributing to the achievement of equity in health and wellbeing for First Peoples in increasingly complex policy and community contexts.
Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) have been operating in Australia si... more Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) have been operating in Australia since the 1970s. They are governed by community-elected boards, vary in size and scope, and provide access to safe, appropriate and effective services for their communities. There are 27 ACCHOs across Victoria, all of which are members of the Victorian Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO). Victorian ACCHOs range from small organisations with a limited number of core programs to large multi-million-dollar organisations providing an extensive range of health, wellbeing and community services. The latter obtain funding from a range of sources and have complex reporting requirements.
The project examined the corporate support needs of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Servic... more The project examined the corporate support needs of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, the issues associated with obtaining appropriate support and existing support structures used by these services. The key research questions were: • what is the nature (scope and characteristics) of the support needs of ACCHSs as corporate entities, taking into account differential organisational capacity and contexts? • how do ACCHSs, as corporate entities, access the different kinds of support they require in each area (taking into account the diversity of services, differential organisational capacity and the contexts in which they operate)? • what frameworks (organised support structures) are required for the provision of adequate corporate support for organisations with different organisational capacity operating in different contexts, and what are the barriers to implementing and accessing such frameworks? The project was conducted in two parts. Part 1 focused on support needs a...
There are few empirical studies about the role of Aboriginal sporting organisations in promoting ... more There are few empirical studies about the role of Aboriginal sporting organisations in promoting wellbeing. The aim of the present study was to understand the impact of an Aboriginal community sporting team and its environment on the social, emotional and physical wellbeing of young Aboriginal men, and to identify barriers and motivators for participation. A literature review of the impact of sport on the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal participants was conducted. This informed a qualitative study design with a grounded theory approach. Four semistructured interviews and three focus groups were completed with nine current players and five past players of the Fitzroy Stars Football Club to collect data about the social, emotional and physical wellbeing impact of an Aboriginal football team on its Aboriginal players. Results of the interviews were consistent with the literature, with common concepts emerging around community connection, cultural values and identity, health, values,...
Background: There has been increasing attention over the last decade on the issue of indigenous y... more Background: There has been increasing attention over the last decade on the issue of indigenous youth suicide. A number of studies have documented the high prevalence of suicide behavior and mortality in Australia and internationally. However, no studies have focused on documenting the correlates of suicide behavior for indigenous youth in Australia. Aims: To examine the prevalence of suicide ideation and attempt and the associated factors for a community 1 The term ”community” refers specifically to Koori people affiliated with the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service. cohort of Koori 2 The term ”Koori” refers to indigenous people from the south-eastern region of Australia, including Melbourne. The term ”Aboriginal” has been used when referring to indigenous people from Australia. The term ”indigenous” has been used throughout this article when referring to the first people of a nation within an international context. (Aboriginal) youth. Method: Data were obtained from the Victorian...
Australian journal of primary health, Jan 16, 2017
Indigenous people have long maintained that strong cultural identities are critical to health and... more Indigenous people have long maintained that strong cultural identities are critical to health and wellbeing. The purpose of this systematic review is to examine whether interventions that entail strategies to enable expression of cultural identities for Australian Indigenous peoples are associated with measurable improvements in health and wellbeing. Peer-reviewed articles that reported quantitatively expressed health and wellbeing outcomes involving Indigenous Australian participants only were included. The cultural intervention component was defined and assessed by Indigenous researchers on the team. A narrative analysis was conducted. The protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42015027387). Thirteen articles describing eleven studies were identified, including one randomised control trial (RCT), one cluster RCT and two studies with non-randomised controls. Other studies reported on case series or cross-sectional studies. All except two studies described multiple intervention str...
This article reflects on the progress that has been made in Britain since publication of the Blac... more This article reflects on the progress that has been made in Britain since publication of the Black report on workplace health in 2008. It provides an overview of the key recommendations of the report, reflecting on the interventions that have been put in place in response to these recommendations by the end of September 2011.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Global Public Health, 2019
There are an estimated 370 million Indigenous peoples living in more than 70 countries. Indigenou... more There are an estimated 370 million Indigenous peoples living in more than 70 countries. Indigenous populations are defined as the First Peoples occupying countries or regions at times of colonization, with distinct cultural, religious, and social practices that distinguish them from other populations. Indigenous peoples across the globe have deep, intimate, holistic, localized, and reciprocal relationships and connections to their “Country” (as it is known in Australia), which includes elements of the land, sea, waterways, sky, stars, and living and nonliving entities. This relationship is largely unacknowledged through Western biomedical models of health, which tend to focus on individual risk behaviors and disease outcomes, thereby situating Indigenous health inequities in terms of deficiency and ignoring the ongoing impacts and trauma of colonization. Indigenous concepts of health are holistic, encompassing emotional, physical, cultural, and spiritual health. Country is central t...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022
This study documents evaluation of the Her Tribe and His Tribe Aboriginal-designed empowerment pi... more This study documents evaluation of the Her Tribe and His Tribe Aboriginal-designed empowerment pilot programs. The programs were designed to support Victorian Aboriginal people to strengthen mental health, social and emotional wellbeing, community connection, and to reduce psychological distress. A second aim was to explore participants’ experiences of the programs, including the feasibility and acceptability of the evaluation component. Her Tribe ran for 16 weeks and His Tribe for 12 weeks. In total, 43 women and 26 men completed assessments at pre- and post-program completion, and 17 and 10, respectively, participated in yarning circles at the 6-month follow up. For both programs, there were significant increases in participants’ access to personal strengths and resources, relationship–community–cultural strengths and resources, and decreases in psychological distress. These changes were associated with small to moderate effects that were maintained at the 6-month follow up. There...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021
Social-epidemiology that excludes Aboriginal voices often fails to capture the full and complex s... more Social-epidemiology that excludes Aboriginal voices often fails to capture the full and complex social worlds of Aboriginal people. Using data from an existing co-designed Victorian government Adolescent Health and Wellbeing Survey (2008/9), we worked with Aboriginal organizations to identify data priorities, select measures, interpret data, and contextualize findings. Using this participatory co-analysis approach, we selected “cultural” and “structural” determinants identified by Aboriginal organizations as important and modelled these using principal component analysis. Resulting components were then modelled using logistic regression to investigate associations with “likely being well” (Kessler-10 score < 20) for 88 Aboriginal adolescents aged 11–17 years. Principal component analysis grouped 11 structural variables into four components and 11 cultural variables into three components. Of these, “grew up in Aboriginal family/community and connected” associated with significantl...
Aboriginal 'gathering places' have been described as cultural hubs, healing centres, and ... more Aboriginal 'gathering places' have been described as cultural hubs, healing centres, and social meeting places. This article explores a gap in the literature on the health and wellbeing outcomes of gathering places from the perspectives of Aboriginal people who attend them. The aim of this study was to develop a framework to articulate the enablers, principles, and outcomes of 'successful' Aboriginal gathering places. In this study, sixty-nine (n = 69) community members participated in qualitative interviews or focus group discussions across thirteen gathering place sites in Victoria (Australia). The research found that gathering places address social health disparities through the provision of a broad range of health and wellbeing programs that benefit Aboriginal community members accessing them. Gathering places were described by participants as providing connections to place, Aboriginal culture, and healing and mainstream health services that enhanced wellbeing. These findings contribute to a better understanding of how Aboriginal gathering places function and offer strategies for creating culturally safe and welcoming settings for Aboriginal peoples, with potential for consideration in international contexts. This research informed a best-practice framework and outlines different models for developing community empowering and culturally affirming gathering places for improving Aboriginal people's access to culturally appropriate health and support services, while simultaneously reducing health and social inequalities. Key elements of this framework that contribute to a successful gathering place include the people, place (location/facilities), programs and community themselves, whilst the principles that enable these places include elements like self-determination, respect of culture, sustainability and strong governance.
This second discussion paper commissioned by the Lowitja Institute follows on from the successful... more This second discussion paper commissioned by the Lowitja Institute follows on from the successful paper Legally Invisible - How Australian Laws Impede Stewardship and Governance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health(Howse 2011). Researchers from the Universities of Melbourne, La Trobe and Notre Dame conducted an analysis of national, State and regionally constructed engagement policies and strategies in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing to identify best practice examples and lessons learned. These learnings aim to support those working on the challenges of effective implementation of policies and programs within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health arena, and Indigenous affairs more generally. They have particular relevance for practitioners concerned with the difficulties of contributing to the achievement of equity in health and wellbeing for First Peoples in increasingly complex policy and community contexts.
Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) have been operating in Australia si... more Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) have been operating in Australia since the 1970s. They are governed by community-elected boards, vary in size and scope, and provide access to safe, appropriate and effective services for their communities. There are 27 ACCHOs across Victoria, all of which are members of the Victorian Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO). Victorian ACCHOs range from small organisations with a limited number of core programs to large multi-million-dollar organisations providing an extensive range of health, wellbeing and community services. The latter obtain funding from a range of sources and have complex reporting requirements.
The project examined the corporate support needs of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Servic... more The project examined the corporate support needs of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, the issues associated with obtaining appropriate support and existing support structures used by these services. The key research questions were: • what is the nature (scope and characteristics) of the support needs of ACCHSs as corporate entities, taking into account differential organisational capacity and contexts? • how do ACCHSs, as corporate entities, access the different kinds of support they require in each area (taking into account the diversity of services, differential organisational capacity and the contexts in which they operate)? • what frameworks (organised support structures) are required for the provision of adequate corporate support for organisations with different organisational capacity operating in different contexts, and what are the barriers to implementing and accessing such frameworks? The project was conducted in two parts. Part 1 focused on support needs a...
There are few empirical studies about the role of Aboriginal sporting organisations in promoting ... more There are few empirical studies about the role of Aboriginal sporting organisations in promoting wellbeing. The aim of the present study was to understand the impact of an Aboriginal community sporting team and its environment on the social, emotional and physical wellbeing of young Aboriginal men, and to identify barriers and motivators for participation. A literature review of the impact of sport on the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal participants was conducted. This informed a qualitative study design with a grounded theory approach. Four semistructured interviews and three focus groups were completed with nine current players and five past players of the Fitzroy Stars Football Club to collect data about the social, emotional and physical wellbeing impact of an Aboriginal football team on its Aboriginal players. Results of the interviews were consistent with the literature, with common concepts emerging around community connection, cultural values and identity, health, values,...
Background: There has been increasing attention over the last decade on the issue of indigenous y... more Background: There has been increasing attention over the last decade on the issue of indigenous youth suicide. A number of studies have documented the high prevalence of suicide behavior and mortality in Australia and internationally. However, no studies have focused on documenting the correlates of suicide behavior for indigenous youth in Australia. Aims: To examine the prevalence of suicide ideation and attempt and the associated factors for a community 1 The term ”community” refers specifically to Koori people affiliated with the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service. cohort of Koori 2 The term ”Koori” refers to indigenous people from the south-eastern region of Australia, including Melbourne. The term ”Aboriginal” has been used when referring to indigenous people from Australia. The term ”indigenous” has been used throughout this article when referring to the first people of a nation within an international context. (Aboriginal) youth. Method: Data were obtained from the Victorian...
Australian journal of primary health, Jan 16, 2017
Indigenous people have long maintained that strong cultural identities are critical to health and... more Indigenous people have long maintained that strong cultural identities are critical to health and wellbeing. The purpose of this systematic review is to examine whether interventions that entail strategies to enable expression of cultural identities for Australian Indigenous peoples are associated with measurable improvements in health and wellbeing. Peer-reviewed articles that reported quantitatively expressed health and wellbeing outcomes involving Indigenous Australian participants only were included. The cultural intervention component was defined and assessed by Indigenous researchers on the team. A narrative analysis was conducted. The protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42015027387). Thirteen articles describing eleven studies were identified, including one randomised control trial (RCT), one cluster RCT and two studies with non-randomised controls. Other studies reported on case series or cross-sectional studies. All except two studies described multiple intervention str...
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Papers by Alister Thorpe