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Welcome to the fourth edition of Gwalwa-Gai, the newsletter for the CRC for Aboriginal Health. Gwalwa-Gai is an expression used by Larrakia people to call other members of the Larrakia nation to meet. It is used to call clan groups together. |
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| Qld University of Technology Launches Indigenous Research Network | |||||
Following QUT's appointment of leading Indigenous academic Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson to the position of Professor of Indigenous Studies last year, the university has recently announced the establishment of an Indigenous Research Network. The network, to operate fully from the beginning of 2007, will be multi-disciplinary and will address a wide spectrum of key issues including Indigenous Education, Cultural Heritage, Creative Industries, Law, Health, and Housing. It will be based at QUT but will draw together Indigenous and other researchers from a number of Australian and international universities and other organisations. The Network will collaborate with QUT Institutes and Centres in areas of mutual research interest. Primary funding for the Network will be sought from the Australian Research Council following a call for applications which will be issued in October; and additional funding will be required from participating institutions. Professor Moreton-Robinson has secured support for the concept from a number of influential agencies and individuals and expressions of interest from leading Indigenous researchers in Australia , Canada , the United States , New Zealand and elsewhere. Important aims for the Network over the period 2007 to 2008 will be to:
For more information Email: |
Last year the CRCAH newsletter reported on the significant successes of the Aboriginal community-controlled health sector in the annual Indigenous Governance Awards sponsored by partners Reconciliation Australia and global resources company, BHP Billiton. In 2005 the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Sunrise Health Service in Katherine, Maroochydore's North Coast Aboriginal Corporation for Health and Maari Ma Health in Broken Hill all made the final eight in the inaugural Indigenous Good Governance awards. This year has seen one of Australia 's earliest established health services, the Wuchopperen Health Service, take out the prestigious awards aimed at rewarding excellence in governance. The continuing successes of community-controlled health services confirm the strength of the sector and its effectiveness in governance and management as well as provision of high-quality health programs to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Wuchopperen Chairperson, Rachael Wargent, told Gwalwa-Gai that she was delighted that the Board and Staff of Wu Chopperen had been “recognised for their efforts to build an effective health service, based on principles of community control and good governance.” Wuchopperen CEO Joy Savage said Australians often only hear about negatives. “Success stories are generally confined to sport and the arts and it's important that the broader community hear about success in all fields of endeavour, including governance and management of Indigenous organisations,” said Joy. The Australian Indigenous Doctors Association President Dr Mark Wenitong also welcomed Wuchopperen's award, “ “Strong, smart and skilled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people governing and delivering high quality, innovative Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health services to our people, families and communities is what it's all about” said Dr Wenitong. For more details: http://www.reconciliation.org.au/i-cms.isp?page=287
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Federal Shadow Health Minister, Julia Gillard MP will be the keynote speaker at the Emerging Health Policy Research Conference at the University of Sydney in mid-October. The conference will showcase new ideas in health policy from current postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers across Australia . The conference provides a unique opportunity for academics, students, policymakers and practitioners working in various disciplines to get together and discuss important issues in health policy. For further info: Diana Freeman Tel (02) 9351 2818 |
Last month saw Cape York people move closer to taking control of their own health services with a landmark Deed of Commitment agreement signed by members of the Cape York Regional Health Forum (CYRHF). The agreement will facilitate the transfer of existing primary health care services from Queensland Health and other mainstream service providers to Apunipima Cape York Health Council. The move by Cape York communities to take greater control of their own health service delivery is one of the first processes of its kind in Queensland and represents one of the most significant regional health agreements in the country. CYRHF Chair and Apunipima CEO Cleveland Fagan said the Agreement was not going to mean an immediate change. "It will formally commit the Queensland and Australian Governments to a twelve-month planning process to transfer primary health care services to community control over the next five years" he said. "The signing of this agreement to develop community control is one way of actually getting people to take greater responsibility for their own health." Cleveland told Gwalwa-Gai that Cape York people will for the first time have control of what health services are delivered and how resources for services are allocated in their own communities. "So the range of services available is likely to change to reflect more of a public health approach that will be more flexible to the health needs of each unique community in the region. "For example at the moment providing a community with a swimming pool is not considered a health service but the benefits of this kind of strategy may be recognised by a community as being integral to the health and social well-being of their kids." Apunipima Cape York Health Council was set up in 1994 by Cape York people to establish a community-controlled service in Cape York. Research undertaken recently by Noel Pearson's Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership has supported the benefits of the move to community control. "The ultimate aim is to improve the health of people on Cape York and we believe this will contribute substantially to making that a reality," said Cleveland . “Development of the new health service model has been a collaborative approach supported by the communities of Cape York, funding agencies and existing service providers.” The CRCAH will hold a community forum, “Improving Indigenous Health in FNQ – Research and Practice” in partnership with Apunipima, Cairns-based Wuchopperen Health Service, Yarrabah's Gurrinyi Yealamucka Health Service and the University of Queensland on October 18 this year. If you are interested in attending the forum contact alastair.harris@crcah.org.au |
Danila Dilba Biluru Butji Binnilutlum Health Service has exhibited every year at the annual Darwin Show. The stall promotes the health services many programs and delivers messages and information about healthy lifestyle choices to Darwin show goers.This year Danila Dilba's CRCAH Links person, Cyril Oliver, a passionate advocate for community engagement and health promotion, contacted the CRCAH to include posters and information about CRC activities.
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Expressions of interest asking for people to be involved in project development for the Chronic Conditions Program were sent out to all Partner organisations and roundtable participants in late July. Fourteen applications have now been received and over thirty people have registered an interest in being involved in project development. Currently the Chronic Conditions Program Leaders are going through the applications and nominated existing projects to select Project Leaders and Teams and further refine research questions in the following areas:
The program continues its commitment to capacity development, recently providing conference funding support to nine Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to attend the 10 th Annual Chronic Diseases Network Conference in Darwin later this month. Two of these people are students, with the other seven people coming from Aboriginal Health Services across Australia . Work is currently underway editing the final report by Merilyn King from a Flinders University CRCAH In-kind Project, “To assess the impact of an Accredited Australian Diabetes Educators Association Course on the Diabetes Health Care of Aboriginal people in SA”. The report will be published and available shortly.
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Work is progressing steadily on developing the four research proposals around the priority areas set by the CRCAH Board for this program. Development activity for the Improving the culture of Hospitals and Health Services Utilisation and Linkage projects is nearing completion, which will result in the release of funds and start of implementation activity in late 2006 early 2007. Development activity for the Best practice in funding and regulation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Care project is focussing on composing the project team membership, in consultation with CRCAH staff; and moving towards finalising budget and quality assurance processes. Development activity for the Support Systems for Indigenous Primary Health Care Services project requires further time and consultation with stakeholders, however interest in the project remains keen. All four projects will continue to have decisive Aboriginal input into their development and a strong emphasis of capacity development for Aboriginal students.
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The Social Emotional Wellbeing Roundtable was held in Cairns on Thursday 7 September with representation from a variety of community organisations, governments and researchers currently working in the area of mental health. The purpose of CRCAH program roundtables is to refine project outlines or, in other words, determine what questions should be researched. The roundtables have a high level of Aboriginal participation following the CRCAH Board's unequivocal position that there must be Aboriginal involvement throughout these processes. The CRCAH firmly believes that users of research, and particularly Aboriginal people, must be a decisive part of the process developing that research. This will increase the likelihood of research outcomes being taken up in a practical way leading to health improvements. The goal of the CRCAH's Social Emotional Wellbeing of Health program is to strengthen resilient relationships in Aboriginal families and communities by appropriate interventions: including a better understanding of the role of social and cultural relationships as determinants of health.
SEWB program leader, Vanessa Harris, was part of the CRCAH delegation to the Healing our Spirit Worldwide conference in Canada last month. Vanessa told Gwalwa-Gai that since her return from Canada she has been working with the SEWB Program Leaders to develop some interesting methods of workshopping experiences in the area of mental health and has developed some tools to identify the social and emotional impact that have plagued Aboriginal communities, families and individuals. “The Canadian conference and the generosity of spirit from the First Nation people I met there gave me a very good insight into the way they are currently working with their Communities to overcome past traumas and to work to a positive future for their families and individuals,” she told Gwalwa-Gai. “I'm sure these insights will prove useful to our own healing processes.” |
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The Healthy Skin draft research transfer plan is still being developed but requires further work to directly engage stakeholders who are able to put findings into action. The draft research transfer plan identifies international and national research evidence on factors that contribute to healthy skin, highlighting evidence on what works, gaps in evidence and where existing evidence is not being used. The plan will collate all related evidence and recommend strategies to reduce barriers. The next phase of development of this transfer plan is for Program Manager, Arwen Pratt, to engage Aboriginal Medical Services to ensure the Aboriginal health sector has appropriate input into the plan. |
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| Plans for Far North Queensland Showcase Progress | Rheumatic Heart Disease Leaflet Now Available | ||||
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Following the successes of CRCAH-hosted Aboriginal health research showcases in Darwin , Melbourne , Adelaide , Brisbane and Canberra an “Improving Indigenous Health in FNQ – Research and Practice” seminar is being organised for October 18 in Cairns. Planning sessions have been held with North Queensland and Cape York organisations including the Apunipima Cape York Health Council, Wuchopperen and Yarrabah's Gurrinyi Yealamucka. The University of Queensland and James Cook University have also expressed interest in collaborating on the FNQ showcase. Following initial consultation with the local groups the showcase will differ slightly from those held previously with less focus on presenting individual research projects and greater discussion of innovative health programs, including interventionist research projects, and the differing experiences of community-controlled health services and those planning transition to community-control of health. Local groups also suggested that invitations not be limited to those working in the health sector arguing that there is a need for greater shared understanding of health strategies between organisations delivering health services and those concerned with health determinants. If you are interested in attending the Cairns Showcase please contact: alastair.harris@crcah.org.au
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One of the health challenges in remote Aboriginal Australia is the debilitating and often fatal rheumatic heart disease. Despite Australia 's comparative wealth as a nation Aboriginal people suffer from the highest rates of this poverty-related disease found in the world. This shameful fact highlights once again the challenges facing the Aboriginal health sector in its task of improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The CRC for Aboriginal Health has been supporting research into this condition and more recently collaborated with Menzies School of Health researchers, Dr Malcolm McDonald, Geoff “Jacko” Angeles and Norma Benger in the development of a leaflet aimed at young Aboriginal patients who suffer from the condition. The leaflet is a resource designed to compliment the Rheumatic Heart Disease DVD, previously produced by Norma Benger and Jacko Angeles, featuring cameo appearances by AFL football stars Aaron Davies and Matty Whelan. The leaflets have now been distributed throughout the Centre and Top End of the Northern Territory , the Kimberly and far North Queensland . The lack of appropriate health education and promotion resources designed specifically for Aboriginal people is a continuing obstacle to improving prevention and treatment compliance in chronic conditions such as rheumatic heart disease and it is likely that managing the production of such resources will become an increasing focus of the CRC for Aboriginal Health.
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As part of the CRCAH's role of assisting in research dissemination the Communications Unit recently worked closely with partners Menzies School of Health Research, University of Melbourne and the NT Department of Health and Community Services on a media strategy promoting research analysing Aboriginal mortality rates in the Northern Territory.
The research, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, analysed data from 1977-2001, showed an easing of the increases in death rates, or even falling death rates, for the common chronic diseases since the end of the 1980s. As part of the dissemination strategy a media release was issued leading to substantial media coverage in local and national print and electronic media, and briefings were made to Federal and Territory politicians. Researchers Professor Ian Anderson (CRCAH Research Director and Director of Onemda VicHealth Koori Health Unit and the Centre for Health and Society at the University of Melbourne) and Dr David Thomas (formerly a Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne and now at the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin ) explain the significance of the research…….. The popular perception in Aboriginal health is that nothing has changed or that it is getting worse. This is wrong. This story is repeated by politicians, journalists, doctors and academics. You hear it on the television, in classrooms, in pubs, in taxis, and around dinner tables. Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians are certain of it. But it is wrong. There are occasional good news stories about inspirational individuals or services that have made a difference in their local community. But the impact of these stories is lost under the weight of the vast majority of reports that only highlight the tragedy of ongoing disadvantage and ignore the evidence of the gains that have been made. The research evidence is starting to tell a different story. The broad picture is that Aboriginal health is improving. The pattern of change is not uniform from year to year, across all regions, or in every disease group. The message is clearest in the Northern Territory. In the 1960s, the appallingly high death rates of Aboriginal infants in Central Australia became well-known. These infant death rates fell quickly in the 1960s and 1970s. These children (and their families) were at last able to access basic health services. Women received antenatal care. Children were immunised. Children with pneumonia were given penicillin, children with severe diarrhoeal diseases were rehydrated, and those children too sick to be treated in small bush clinics were evacuated to hospital in Alice Springs. The improvements in Aboriginal death rates did not stop in the 1970s. Nor were these improvements confined to children, nor to Central Australia. Since the late 1960s, in the Northern Territory, there have been improvements in Aboriginal death rates in every age group. The improvements in older age groups have been much slower and were not apparent until trends over many years were examined. Deaths from infectious diseases have fallen dramatically. The changes have been mixed for chronic disease deaths, which now account for more than 70% of Aboriginal deaths in the Northern Territory. Today, we have published research in Medical Journal of Australia with encouraging findings for those chronic disease death rates which have continued to rise, like diabetes. Significantly, increasing diabetic death rate has begun to slow down. The 13.5% annual increase in diabetic deaths in the 1980s had slowed to a 3.5% annual increase in the 1990s. This is good news. In order for these trends to turn the corner (when we will see the rates fall) the annual increases needed to begin to slow. The pattern in these trends in chronic disease deaths suggests that improved access to primary health care services, in particular, has been making an impact on these deaths. Similar research is starting to appear from Western Australia and South Australia , with declines in deaths from all causes combined and from heart disease, and declining infant mortality rates. Results from Victoria and other states will only become available when Aboriginal people are more accurately identified in their government records. There are dangers if people do not know this story based on the research evidence. The claim that nothing has changed keeps Aboriginal health policy in a state of crisis. The international and local research points to some clear strategies. We need to continue, undistracted, working towards improved access to health services, housing, public health infrastructure, employment, education etc. We do not need the unnecessary talkfests, reviews or administrative reform. Repeatedly saying nothing has changed also sends the wrong signal to Aboriginal health services and Aboriginal communities. Ensuring that everyone with high blood pressure is effectively treated and monitored is critical to addressing chronic disease deaths. But it takes a lot of work in local services to make sure this happens in a systematic and sustained way. Workers need to hear that their work might be beginning to make a difference. Lasting health gains also will depend on many Aboriginal people taking tough personal decisions and, for example, stopping the smokes or losing weight. Anyone who has done this knows how hard this can be. Imagine doing it in a climate where everyone says that nothing has changed, nothing makes a difference? Whilst the improvements in Aboriginal health are real, there should be no complacency. Those responsible for our nation's health and welfare systems are not off the hook. The improvements in Aboriginal death rates have been slower than for other Australians. This is why the gap between Aboriginal and other Australians is widening - not because Aboriginal health is getting worse. We need to target those causes of death, such as the chronic diseases, which have been more resistant to change. But we can't continue with the premise that nothing has changed in Aboriginal health. We need a more subtle approach that builds on the hard won gains that have been made. To read MJA Article: http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/185_03_070806/tho11083_fm.html To read CRCAH Media Release:http://www.crcah.org.au/resource/MortalityTrends%20Media%20Release.pdf
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CRCAH Capacity Development Officer, Di Walker, recently spoke to a group of Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education (BIITE) Public Health students attending a five-day Perspectives and Methods Residential Workshop at the Menzies School of Health Research. Di spoke to the BIITE students about opportunities for careers in Aboriginal health research and advised students on scholarships offered by the CRCAH to Aboriginal people entering health studies courses at CRCAH partner institutions as part of the CRCAH Capacity Development Strategy. Presented by (BIITE) and Menzies the workshop provided instruction on public health issues and particularly focused on Indigenous public health issues. The workshop, which is run twice a year, covers key public health themes including:
For more information on the CRCAH Capacity Development Strategy and CRCAH scholarships contact: diane.walker@crcah.org.au
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As a child Misty Jenkins was fascinated by the way the human body works. She became interested in studying the ways the human body manages to protect itself from so many infectious diseases and in the mechanisms by which humans succumb to viruses. Misty, a young Gunditjmara woman from western Victoria, later became interested in a career in scientific research after discovering that Aboriginal Australians have some of the poorest health conditions in the world and are susceptible to so many infectious diseases. Misty successfully pursued her career goal and is currently completing a PhD with Laureate Professor Peter Doherty and Dr Stephen Turner at the University of Melbourne. Misty told Gwalwa-Gai that she particularly enjoyed being a part of the academic environment and learning about science. Earlier this year Misty applied for funds from the CRCAH International Program, funded by the Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, after being invited to give a presentation of her research during a plenary session of the Keystone Symposia conference, Viral Immunity: From basic Mechanisms to vaccines, held in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, USA Misty explains her research…..
T cells are white blood cells which are responsible for fighting infection. Killer T cells are able to recognise when our body is infected and are able to specifically destroy virus infected cells. They do this by acting like a soldier: the killer T cells throw grenades at their target. I have been examining what sort of grenades they throw, and how many. We have shown that the cells need to have divided a few times before they switch on their killing molecules, and they produce many different types of ‘grenades'. With this sort of knowledge, we can design T cell vaccines which promote the right sort of immunity: immunity which will be potent and specific against the invading virus. This sort of scientific research will aid in the design of better vaccines, targeting pandemic influenza or HIV. The presentation of my research generated a lot of excitement and interest as it is addresses some of the mechanisms which contribute to the T cell killing function. This knowledge enables us to understand how killer T cells are generated will aid the design of T cell mediated vaccines. The feedback I received was that this study has provided valuable insights into T cell immunity. I feel that I made a valuable contribution towards the conference and also I found the experience extremely rewarding for my career. I was able to interact with world leading immunologists and talk about my research with them. This experience is essential for a young scientist to increase network opportunities and receive feedback about my research. I was offered multiple academic appointments at the conference which means I am currently deciding where I will be employed next year. Attending the conference gave me enormous opportunities to further promote myself, my research and the CRCAH, which was appropriately acknowledged during the plenary session. I would like to thank the CRCAH very much for supporting my opportunity to attend the Keystone Symposia through your Indigenous International Program. It was a valuable opportunity and one which has helped shaped my future career. The CRCAH is proud to assist this remarkable young Koori woman and congratulates her for her outstanding work. Misty welcomes anyone that is interested in her study and would like to talk to her further to email her on m.jenkins@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au
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