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Issue #3 June 2005 |
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Welcome to the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health (CRCAH) Intranews! In this newsletter we have included information about some of the activities which have been happening both within the CRCAH partner organisations and within the general Aboriginal health arena. If you would like to share information about achievements and activities, please email enews@crcah.org.au |
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Unregistered users Register or contact your link Contact person for more information. |
For more information or feedback on the newsletter, please contact your Link contact person or email enews@crcah.org.au |
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Alice Springs Convention Centre 6 - 8 April 2005 |
Photos from the Convocation! |
On 6-7 April researchers and industry representatives gathered together at the CRCAH's 2005 Convocation in Alice Springs to hear updates on current projects and discuss the development of programs. Prior to the Convocation, a pre-Convocation briefing was held for the SME (Small to Medium Enterprises) forum on the afternoon of 5 April. Each partner was invited to nominate representatives of community organisations and government agencies, who were funded by the CRCAH to attend Convocation. The SME briefing included some discussion on how SMEs might become involved in the CRCAH through taking part in the networks of interest around each program area. During the Convocation, presentations were made on each CRCAH program, followed by a network workshop. These workshops were the initial stages of establishing a network of interest. Participants gathered to discuss strategies for communication, knowledge sharing and linkages. It was great to see people exchanging experiences and ideas as they focussed on what each program could achieve. Those who elected not to join the network workshops were able to attend alternative discussions on other CRCAH activities such as research transfer and health economics. The Board has identified the highest priority program to be Comprehensive Primary Health Care, Health Systems and Workforce, and so the workshop for this program was a plenary session on the final afternoon in which participants considered possible project outlines. It was generally agreed that the Convocation was a great success. In her closing address, CRCAH Chairperson, Pat Anderson said that “ this Convocation has been one of the most open and friendliest conferences I have attended”. We wish to thank all those who participated, were part of the organising team, presented papers and facilitated discussions. |
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Convocation Dinner |
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Convocation Dinner was held on the evening of Wednesday April 6 in the Alice Springs Convention Centre Courtyard. The Hon Dr Peter Toyne, NT Minister for Health, gave the dinner speech. He expressed appreciation for the CRCAH's work and expressed a commitment to collaborating with communities and breaking down silos. Presentations were made to two members of the CRCAH community to celebrate their notable achievements. Fran Baum has recently been appointed Commissioner on the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. This international body was launched in Chile in March and is committed to turning existing knowledge on social determinants of health into actionable policy agendas. The CRCAH was pleased to have nominated Fran to this position. Fran is a member of the Research Development Group and has made an important contribution to the development of the CRCAH's Social Determinants of Health program. For more information, go to the Flinders website. Helen Evans has been appointed as Deputy Executive Director of the WHO Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Geneva . She has resigned her position as First Assistant Secretary of the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and will also step down from her role as CRCAH Board member. Helen has been committed to improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health in her role with OATSIH over the past seven years. We wish her well in her new job. For more information about Helen, go to here |
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| Western Desert Dialysis mob | |
| A highlight of the Convocation was the performance of the Western Desert Dialysis Choir followed by a presentation from Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku about the Return to Country story. This inspiring story told of how Western Desert people took control of their own health issues, to tackle the devastating effects of renal diseases patients having to move to Alice Springs to receive dialysis. To the Western Desert communities, this was not only bad for the individuals who were away from country and family, but that ‘the whole community is sick' because those people are away. Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku (Making Our Families Well) Aboriginal Corporation raised more than a million dollars by selling artworks painted by community members, and have set up a service which allows patients to go home to their communities for a few weeks at a time, accompanied by a renal nurse. The story of WDNWPT's determination to succeed despite considerable scepticism reinforced the life and death importance of the work of improving health services for Aboriginal people. A collection was taken up at the Convocation dinner and $500 was raised. This money is going to be used for bush picnics and other social events for patients in town so that the choir members will get maximum benefit from it. More Success for Western Desert Dialysis Mob We are pleased to report that the Western Desert Dialysis mob has successfully negotiated a Shared Responsibility Agreement (SRA) with the Commonwealth Government. The SRA will provide the Western Desert Dialysis program with funds to purchase and renovate the house they presently lease in Alice Springs as well as purchasing a vehicle to enable the transport of patients. The SRA with the Commonwealth follows a previous agreement with the NT Government that saw the employment of two renal nurses and the purchase of a dialysis machine for Kintore. CRCAH Intranews understands that the SRA between the Western Desert people is an interim measure and that there are plans to complete a more comprehensive agreement in the near future. The CRCAH played a small role in achieving the SRA by facilitating the initial meeting between the Western Desert people and the Alice Springs Indigenous Coordination Centre. Chief Executive Officer Mick Gooda says the Western Desert Dialysis SRA demonstrates that the CRCAH can play an effective role in brokering arrangements between community-based health initiatives and appropriate agencies. |
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| Current Staff List | CEO addresses Queensland Institute of Medical Research |
The CRCAH has undergone a staffing restructure which is now complete. All current staff have reapplied for their positions and many positions have been redesigned to accurately reflect the programmatic approach. The current staff list is:
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CRCAH Chief Executive Officer, Mick Gooda, gave the key-note speech at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research's recent Seminar for the 3 rd Anniversary of the Indigenous Health Research Program in Brisbane. Mick's address was entitled, Contradiction, Confusion and Ironies in Aboriginal Affairs, and detailed the recent changes to Aboriginal affairs implemented by the Commonwealth Government. The address also spelled out some the challenges to developing a more collaborative approach between researchers and users of that research, namely Aboriginal people themselves. To read a copy of Mick's speech click here |
| HEALTH OUTCOMES 2005: MAKING A DIFFERENCE 11th Annual National Conference, 17-18 August 2005, Rydges Lakeside, Canberra | |
| Health systems globally are struggling to keep pace with advances in health research and technology, and we need new approaches to evaluating outcomes in an environment facing major changes in public health policy, in clinical practice and in the profile of health consumers. Health Outcomes 2005: Making a Difference examines ways of dealing with the challenges confronting us, with a particular focus on health initiatives and strategies which may make a difference to the population generally and/or to specific populations. Topics addressed in the conference include:
There will be interactive discussion panels, discussion groups and poster presentations. Professor Ciaran O'Boyle (Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland) and Professor Peter Fayers (University of Aberdeen) are international guest speakers at the conference. They will also offer preconference workshops on Tuesday, 16 August and participate in a special seminar and debate on the topic Is HRQOL really in need of reconstructive surgery? during the Tuesday evening meeting of the ANZ Health Assessment Methods Network. The program for Health Outcomes 2005 is available: here |
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Progress of programs |
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The Board has now signed off on funding for the Healthy Skin program, and Program Statements for Primary Health Care and Chronic diseases programs. The Primary Health Care program is now beginning to develop project outlines which will go to the Board for consideration prior to further development work being done. The Social Determinants and Social & Emotional Well Being programs are currently developing program statements. Network discussions from Convocation will be used in this development work, along with further input from the network of interest. For more information on the CRCAH programs go to to our website |
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Networks of interest – call for registrations |
Call for In-Kind projects |
The Convocation saw the first meetings of people interested in becoming part of the CRCAH network of interest. This input was helpful in progressing the development of programs. However, if you did not attend the Convocation, it is not too late to let us know that you are interested in becoming part of the network of interest. We are encouraging anyone who has an interest in Aboriginal health, particularly if you work in Aboriginal health services or other service provision, to get involved in the network so you can hear the latest developments from research, how to use them in your own work, and also help influence the way that new research gets done. If you would like to register your interest, contact Jenny Brands on 03 8344 0884 or email Johanna Monk. |
More than 40 new in-kind projects, courses or students have been submitted to the CRCAH in response to the 2005 call for in-kind projects - a fantastic response! The CEO and Research Director will assess the submissions for endorsement in the last week of June. In-kind contributions form the bulk of partner contributions to the CRCAH and are an important way of sharing and supporting the work being done around the partner organisations. The new programmatic approach will also help make the most of both in-kind and funded projects in terms of ensuring the CRCAH's work as a whole makes a difference to Aboriginal health. Link People are now collecting reports on in-kind contributions for the 2004-05 financial year, and these reports must be submitted by COB Friday July 8. Streamlined processes for both submission and reporting of in-kind are now on our website. |
| Program leaders | New Program Managers |
| The CRCAH called for nominations for the roles of Program Leaders for each of the five programs in March. Each program is to have both an industry and research leader, who will provide vision and leadership for the program. We received a good response to the call for research Program Leader nominations from researchers, but not many industry nominations. At this stage, the Program Leader roles have not yet been finalised because of the small number of industry nominees. Industry program leader nominations are still being sought. Nominees can be from non-core partners as long as they are nominated by a Core Partner. | Three Program Managers have been appointed to support the operation of the CRCAH's five major program areas. They are: Shirley Godwin - Chronic Diseases Program s.godwin@latrobe.edu.au Roger Brailsford - Comprehensive Primary Health Care, Health Systems and Workforce, and Social and Emotional Wellbeing roger.brailsford@menzies.edu.au Tamelyn Hall - Social Determinants, Healthy Skin tamelyn.hall@menzies.edu.au |
Project Management Software purchased |
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| The CRCAH has purchased project management software that will house project information online and will also be a tool for recording in-kind hours and converting these to a dollar value. The Links group held a workshop to discuss in-kind issues on 8 April and the software is being modified in light of these discussions. It is anticipated that the software will be available for use in July. | |
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New Communications Manager |
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Alastair Harris has recently started as the CRCAH's Communications Manager with the responsibility of improving internal communications between core partners and raising the organisational profile of the CRCAH. |
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Publications available |
Annual report 2003/2004 |
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Convocation participants were given a goody bag which included a list of current publications available. An order form and a list of publications are available on What's Happening. |
Link People have been sent copies of the CRCAH annual report. Please speak to your link person about obtaining a copy or email Sarah Walton, and you will receive copies shortly. The annual report can also be downloaded from What's Happening or the Digital Library under "Annual Reports". |
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CRCAH Shirts now available! |
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The CRCAH now has corporate shirts available in both men/women's styles and sizes in either blue or black! If you would like to place an order, fill in this form >>> Shirt Order Form |
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Want to find more publications? Check out the Digital Library!!!! |
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NHMRC call for training scholarships for Indigenous Health Research |
2006 Fulbright Postgraduate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award | |
| These Scholarships will be awarded to provide funding for research in areas of particular relevance relating to the health and well being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The Scholarships will be held within Australia. Applicants must enrol for a diploma, certificate, an undergraduate degree, or a postgraduate degree (such as a PhD, or Masters) at a fully accredited institution which will enable the applicant to pursue research relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. Although all applicants will be considered, it would be advantageous if applicants had prior experience in health care, health care delivery or health research in the area of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. Applications for 2006 funding for this scholarship close 05 August 2005. For more information please visit the NHMRC website |
2006 Fulbright Postgraduate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award Applications are now open for the 2006 Fulbright Postgraduate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award, sponsored by Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA), Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination. Valued at up to $A40,000 this award supports 8-12 months of research in the United States. The award must be started between 1 July 2006 and 30 June 2007. This Award is open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander graduates or postgraduates in any field to undertake research to be accredited towards an Australian higher degree, or to enrol in a U.S. higher degree. Current Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) holders are encouraged to apply, as APA guidelines have been changed in 2005 to support international research experiences related to Australian postgraduate studies through awards, such as Fulbright For further information and application forms see www.fulbright.com.au Applications close 31 August 2005 |
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| Student Profile – Serene Fernando | ||
Serene Fernando, a 25 year-old Kamilaroi woman from Mungindi near Goondiwindi on the NSW/Queensland border, has just completed her studies at the Centre for Indigenous Health at the University of Queensland. Serene won a CRCAH Scholarship to complete the final year of her Bachelor of Applied Health Sciences (Indigenous Primary Health Care) Honours degree. Serene's honours project was a community instigated and driven investigative research project looking at why young Aboriginal people from the border communities of Toomelah and Boggabilla do not finish high school. “Education is one of the principle social determinants for Aboriginal health outcomes and so I pursued community concerns around education as an attempt to shed light on why these people were struggling at school and assist in stimulating community informed action and developments.” Serene told Intranews. Serene did extensive interviews with students, teachers and members of the two communities to identify and describe possible obstacles to students completing their studies. The information gathered gave way to informed insights as to what the obstacles were, which then contributed to community discussions and development of community driven solutions. Her thesis entitled they givin' us headaches and makin' us cry: Aboriginal Education and the Future Health and Well being of Toomelah and Boggabilla Communities . The study ultimately sheds new light on the poor secondary school outcomes currently being achieved by many young Indigenous people. This is important for public health as the educational level of an individual determines social position, level of income and the capacity for Indigenous people to hold positions of power for their own governance and self-determination. The Indigenous communities participating in this project show a pattern of low high school completion rates over the past twenty years, with only one in twenty students enrolled successfully completing high school. The study investigated the underlying reasons why the young Indigenous people of Boggabilla and Toomelah struggle to complete high school. The overriding research methodology in the project was a Participatory Action Research approach with the two communities involved. The major themes that emerged out of the information collected included;
Among her recommendations were that a community committee be established in the school to ensure a mutual dialogue and flow of information and opinions between the school and community regarding themes identified in the report. The induction of teachers should include a comprehensive process to familiarise themselves with historical and current community realities and the local Kamilaroi culture, with local Elders leading this process. Serene points out that schools often ignored and devalued local community assets including the cultural knowledge of local Elders and refers to the school's decision to employ a non-Aboriginal teacher to teach Aboriginal culture because none of the Kamilaroi Elders possess a university teaching degree. Since completing her honours degree Serene has reported her findings to a recent Toomelah Health Summit in May 2005 and is now employed as an Associate Lecturer at the Centre for Indigenous Health, University of Queensland working with other Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander health students. She continues her interest in the relationship between education and health outcomes. If you want to contact Serene about her study send an email to s.fernando@uq.edu.au or phone Centre for Indigenous Health on (07) 3365 5434. |
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