Roots Of Resilience: Transformations Of Identity And Community In Indigenous Mental Health
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$15,000.00
Summary
We propose to develop a cross-country interdisciplinary research program on factors and processes that promote resilience in mental health among indigenous peoples across the lifespan, with an emphasis on early childhood, school age children, adolescence and young adulthood. We will carry out a set of linked projects to identify the distinctive characteristics of individual and collective resilience among indigenous peoples in the three countries. This linkage of studies will occur in three ways ....We propose to develop a cross-country interdisciplinary research program on factors and processes that promote resilience in mental health among indigenous peoples across the lifespan, with an emphasis on early childhood, school age children, adolescence and young adulthood. We will carry out a set of linked projects to identify the distinctive characteristics of individual and collective resilience among indigenous peoples in the three countries. This linkage of studies will occur in three ways: (1) developing a comprehensive model of resilience at individual, family, community and societal levels that can be applied across the three countries; (2) designing multi-method studies of the same population so that results can be triangulated for greater validity of interpretation of results; (3) using cross-national comparisons to examine potential social structural, cultural and historical differences in the processes of resilience. The projects will include clinical, community and population-based studies of resilience using both qualitative life history and ethnographic methods and quantitative analysis of epidemiological data. The collaborating investigators have developed specific methods for studies of resilience in different age groups, including: parenting and family environment during infancy and early childhood; school-based research on outcomes of performance and retention; community-based ethnographic research on individual life trajectories; social historical research on community responses to adversity; and population-based research on longitudinal datasets. Throughout these studies our emphasis will be on identifying what may be distinctive about the experience of indigenous peoples so that research on resilience can be appropriately interpreted and applied to improve the health of these populations.Read moreRead less
Resilience: The Effect Of Sexual And Injecting Risk Behaviour On The Health Of Indigenous Populations In Australia, Cana
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$15,000.00
Summary
HIV-AIDS has become one of the most important health problems in the world today. Like several other infectious diseases, it is mainly spread by behaviours that most people consider to be part of their private lives, such as sexual intercourse and drug use. In many societies, the search for ways to prevent and treat these infectious has been complicated by the fact that people find them embarrassing to discuss, or fear discrimination if they have them. While surveys of sexually transmitted infec ....HIV-AIDS has become one of the most important health problems in the world today. Like several other infectious diseases, it is mainly spread by behaviours that most people consider to be part of their private lives, such as sexual intercourse and drug use. In many societies, the search for ways to prevent and treat these infectious has been complicated by the fact that people find them embarrassing to discuss, or fear discrimination if they have them. While surveys of sexually transmitted infections have found high rates in some Indigenous communities in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, so far only Canada has seen increased rates of HIV-AIDS among Indigenous people. There is much we need to learn about prevention and treatment in Indigenous people. We are therefore proposing to set up collaborative studies in each of the three countries that will explore how Indigenous people are able to protect themselves against these infections. We are especially interested in finding out about their resiliency, the way in which they make use of their own and their communities� strengths to protect themselves and enhance their health and well-being. A good understanding of what resiliency is about will help us discover how Indigenous health programs can help all people in their communities to have the best chance of avoiding these infections, or getting the right kind of care, support and treatment if they do have one or more of these infections. The research will be done in full collaboration with Indigenous communities in every aspect, from planning through to regular reporting of results. The program will provide opportunities for Indigenous people in the three countries to develop and enhance research skills in this important area, and allow non-Indigenous people to share knowledge and experience with Indigenous communities.Read moreRead less
Growing Up Indigenous; An International Birth Cohort Study.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$15,000.00
Summary
The main aim of this research programme is to identify factors that promote and enhance resiliency within indigenous children, families and communities. We propose to establish a longitudinal cohort of Indigenous infants and children who are identified from within Indigenous community settings and health services in Canada, Aotearoa-New Zealand and Australia. We intend to investigate the factors associated with �resilience� at a number of levels: individual, family, community (for example commun ....The main aim of this research programme is to identify factors that promote and enhance resiliency within indigenous children, families and communities. We propose to establish a longitudinal cohort of Indigenous infants and children who are identified from within Indigenous community settings and health services in Canada, Aotearoa-New Zealand and Australia. We intend to investigate the factors associated with �resilience� at a number of levels: individual, family, community (for example community indicators of socio-economic status, self-determination etc) and wider social factors (such as experience of colonisation and racism). Information will be gathered about the mother, child, family, community and social environments commencing during the pre-natal period and continuing over subsequent years. We will identify factors associated with good outcomes and �resilience� at a number of levels including individual, familial, community, social and the environment, using multilevel modelling. Identification of these factors will allow us to make recommendations for policy and practice that should improve health outcomes for indigenous peoples. Although the main aim is to identify factors associated with resiliency and good health outcomes, we will also be able to identify factors associated with adverse outcomes. We will also identify (within the antenatal, infancy and early childhood periods) key transition points, associated protective and risk factors for these transition points, and interventions that may be useful in ensuring successful negotiation of these transition points by families and communities. Indigenous health workforce capacity development and indigenous research methodology development are also key features of this proposal.Read moreRead less
The Impact Of Injury On Indigenous Children And Youth In Australia, Canada And New Zealand: A Tri-Country Approach To Pr
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$15,000.00
Summary
The proposed research will provide important new knowledge about the impact of injury on Indigenous children and youth in three settings: urban Indigenous communities in Australia, First Nation communities in Canada, and Iwi, Hapu and Maori communities in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Injury, which has received almost no research attention among Indigenous populations, is one of the leading causes of death, illness and disability in each of the three partner countries and the burden of injury for the I ....The proposed research will provide important new knowledge about the impact of injury on Indigenous children and youth in three settings: urban Indigenous communities in Australia, First Nation communities in Canada, and Iwi, Hapu and Maori communities in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Injury, which has received almost no research attention among Indigenous populations, is one of the leading causes of death, illness and disability in each of the three partner countries and the burden of injury for the Indigenous people of these countries is significantly higher than for the respective non-Indigenous populations. In addition to death and disability, injuries contribute to a variety of chronic health consequences such as, depression, alcohol and substance abuse, smoking, eating and sleeping disorders. Clearly, injury prevention must be a priority for policy makers in each of the partner countries. The purpose of the proposed research is to increase our understanding of the relationship between injury, socio-economic disadvantage and resilience in Indigenous communities and to use this knowledge to address, and reverse, health inequalities, particularly for children and youth. The proposed research focuses on the development of effective, sustainable and culturally acceptable interventions for Indigenous children and youth based on sound evidence from a tri-country Indigenous perspective. The proposed study will document the extent of intentional and unintentional injury in Indigenous populations; describe the contexts in which injuries occur and their impact on Indigenous children and youth; and develop and evaluate community based collaborative local interventions involving health and non-health sectors which promote the health, safety and resilience of Indigenous children and youth.Read moreRead less
Community And Individual Resilience For Positive Health In Indigenous Populations At Risk For Diabetes And Cardiovascula
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$8,318.00
Summary
The research partnership targets environmental, community, organisational and individual influences on diabetes and related conditions including obesity, cardiovascular disease and the metabolic syndrome in Indigenous populations of Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The Program brings together for strategic action across multiple organisational sectors and multidisciplinary group of Canadian and Australasian researchers, and indigenous community partners with extensive experience and expertise ....The research partnership targets environmental, community, organisational and individual influences on diabetes and related conditions including obesity, cardiovascular disease and the metabolic syndrome in Indigenous populations of Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The Program brings together for strategic action across multiple organisational sectors and multidisciplinary group of Canadian and Australasian researchers, and indigenous community partners with extensive experience and expertise in Indigenous health and chronic disease aetiology and prevention. The partnership is founded on a recent CIHR global health research program development grant directed by the lead investigators; these activities build on seven years of collaboration between the lead applicants and the co-applicants in each nation. Baseline biochemical, behavioural and anthropometric data have been collected for many communities with which we will continue to work, and such measure will also be collected for additional communities recruited to join the program. A minimum of 22 communities will be included in this program, at least five per country. The �added value� of the partnership will be through going beyond risk factor-based research and individualised interventions in attempting to link meaningful measures environmental, community, organisational characteristics and actions in health promotion intervention, to measures of positive health and improved health status for community partners over a five-year duration of the partnership. The concept of resilience will be addressed in terms of positive community and individual capacities related to favourable health status and-or effective mobilisation for health interventions, accounting for indicators of adversity. Culture will be synthesising theme for research on resiliencyRead moreRead less
Collaboration To Reduce Disparities In Chronic Diseases
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$15,000.00
Summary
In Australia, New Zealand and Canada, we have deferred morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases into old age. By contrast, however, with most of our citizens, indigenous men and women live with, and die young from, chronic diseases. Diabetes, heart and kidney disease fundamentally reduce the resilience of these individuals, their families and communities. This research collaboration will address: 1) the reasons for these persistent disparities in the burden of chronic diseases; 2) how these ....In Australia, New Zealand and Canada, we have deferred morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases into old age. By contrast, however, with most of our citizens, indigenous men and women live with, and die young from, chronic diseases. Diabetes, heart and kidney disease fundamentally reduce the resilience of these individuals, their families and communities. This research collaboration will address: 1) the reasons for these persistent disparities in the burden of chronic diseases; 2) how these disparities are theorised and the effect of this on intervention design; 3) factors which promote individual and community resilience to the incidence and impact of chronic diseases; 4) how resilience is theorised in the literature and how this fits into indigenous theoretical paradigms such as kaupapa M_ori theory; 5) the macroeconomic consequences, in terms of loss of economic productivity, direct health care costs and the effects on household viability and dependency; 6) how best to deliver appropriate primary health care services to prevent and manage chronic diseases; and 7) establishment of an annual working forum bringing together key stakeholders from each country to develop a coherent policy agenda to address disparities in chronic diseases. We plan to critically examine how the cumulative interplay, across the life-course, of exposure, susceptibility and resistance, drives health disparities. How does our thinking about how and whether these factors operate at individual, family, community and national levels, inform policy-making? At all of these levels, we will systematically review data which describe the burden of chronic diseases and outcomes with treatment. We will estimate the costs of chronic diseases amongst the Indigenous populations of our respective countries. In each country, we will use our research, primary care and policy networks to identify examples of successful prevention and management programs. Having reviewed these programs, we will use them as case studies in communicating our findings to key stakeholders. We will seek to collaborate with relevant state- provincial and national government departments in the research process, to expedite translation of our findings into policy and into improved service delivery and will use the annual working forum to drive this policy agenda.Read moreRead less
The Victorian Centre For Applied Biostatistics (VCAB): Building Core Methodological Capacity For Population Health
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,497,184.00
Summary
Biostatistics is the scientific discipline that focusses on the methods used to design and analyse research studies on human health. Doctors and other researchers conduct increasingly complex studies to identify best approaches for the prevention and treatment of disease, and these studies must be underpinned by sound biostatistical methods. This Centre will develop a critical mass of expertise in this under-resourced area around a program of methodological research, translation and training.
The Centre for Research Excellence in Discovering Indigenous Strategies to improve Cancer Outcomes Via Engagement, Research Translation and Training (DISCOVER-TT) aims to reduce the marked disparities in diagnosis, treatment and survival for Indigenous Australians with cancer. DISCOVER-TT’s co-ordinated, collaborative, Indigenous-led research program will feature extensive stakeholder engagement to ensure its work is relevant and applicable, and will enhance research capacity by developing early ....The Centre for Research Excellence in Discovering Indigenous Strategies to improve Cancer Outcomes Via Engagement, Research Translation and Training (DISCOVER-TT) aims to reduce the marked disparities in diagnosis, treatment and survival for Indigenous Australians with cancer. DISCOVER-TT’s co-ordinated, collaborative, Indigenous-led research program will feature extensive stakeholder engagement to ensure its work is relevant and applicable, and will enhance research capacity by developing early-career researchers.Read moreRead less