A randomized trial of the impact of a multi-intervention anti-tobacco strategy in 8 Indigenous communities.

Funded Activity Summary

Tobacco smoking represents the major risk to life and health within Australian Indigenous communities. Survey data suggest that prevalence rates for the Indigenous community are more than twice those of the non-Indigenous population. These rates are reflected in the pattern of mortality and morbidity within Indigenous communities. During the period 1989-1999 the smoking-related death rate amongst Indigenous Queenslanders was almost three times greater than that of non-Indigenous Queenslanders. Additionally, tobacco smoking is a major contributing factor in many conditions that constitute significant Indigenous health problems. The natural history of smoking also differs between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations. Indigenous smokers start younger, are more likely to develop smoking-related conditions and tend to die younger than non-Indigenous smokers. Despite the above statistics, there is little published data on the effectiveness of anti-smoking interventions within Australia's Indigenous populations. Lessons from non-Indigenous communities suggest that the most successful strategies are those that target populations at many different levels. Rather than one isolated intervention, such strategies may include policy initiatives, training and education of health staff, community education and awareness campaigns and increased access to cessation techniques. Indigenous communities generally lack the capacity to initiate these type of tobacco control strategies. This project aims to examine the impact of a multi-intervention anti-tobacco strategy within north Queensland Indigenous communities. The project has three broad aims: 1) to increase the capacity of health services to implement and deliver anti-tobacco interventions; 2) to increase community knowledge and awareness of the risks of smoking and 3) to decrease the level of tobacco consumption within communities.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2003

End Date: 01-01-2005

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $567,750.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Indigenous Health

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

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Other Keywords

Indigenous Health | community intervention study | health care worker education | health promotion | health promotion interventions | health services research | health services research in national health priority areas | indigenous health | tobacco | tobacco smoking

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