Background: Water safety awareness and swimming lesson participation can reduce drowning risk among children in Australia. Providing financial support for swimming lesson participation could additionally impact knowledge and awareness among parents/carers of the importance of learning to swim as a water safety strategy. Between 2021 and 2023, the New South Wales First Lap voucher programme provided preschool-aged children (ages 3-6 years) with two $A100 vouchers, one per financial year, for swimming lessons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To describe the co-design of an Aboriginal unintentional child injury prevention programme in partnership with Walgett Aboriginal Medical Service.
Methods: An iterative codesign process using Indigenous research methodology and development of a programme logic model was employed with oversight from a panel of injury experts and key stakeholders. Yarning, stakeholder interviews and a codesign approach to programme development, piloting and evaluation were used.
Background: Aboriginal community-led programmes are likely to be most effective in prevention of injury, but more evaluation is needed. This article examined participating family and community stakeholder views of the Child Injury Prevention Partnership (CHIPP) programme delivered within an existing playgroup at the Walgett Aboriginal Medical Service.
Methods: This codesigned, mixed-methods evaluation adopted a decolonising Indigenous methodological approach.
Background: Physical activity benefits adolescent health and well-being, known holistically as social and emotional well-being (SEWB) to Aboriginal people. However, little is known about the associations between physical activity and SEWB among Aboriginal adolescents. The "Next Generation: Youth Well-Being (NextGen) Study" is a cohort study of Aboriginal people aged 10-24 years in Australia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContemp Clin Trials Commun
April 2025
Background: Limited available data indicate that dementia prevalence rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter Aboriginal) peoples are 3-5 times higher than the overall Australian population. Effective, pragmatic and scalable interventions are urgently required to address this disproportionate burden of dementia in Aboriginal populations.
Methods: Kaat Koort is a pragmatic two-arm parallel-group randomized controlled trial which will recruit a sample of 354 participants from two Aboriginal community-controlled health services in the south-west of Western Australia.
Introduction: Drowning is a preventable cause of mortality, with 279 unintentional drowning deaths per year in Australia. Despite larger estimated numbers, less is known about nonfatal drowning compared to fatalities. This study aimed to examine the burden of fatal and nonfatal drowning in the Australian state of New South Wales using pre-hospital case capture.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSupporting older people to age well is a global policy priority, however the development and implementation of strategies to support ageing well for older Aboriginal people must be determined by the communities affected. This is necessary in colonial contexts, where socio-political structures impinge on Aboriginal rights and mainstream policy and practice creates and maintains health and social inequities. This article reports on research conducted in partnership with the Dharriwaa Elders Group, an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAust N Z J Public Health
February 2025
Objective: To quantify drowning rates and fatal to non-fatal drowning ratios on public holidays, school holidays, weekdays and long weekends in New South Wales from January 2010 to June 2022.
Methods: Using a linked administrative dataset comprising ambulance (paper-based and electronic records), emergency department presentations and death registry, rates of drowning and ratios of fatal to non-fatal drowning were calculated.
Results: Across 4,161 total drowning incidents, public holidays (14.
Objectives: To review evidence regarding the impact of physical activity interventions for preventing and managing type 2 diabetes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
Study Design: We searched for published reports of physical activity interventions for preventing and managing type 2 diabetes in Indigenous adults (18 years or older). There were no exclusion criteria regarding study type or duration, frequency, length, or intensity of physical activity, except that short term interventions were excluded.
Issue Addressed: Little is currently known about the relationships between body composition and the social determinants of health among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth in Australia, which could help inform policy responses to address health inequities.
Methods: This study aimed to explore the relationship between various social factors and healthy body mass index (BMI) and waist/height ratio (WHtR) among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth aged 16-24 years. Baseline survey data from 531 participants of the 'Next Generation: Youth Well-being study' were used.
Objective: Health programs for Indigenous people are most effective, acceptable, and sustainable when Indigenous perspectives are prioritized. Codesign builds on Indigenous people's creativity and propensity to experiment with new technologies and ensures research is designed and implemented in a culturally safe and respectful manner. Limited research has focused on older Indigenous people as partners in digital health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Child swimming lessons are a key intervention for drowning prevention; however, participation has been severely affected by COVID-19 restrictions and cost-of-living challenges. To encourage re-engagement, the New South Wales government began providing A$100 swimming lesson vouchers. Parent/carers of eligible preschool-aged children were asked to complete a survey during voucher creation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFor older people, physical inactivity increases fall risk as well as other preventable health conditions. Despite the well-documented benefits of physical activity, uptake and adherence continue to challenge efforts aimed at increasing physical activity and reducing falls. Nested within a randomized controlled trial, this study reports on the factors influencing the physical activity behavior of people, aged between 70 and 90 years, engaged in , a home-based balance exercise program proven to reduce falls in the community.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Otitis media (middle ear disease) severity and chronicity among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, as well as gaps in socioeconomic outcomes related to hearing loss, indicates a breakdown in the current ear and hearing care system. The ear and hearing care system spans multiple sectors due to long-term impacts of otitis media and hearing loss in health, education and employment, necessitating a multi-disciplinary cross-sectorial approach to ear and hearing care. Public policies shape the current ear and hearing care system and here it is argued that a critical public policy analysis across different sectors is needed, with strong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership and guidance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAge-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a blinding condition associated with depression, loneliness and unhealthy lifestyle behaviours which drives AMD progression. We have proposed the first online lifestyle intervention for AMD, called Movement, Interaction and Nutrition for Greater Lifestyles in the Elderly (MINGLE) to promote positive lifestyle changes and reduce loneliness. This qualitative grounded-theory study explored enablers and barriers to future participation in MINGLE for older adults with AMD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth Promot J Austr
July 2024
Issue Addressed: To understand barriers to uptake of subsidised swimming lessons by children aged 3-6 years old ('preschool aged children'), including from priority populations, in New South Wales (NSW).
Methods: A thematic analysis of 4191 qualitative responses from parents/carers of preschool aged children describing barriers that resulted in their child's non-participation in subsidised swimming lessons in the past 12 months was conducted. Data, including parent/carer sociodemographic variables, were collected through registrations for the NSW Government's First Lap voucher program.
This study described the distribution of healthy body composition among Aboriginal adolescents in Australia aged 10-24 years and examined associations with health behaviours and self-rated health. Data were cross-sectional from the 'Next Generation: Youth Well-being study' baseline (N = 1294). We used robust Poisson regression to quantify associations of self-reported health behaviours (physical activity, screen time, sleep, consumption of vegetables, fruit, soft drinks and fast food, and tobacco smoking and alcohol) and self-rated health to healthy body mass index (BMI) and waist/height ratio (WHtR).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Health Serv Res
April 2023
Background: Ear and hearing care programs are critical to early detection and management of otitis media (or middle ear disease). Otitis media and associated hearing loss disproportionately impacts First Nations children. This affects speech and language development, social and cognitive development and, in turn, education and life outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIssue Addressed: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child ear health is complex and multiple. We examined relationships between parent-reported sociodemographic, child health, health service access factors and ear symptoms among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 3 to 7 years.
Methods: The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children is a large child cohort study with annual parent-reported data collection.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
February 2023
Physical activity typically decreases during teenage years and has been identified as a health priority by Aboriginal adolescents. We examined associations between physical activity levels and sociodemographic, movement and health variables in the Aboriginal led 'Next Generation: Youth Well-being (NextGen) Study' of Aboriginal people aged 10-24 years from Central Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales. Baseline survey data collected by Aboriginal researchers and Aboriginal youth peer recruiters from 2018 to 2020 examined demographics and health-related behaviours.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA large body of evidence exists on diet and cardiovascular mortality, but limited studies have investigated the long-term intake of food groups, which may have cumulative effects on cardiovascular health in the long term. This review therefore evaluated the relationship between the long-term consumption of 10 food groups and cardiovascular mortality. We conducted a systematic search in Medline, Embase, Scopus, CINAHL, and Web of Science till January 2022.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth and well-being are holistic concepts that are perceived to be inseparable for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We examined relationships between parent-reported ear symptoms for 787 Indigenous children at two time points (age 2-3 years, age 4-5 years) and two parent-reported speech and language outcomes one year later (age 5-6 years). Most parents (80.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose And Aim: To identify and describe characteristics of Randomised Control Trial (RCT) design, implementation, and interpretation with a view tostrengtheningen the cultural integrity and scientific quality of this genre of research when used with, for and by Indigenous peoples.
Issue: RCTs are widely regarded as the 'gold standard' method for evaluating the efficacy of an intervention. However, issues of cultural acceptability and higher attrition rates among RCT participants from diverse populations, including Indigenous participants, have been reported.