Annual Progress Reports

A motivational interviewing intervention to improve social and emotional well-being among Aboriginal children (1153662)

  • Professor Lisa Jamieson (Chief Investigator A)
  • University of Adelaide
  • Budget: $898,097
  • Funding Period: 2018 to 2023

Project Synopsis

In spite of unacceptably poor social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) experienced by many Aboriginal children, there have been few interventions developed, using culturally safe methodologies, for child SEWB management. Consequently, the armamentarium available to identify and reduce poor SEWB among Aboriginal children is extremely limited.

This study will investigate the novel use of motivational interviewing (MI) for a potentially widely available public health service with which every health professional can become familiar. Our findings would have the potential to change the way in which the poor SEWB of Aboriginal children can be managed; through inclusion of specifically tailored MI interventions to improve SEWB delivered by Aboriginal health care workers in the suite of child health and development recommendations. We will additionally provide increased knowledge on the efficacy and cost effectiveness of MI in reducing the burden of poor SEWB among Aboriginal children. Our results may provide evidence for decision makers to make informed resource allocations in child health, which are especially necessary in the Aboriginal community-controlled health organization sector.

The study addresses priorities raised in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013-2023, particularly in regard to increasing understanding of Aboriginal child health issues at a community level, improving public health measures that address Aboriginal child SEWB and facilitating collection of Aboriginal child SEWB information. Over the last 6 years we have developed an Aboriginal Birth Cohort study, established and maintained a study Aboriginal Reference Group, built up strong rapport with the community and have excellent participant retention; 72% at age 2 years and age 3 years respectively, with current follow-up at age 5 years indicating the same retention rate. The study participants are supportive of an MI intervention to improve Aboriginal child SEWB.

Final report under review

 

Bangamalhana: A collaborative throughcare program for young Aboriginal women transitioning from prison to community (1154002)

  • Professor Elizabeth Sullivan (Chief Investigator A)
  • University of Technology Sydney
  • Budget: $955,648
  • Funding Period: 2018 to 2024

Project Synopsis

There is an epidemic of incarceration of young Aboriginal people in Australia, with over half in prison aged 18 to 24 years. Aboriginal women comprise 34% of female prisoners yet 2% of the Australian population. They are the most rapidly growing prisoner population, with younger ages on entry, higher rates of recidivism and death, and poorer social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) and mental health than non-Indigenous women in custody. Public health implications are profound: prison is a major contributor to poor health, trauma and poverty, with effects across generations. The period of youth is to be one of developing wellbeing and capacity; however, too few age-appropriate, culturally and gender informed prisoner throughcare services to promote SEWB and mental health and prevent recidivism are available, and the evidence-base on which to develop them is lacking.

The Bangamalhana project (meaning ‘to share’ in Wiradjuri) is a strategic partnership between government agencies, Aboriginal community services and researchers using Indigenous methodologies to conduct 3 integrated, intervention-focussed studies:

  • to consolidate and synthesise existing to create new understandings of throughcare for young Aboriginal women
  • co-creation of a Throughcare Workforce Capability Framework including workforce cultural capability development and support for formal throughcare service delivery
  • piloting and facilitation of community-involved evaluation of the Framework.

Bangamalhana will provide the first contemporary data on SEWB, mental health and throughcare for young Aboriginal women, based on actions across all levels of an ecological model of health in accordance key government frameworks to reduce Aboriginal health inequity: it will influence policy, improve systems coordination and accessibility of services, strengthen workforce cultural capabilities and increase SEWB and mental health support for young women in the criminal justice system.

Progress report May 2023

In September 2022 our community engagement recommenced after disruptions and limited access to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The study protocol was adapted to reflect recommendations from community representatives including Nelly's Healing Centre (ACO) and Waminda (ACCHO). We worked collaboratively with our partners and were able to submit ethics applications between October and November 2022. Approvals were received between January and April 2023 from AH&MRC, Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network, the University of Newcastle, and Corrective Services ethics committees. Site specific approvals were sought in February from Justice Health and granted in April 2023.

Phase 1 of the project comprising of knowledge translation of existing research literature underpinning the grant, has been completed. This has been a complex process. The outputs from Phase 1 are now being developed for use in Phase 2 and to support enhancing workplace capability.

 

Responding to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Aspirations to Foster Self-Determination and Social and Emotional Wellbeing (1154619)

  • Professor Kerry Arabena (Chief Investigator A)
  • University of Melbourne
  • Budget: $1,924,345
  • Funding Period: 2018 to 2026

Project Synopsis

Deficit based approaches to service provision have consistently failed to address the current social, emotional and cultural wellbeing (SEWB) and health challenges experienced by Indigenous infants, children, adolescents and their parents. This project aims to evaluate the effect of a regionally tailored, life-coaching service on the SEWB of Indigenous young parents and their children living in 3 urban areas of Victoria — Mornington Peninsula, Healesville and northern metropolitan Melbourne. The life-coaching service is a strengths-based, low intensity coaching program that supports Indigenous families to articulate and achieve their short, medium and long-term aspirations. It prioritises future aspirations as a framework to provide strategies for parents and/or care givers and their children to change and improve their lives instead of their 'identified needs'. Rather than using an individual 'case management' approach, the program uses a coaching paradigm at the household level to support self-determination.

The proposed research project will evaluate the development, scaling up and regionalisation of the life-coaching service in the 3 regions on SEWB outcomes. It will involve a 3 arm pre/post adopter versus non-adopter trial of the life-coaching service, as well as a qualitative study examining household pathways of change as young parents and their children reorient themselves towards reaching their aspirations. This research combines Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing with epidemiological methods to evaluate the impact of a low intensity and strength-based life-coaching service designed for and by Indigenous families. This Indigenous-led and designed research project holistically addresses complex issues of SEWB to create sustainable generational change, using a strength-based framework that supports self-determination with and for Indigenous young parents and their families.

Progress report April 2023

  • A number of activities have been undertaken/completed:
  • We have published a study protocol. Two additional publications are under development using cross-sectional data collected from the target community and administrative data held by our implementing partner NGO (Aboriginal Housing Victoria).
  • We have obtained ethics approvals.
  • We have trained data collectors.
  • The intervention development itself has been refined with our implementing partner NGO and has been presented at the Indigenous Wellbeing Conference in Adelaide in 2022.
  • Data collection has commenced for the intervention trial, and approximately 20 people are currently receiving the life coaching intervention.

 

Understanding and promoting the social and emotional wellbeing and mental health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ young people (1157377)

  • Dr Ashleigh Lin (Chief Investigator A)
  • University of Western Australia
  • Budget: $716,302
  • Funding Period: 2019 to 2024

Project Synopsis

There is little academic literature on the social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) and mental health needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ young people in Australia. This is despite the fact that both identities are associated with exposure to risk factors associated with SEWB and mental health difficulties. Our knowledge of the interaction between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, LGBTQA+ and youth identities, and how this intersection affects wellbeing, remains very poor. The primary objective of this project is to better understand how the interstice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, LGBTQA+ and youth identities impacts upon the SEWB and mental health of this population to enable the development of tailored interventions to effectively support young people. The project will be conducted across Perth and Sydney in 3 phases, each of which will inform the content of subsequent phases.

Phase 1 will comprise of focus groups and in-depth narrative interviews with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ young people aged 14 to 25 years to better understand their experiences of the intersection of identities and the impact upon SEWB.

Phase 2 will be an online survey to quantitatively index mental wellbeing, exposure to risk and protective factors and experiences of health services.

Phase 3 will involve the co-design of a ‘roadmap’ of how to best meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ young people.

The primary outcome of this project will be a roadmap for increasing the SEWB and mental health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ youth, based on their specific needs and experiences.

Progress report April 2023

Walkern Katatdjin is the first project to explore the mental health and social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ youth.

Phase 1 involved focus groups and interviews with young people about their experiences in Perth and Sydney.

Phase 2 was a national survey of 619 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ youth aged 14 to 25. The survey was designed by Aboriginal, LGBTQA+, and Aboriginal LGBTQA+ people and was built around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ideas of what makes communities members healthy, happy and well. This research supports the idea that the intersection between these identities is complex and unique. The findings demonstrate the need to develop specific interventions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ young people’s mental health and SEWB, and inclusive health services to support them.

Publications and other resources

Published papers

Uink B, Liddelow-Hunt S, Daglas K, Ducasse D. The time for inclusive care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQ+ young people is now. Med J Aust. 2020 Sep;213(5):201-204.e1. doi: 10.5694/mja2.50718.

Spurway K, Soldatic K, Briskman L, Uink B, Liddelow-Hunt S, Hill B, Lin A. The social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous LGBTQA+ young people: a global perspective. Ir J Psychol Med. 2022 Jun;39(2):138-147. doi: 10.1017/ipm.2020.83.

Liddelow-Hunt S, Lin A, Hill JHL, Daglas K, Hill B, Perry Y, Wilson M, Uink B. Conceptualising Wellbeing for Australian Aboriginal LGBTQA+ Young People. Youth. 2023; 3(1):70-92. doi.org/10.3390/youth3010005. This paper was cited as best-practice research by the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention.

Uink, B., Liddelow-Hunt, S., Hill, J., Daglas, K., Hill, B., Perry, Y., & Lin, A. (in prep). Factors associated with social and emotional wellbeing among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ youth.

Sullivan, C., Coe, G., Spurway, K., Briskman, L., Leha, J., Trewlynn, W. and Soldatic, K. (2022), 'Transforming colonial social suffering: strategies of hope and resistance by LGBTIQ+ Indigenous peoples in settler-colonial Australia', Social Suffering in the Neoliberal Age: State Power, Logics and Resistance, Routledge 9780367675554.

Spurway, K., Sullivan, C., Leha, J., Trewlynn, W., Briskman, L. and Soldatic, K. (2023), '"I felt invisible": First nations LGBTIQSB+ young people's experiences with health service provision in Australia', Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, vol 35, pp 68 - 91.

Soldatic, K., Sullivan, C., Briskman, L., Leha, J., Trewlynn, W. and Spurway, K. (2023), '[In Press] Indigenous LGBTIQSB + people's experiences of family violence in Australia', Journal of Family Violence.

Sullivan, C., Spurway, K., Leha, J., Trewllyn, W. and Soldatic, K. (2023), 'The Dalarinji project - "Your Story": a narrative synthesis', Journal of Global Indigeneity, vol 7, pp 1 - 25.

Sullivan, C., Coe, G., Spurway, K., Briskman, L., Trewlynn, W., Leha, J. and Soldatic, K. (2022), 'Mobility tactics : young LGBTIQ+ Indigenous Australians' belonging and connectedness', Journal of Global Indigeneity, vol 6, pp 1 - 15.

Sullivan, C., Spurway, K., Briskman, L., Leha, J., Trewlynn, W. and Soldatic, K. (2022), '"She's always been a fighter for me" : Indigenous mothers as advocates and defenders of their LGBTIQSB+ children', LGBTQ+ Family, vol 18, pp 463 - 474.

Briskman, L., Sullivan, C., Spurway, K., Leha, J., Trewlynn, W. and Soldatic, K. (2022), '(Re)Claiming health : the human rights of young LGBTIQ+ Indigenous people in Australia', Health and Human Rights Journal, vol 24, pp 35 - 47.

Sullivan, C., Tran, D., Trewlynn, W., Spurway, K., Leha, J., Briskman, L. and Soldatic, K. (2022), ''We want to help but we don't know what to do' : service providers working with Indigenous LGBTIQ+ youth in Australia', Sexes, vol 3, pp 308 - 324.

Soldatic, K., Sullivan, C., Briskman, L., Leha, J., Trewlynn, W. and Spurway, K. (2021), 'Social inclusion and exclusion for First Nations LGBTIQ+ people in Australia', Social Inclusion, vol 9, pp 1 - 6.

Presentations and Training

Our project team received several requests to present study findings and offer training on ways of working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ young people. Below is a summary of these presentations.

  • Trans and gender diverse Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people’s mental health and social emotional wellbeing – Australian Professional Association for Trans Health (AusPATH) Conference 2023, Melbourne, Victoria. Keynote presentation.
  • How services can support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ young people – findings from the Walkern Katatdjin (Rainbow Knowledge) research project – The National Youth Enhanced Services Symposium 2023, Melbourne, Victoria. Invited presentation.
  • Walkern Katatdjin (Rainbow Knowledge): Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ Youth Mental Health and Social Emotional Wellbeing – 10th International Meeting on Indigenous Child Health, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
  • Responding to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ young people – Living Proud/QLife Professional Development session, Perth, Western Australia. Invited presentation.
  • National survey results on the SEWB of young Indigenous LGBTQIA+SB people – Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT) SEWB Workforce Online Network Meeting, online. Invited presentation.
  • Involving Aboriginal Communities in Research – Child and Adolescent Health Service, Research Skills Seminar Series, Perth, Western Australia. Invited presentation.
  • Walkern Katatdjin – Rainbow Knowledge – Youth Mental Health Sub Network Steering Group Meeting, Mental Health Commission, online. Invited presentation.
  • Walkern Katatdjin (Rainbow Knowledge): The mental health and social emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ young people – Clinical Leadership Forum, Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia (AHCWA), online. Invited presentation.
  • Yarns between young LGBTQ+ Aboriginal people and Elder Noongars for TikTok videos – an informal presentation on the rationale behind, and the experience of making, the videos - Dabakarn Kadadjiny (slow steady learning) Research-to-Practice Seminar Series, Wungening Aboriginal Corporation, online. Invited presentation.
Podcasts and media
  • Zadvirna, D. (2023 26 July). Walkern Katatjdin: Rainbow Knowledge survey shines spotlight on mental health issues faced by Indigenous LGBTIQA+ youth. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-26/indigenous-lgbtqia-suicide-walkern-katatdjin-rainbow-knowledge/102646976
  • Hill, B., Uink, B., Liddelow-Hunt, S., & Bennett, S. (2023, May 25). What can we learn from the marriage equality vote about supporting First Nations people during the Voice debate? The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/what-can-we-learn-from-the-marriage-equality-vote-about-supporting-first-nations-people-during-the-voice-debate-205745
  • RE: Walkern Katatdjin: Rainbow Knowledge survey shines spotlight on mental health issues faced by Indigenous LGBTIQA+ youth – National Talkblack, Cairns Indigenous Community Radio Station, Bumma Bippera Media. Radio interview.
  • Study finds high level of distress for Indigenous LGBTQ+ youth. ABC News, 26 Jul 2023. TV interview.

 

Against the odds: Understanding the factors influencing wellbeing among Indigenous youth in the Northern Territory (1160167)

  • Professor Stefanie Schurer (Chief Investigator A)
  • University of Sydney
  • Budget: $1,026,750
  • Funding Period: 2019 to 2024

Project Synopsis

Although Indigenous children face many challenges in maintaining their social and emotional wellbeing, many manage to lead fulfilling lives as young adults. The opportunity exists to learn from these Indigenous youth. Forming an interdisciplinary partnership between Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers, this project will take a macroscopic and microscopic look at Indigenous youth social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) in the Northern Territory.

First, this project will develop a community strength index that goes beyond the clinical measurement of mental health using comprehensive population-based, linked administrative data including information on youth health, education, and social behaviours. This index aims to capture the multidimensionality of SEWB from the perspective of policy makers. Advanced econometric techniques will be applied to a wide array of early-childhood and community-level data to identify the factors that explain exceptional SEWB and communities in which youth score better or worse than expected.

Second, the project team will conduct field work in these locations to explore the factors that shape SEWB from the perspective of Indigenous youth and an Indigenous framework of SEWB. Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected on Indigenous youth to learn about their SEWB trajectories and validate conclusions drawn from the administrative data analysis. The research-to-practice translation of the results will be led by the Indigenous team members to ensure that an Indigenous understanding is applied towards new policies that aim to keep young Indigenous Australians well.

An important outcome of this research project is to lay the institutional foundations for a long-term partnership between Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers with highly complementary skills. Indigenous youth will benefit from a gradual improvement in Indigenous research capability that allows them to lead the public policy debate on Indigenous wellbeing.

Progress report April 2023

Significant progress has been made towards the first stage of the project and the following activities have been undertaken:

  • Completion of 1 working paper that explains the methodology of how we have constructed a summary measure of Indigenous youth wellbeing using linked administrative data, validated the measure using suicide intention data, illustrated the wide variation in overall wellbeing of Aboriginal Youth across both rural and urban communities and suburbs, and identified the main childhood factors that predict Youth wellbeing. This paper will be submitted to peer review early February 2024, and was presented at 3 workshops  and conferences.
  • We organised and convened a major outreach workshop 'Reconciliation, Opportunities, Wellbeing of First Nations Peoples', to showcase best research practices and to bring people together (2 to 3 Feb 2023 at USyd).
  • We have organised 5 get-to-gathers for our CIs in Darwin, Melbourne and Perth to reach out to the Aboriginal Steering Community at Menzies and other collaborators.
  • 2 research articles are currently in preparation using linked administrative data for Part I.