A study evaluating a culturally secure intervention to facilitate medical follow up for Aboriginal children after being hospitalised with chest infections has found they had improved long-term lung health outcomes.
Co-led by respiratory clinician researchers Dr Pam Laird and Professor André Schultz – who work with the BREATH team at the Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre and Perth Children’s Hospital – the study assessed the children four weeks after they were discharged from hospital.
The follow-up methods, which included hospital system changes, staff training and culturally secure health information with resources being provided for families, resulted in higher follow-up rates and improved the longer-term lung health outcomes for these children.
Dr Laird said the study demonstrated the urgent need for a national follow-up strategy for Aboriginal children who have been hospitalised for acute chest infections, to prevent more serious lung disease.
“Almost one in five young Aboriginal children hospitalised for an acute chest infection is diagnosed with bronchiectasis within two years of being discharged,” she said.
This research was supported by a Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation (PCHF) New Investigator Grant, a WA Health Translation Network Medical Research Future Fund: Rapid Applied Research Translation Grant, and by Mineral Resources Limited, proudly supporting the Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre via PCHF as Principal Partner of the BREATH (Building Respiratory Equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health) Team. The team is led by paediatric lung health researcher, and Mineral Resources Fellow, Professor André Schultz. DRCapital and INPEX also support Kulunga Kimberley
Next steps
- Following on from this study, the team were as successful in securing a $1.97 million Medical Research Future Fund grant to develop and trial an effective, culturally secure follow-up strategy, to ensure that Aboriginal children around the nation are receiving effective medical follow-up and treatment
- The four-year trial will be led by The Kids Research Institute Australia in collaboration with The University of Western Australia (UWA) and the Menzies School of Health Research, with a team of researchers from The Kids, UWA, the Queensland University of Technology, the University of Queensland, and Curtin University
- The group will work with partner organisations from Queensland and from the Kimberley and Pilbara regions in Western Australia, including Aboriginal medical services that support remote-living First Nations communities
Did you know?
- Aboriginal children have the world’s highest reported rates of acute lower respiratory infections, experiencing higher hospitalisation rates and more severe disease than other Australian children
- Aboriginal children hospitalised with acute chest infections are at risk of developing bronchiectasis - permanent life-shortening lung damage
- The earliest sign of chronic lung disease after hospitalisation is usually a wet cough for more than four weeks. If the ongoing wet cough is managed early, bronchiectasis can often be prevented
- Therefore, effective follow-up after being discharged from hospital is essential