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Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing

The Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Team follows an holistic definition of Aboriginal Health which means that health is not just the physical wellbeing of an individual but includes the social, emotional and cultural wellbeing of the whole community.

Ngulluk Moort, Ngulluk Boodja, Ngulluk Wirin (our family, our country, our spirit): An Aboriginal Participatory Action Research study protocol

We are working with the leadership and staff at foster care agencies and community members to provide information about cultural connection, and cultural activity and resources for Aboriginal children living in non-Aboriginal care arrangements.

The Koolungar Moorditj Healthy Skin Project: Elder and Community Led Resources Strengthen Aboriginal Voice for Skin Health

In partnership with local Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, the Elder-led co-designed Koolungar Moorditj Healthy Skin project is guided by principles of reciprocity, capacity building, respect, and community involvement. Through this work, the team of Elders, community members, clinicians and research staff have gained insight into the skin health needs of urban-living Aboriginal koolungar (children); and having identified a lack of targeted and culturally appropriate health literacy and health promotion resources on moorditj (strong) skin, prioritised development of community-created healthy skin resources.

A new approach for research with Aboriginal communities

Winning the support of a remote Aboriginal community paved the way for a pioneering genetics study.

National FASD diagnostic tool to improve outcomes for kids

Australia's first national diagnostic tool for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) has been developed by researchers at The Kids Research Institute Australia and the U

“Sometimes Our Mob Don't Really Take It Serious Until It's Serious”: The Experiences of Western Australian Aboriginal Adolescents Living With Type 2 Diabetes, Their Parents, and Their Family Members

In Australia, Aboriginal children experience disproportionate rates of type 2 diabetes (T2D) compared with non-Aboriginal children. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of Aboriginal adolescents with T2D and their family members to better understand the influences of T2D on self-management, with findings used to inform an enhanced service model of care.

Codesigning enhanced models of care for Northern Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth with type 2 diabetes: study protocol

Premature onset of type 2 diabetes and excess mortality are critical issues internationally, particularly in Indigenous populations. There is an urgent need for developmentally appropriate and culturally safe models of care. We describe the methods for the codesign, implementation and evaluation of enhanced models of care with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth living with type 2 diabetes across Northern Australia. 

Indigenous infants in remote Australia retain an ancestral gut microbiome despite encroaching Westernization

Studies of traditional Indigenous compared to 'Western' gut microbiomes are underrepresented, and lacking in young children, limiting knowledge of early-life microbiomes in different cultural contexts. Here we analyze the gut metagenomes of 50 Indigenous Australian infants (median age <one year) living remotely with variable access to Western foods, compared to age- and sex-matched non-Indigenous infants living in urban Australia.

Rich data to highlight crucial turning points for intervention to close the gap in Aboriginal health

A multi-disciplinary team of researchers will use more than 40 years of data to pinpoint crucial areas that could be “turning points” in development where intervention could contribute to closing the gap in Aboriginal health in Australia.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and child sexual abuse in institutional settings

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse commissioned The Kids Research Institute Australia to collaborate on a report