Please note that this is an on-going project.
Project Description
The Making Tracks in Children’s Health (MaTCH) project is working to co-design a health service to address weight management in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families. Funded by a Woolworths Nutrition-Related Health Services Research Grant, the project brings together the Queensland Health departments (Child and Youth Clinical Network and Dietetics and Food Services), with researchers from Griffith University as well as community members and health service providers in developing and trialling a service.
The project has used a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach incorporating co-design principles in involving the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in health service development. This approach allows for equitable collaboration between community members, researchers and project managers throughout the entirety of the research process.
The Menzies Health Institute of Queensland Centre for Applied Health Economics will conduct a health economic evaluation of the newly developed service.
Project Personnel and Beneficiaries
Population data within the Childrens Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service (CHQHHS) catchment shows that the area of Inala-Richlands has the highest concentration of First Peoples, yet there are no CHQHHS weight management services close by. Limited access to culturally appropriate services is a known risk factor for poor health outcomes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Provision of a new, culturally appropriate service located within a trusted provider of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Services, will provide the catchment community with access to specialised weight management services outside of the hospital environment.
Outcomes to Date
A Steering Committee comprising eight Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with health service experience and two researchers was established to advise on cultural appropriateness and safety of needs assessment processes and materials. Yarning circles and individual conversations were held with the community by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women paid as research assistants to explore how a new service could be designed to meet cultural needs. Results showed they wanted a service that was family-focused, community based, acknowledged Indigenous culture and foodways and involved Aboriginal Health Workers.
We then searched for partners capable of hosting a culturally appropriate service. Inala Southern Qld Centre of Excellence in Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care expressed interest, supported by their Community Jury. An Inala Steering Group comprising mostly First Peoples, has nearly completed the service co-design, ready to trial in late 2023.
Project Significance
This project directly impacts SDG 3 ‘Good Health and Well-Being and SDG 10 ‘Reduced Inequalities’ and also addresses SDG 2 ‘Zero Hunger’.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people traditionally had healthy diets and lifestyle behaviours. Colonisation and dispossession of land resulted in a loss of connection with the highly nutritious traditional foods, particularly in urban areas. These effects on the social and cultural determinants of health over several generations are now impacting the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who have higher rates of overweight and obesity than non-indigenous children. They also eat fewer serves of fruit and vegetables making them more vulnerable to developing chronic disease than non-Indigenous children.
At the same time there is limited access to culturally appropriate paediatric health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. While specialist paediatric weight management services exist in Queensland Health, none have been culturally tailored for First Peoples and few Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families access this care.
This project aims to address equity in health and well-being for our First Peoples by involving them in all stages of developing a culturally tailored service. The project will consider food security issues within the community in its approach.
Related Link
External link to https://equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12939-021-01462-x