103,769 research outputs found
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health performance framework 2012 report: Australian Capital Territory
No full textThis report provides the latest information on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are faring according to a range of indicators on health status, determinants or health and health system performance.Executive summaryThe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2012 report for the Australian Capital Territory finds areas of improvement in the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in the territory, including:a significant increase in health assessments for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 55 years and over recorded through Medicare since the introduction of the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes in July 2009corresponding increases in allied health-care services claimed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through Medicare since 1 July 2009. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have higher rates of general practitioner management plans and team care arrangements than non-Indigenous Australiansimmunisation coverage rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are close to those for other Australian children by age 5some improvements in literacy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Year 3 and 5 between 2009 and 2011apparent retention rates from Year 7 to Year 10 and from Year 11 to Year 12 are higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Australian Capital Territory than for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people nationally.Areas of concern include:high rates of smoking during pregnancy (51% total)around half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 18 and over reported drinking alcohol at short-term risky/high-risk levels in the past 12 months, which was higher than the proportion for non-Indigenous people and for Indigenous people nationallyalmost two-thirds (63%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 18 and over in the Australian Capital Territory have a disability or long-term health condition, which is higher than the proportion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people nationally (41%)breast cancer screening rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are lower than for other women
Enhancing the implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle: policy and practice considerations
No full textOverview
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle ("the Principle") was developed in recognition of the devastating effects of forced separation of Indigenous children from families, communities and culture. The Principle exists in legislation and policy in all Australian jurisdictions, and while its importance is recognised in many boards of inquiry and reviews into child protection and justice systems, there are significant concerns about the implementation of the Principle. Recent estimates suggest the Principle has been fully applied in as few as 13% of child protection cases involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. The purpose of this paper is to explore the contemporary understanding of the Principle, and review the multiple and complex barriers at the policy and practice levels which are impeding its implementation. Promising approaches that might address these barriers are also examined.
Key messages
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle was developed in response to the trauma experienced by individuals, families and communities from government policies that involved the widespread removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
The fundamental goal of the Principle is to enhance and preserve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s connection to family and community, and sense of identity and culture.
The Principle is often conceptualised as the “placement hierarchy”, in which placement choices for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children start with family and kin networks, then Indigenous non-related carers in the child’s community, then carers in another Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community. If no other suitable placement with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander carers can be sought, children are placed with non-Indigenous carers as a last resort, provided they are able to maintain the child’s connections to their family, community and cultural identity
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health performance framework 2012 report: Queensland
No full textThis report provides the latest information on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland are faring according to a range of indicators on health status, determinants of health and health system performance. Indicators are based on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework. The report highlights the main areas of improvement and continuing concern. For example, while death rates for avoidable causes and circulatory diseases have declined since 2001, just over half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers smoke during pregnancy and there has been no improvement in incidence rates of treated end-stage renal disease in recent years.The report finds areas of improvement in the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in Queensland, including: a 32% decline in avoidable mortality from 2001 to 2010 and significant narrowing of the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoplea 30% decline in deaths due to circulatory disease, the leading cause of death for Indigenous Australians 2001 to 2010a 41% decline in infant mortality rates from 2001 to 2010a significant increase in health assessments recorded through Medicare since the introduction of the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes in July 2009corresponding increases in allied health-care services claimed by Indigenous Australians through Medicare since 1 July 2009. Indigenous Australians have higher rates of general practitioner management plans and team care arrangements than non-Indigenous Australiansimmunisation coverage for Indigenous children is similar to non-Indigenous children by the age of 2an increase in the proportion of pregnant women attending antenatal care some improvements in literacy and numeracy for Indigenous students in Year 3 and 5 between 2008 and 2011. Areas of concern include: high rates of smoking during pregnancy (52%)lower rates of antenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancyhalf of Indigenous people aged 18 and over in non-remote areas have a disability or long-term health conditionmortality rates for chronic diseases are much higher for Indigenous Australians (8 times the rate of non-Indigenous Australians for diabetes and almost twice the rate for circulatory diseases)no improvement in incidence rates of treated end stage renal disease in recent years (currently 7 times the rate for non-Indigenous Australians)high rates of hospitalisations and deaths due to injury (particularly assault, suicide and transport accidents)one-quarter of Indigenous Australians aged 15 and over in Queensland live in overcrowded housingbarriers to accessing appropriate health care, such as cultural competency, continue to remain a problemlower access to procedures in hospitals
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People and dementia: a review of the research
No full textThis report outlines the prevalence of dementia and modifiable risk factors in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Executive summary
The high rate of dementia in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities requires urgent attention. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience dementia at an earlier age then the general population and this, combined with the steadily growing number of older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, will result in the number of people effected by dementia growing significantly in the coming years.
Although higher rates of dementia have been reported in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the disease is often overlooked by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, health workers and service providers. Geographical constraints in the provision of services, a lack of education and awareness in communities and by health workers and the prevalence of other chronic diseases have all posed considerable barriers to the recognition of dementia as an emerging health issue.
This paper includes the following recommendations to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, family members and communities have access to awareness, information, and appropriate support services for people with dementia
Bloodborne viral and sexually transmitted infections in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: surveillance and evaluation report 2014
No full textThis report provides information on the occurrence of blood borne viruses and sexually transmitted infections among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia for the purposes of stimulating and supporting discussion on ways forward in minimising the transmission risks.
Overview
Each year, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Program collaborates with the Surveillance and Evaluation Program for Public Health on the “Bloodborne viral and sexually transmitted infections in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: Surveillance and Evaluation Report”. This surveillance report provides information on the occurrence of blood borne viruses and sexually transmitted infections among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia for the purposes of stimulating and supporting discussion on ways forward in minimising the transmission risks, as well as the personal and social consequences of these infections within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The Report is produced in a format that is recognised as appropriate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health services and communities, and is overseen by the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Advisory Committee
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health performance framework 2012 report: New South Wales
No full textThis report provides the latest information on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in New South Wales are faring according to a range of indicators on health status, determinants of health and health system performance. Indicators are based on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework. The report highlights the main areas of improvement and continuing concern. For example, death rates for avoidable causes and circulatory diseases have declined since 2001, but almost half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers smoke during pregnancy and unemployment rates continue to remain higher for Indigenous people than for non-Indigenous people.The report finds areas of improvement in the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in New South Wales, including: a 20% decline in avoidable mortality from 2001 to 2010a 35% decline in deaths due to circulatory disease, the leading cause of death for Indigenous Australians from 2001-2010a significant increase in health assessments recorded through Medicare since the introduction of the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes in July 2009corresponding increases in allied health care services claimed by Indigenous Australians through Medicare since 1 July 2009. Indigenous Australians have higher rates of general practitioner management plans and team care arrangements than non-Indigenous Australiansimmunisation coverage for Indigenous children is similar to non-Indigenous children by age 2an increase in the proportion of pregnant women attending antenatal carea 15% decline in the rate of low birthweight between 2001 and 2009. Areas of concern include: high rates of smoking during pregnancy (47%)lower rates of access to antenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancymore than half of those aged 18 and over in non-remote areas have a disability or long- term health conditionmortality rates for chronic diseases are much higher for Indigenous Australians (8 times the rate of non-Indigenous Australians for diabetes and almost twice the rate for circulatory diseases)a 286% increase in Indigenous Australians commencing end stage renal disease therapy since 1991 (currently 3 times the rate for non-Indigenous Australians)high rates of hospitalisations and deaths due to injury (particularly assault, suicide and transport accidents)barriers to accessing appropriate health care, such as cultural competency, continue to remain a problemlower access to procedures in hospitalsa large unmet need for dental care for Indigenous childrenunemployment rates continue to remain higher for Indigenous people than for non- Indigenous people (21% compared with 4% in 2008)
Taking the next steps: identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status in general practice
No full textThis report argues that the general practice sector needs to collect the Indigenous status of patients in order to provide health interventions specific to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, suggesting effective Indigenous identification processes are not widespread in the sector, undermining both service delivery and data collection.Summary:The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) was commissioned to evaluate the implementation of the National best practice guidelines for collecting Indigenous status in health data sets (the Guidelines) across health sectors as part of the National Indigenous Reform Agreement. The general practice sector was prioritised in this evaluation because it has a unique role in providing access to health interventions specific to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, as well as in providing input to data collections. This report summarises the evaluation and support project work in the general practice sector between January 2011 and December 2012. Over this period, the project investigated: available information on Indigenous identification in the sectorbarriers to identification and the impact of sub-optimal identification processeschanges introduced since the Council of Australian Governments Closing the Gap commitmentsmeasures to improve identification. The AIHW convened national workshops for general practice sector stakeholders in December 2011 and November 2012. These workshops provided a unique forum for stakeholders to discuss and progress issues. Outcomes from the workshops helped direct the focus of work in the sector. Sub-optimal collection and recording of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status in the general practice sector is a longstanding problem, as in other sectors. Improving this process by implementing the Guidelines is not straightforward. While state and territory governments undertook to implement the Guidelines throughout the health system, general practice is not part of their jurisdictional responsibilities. The Australian Government has some capacity to influence behavioural change but reforms require multi-layered strategies and the involvement of sector-specific stakeholders. Consensus on barriers, enablers and recommendations for improving rates of Indigenous identification has emerged from studies undertaken in this field. These recommendations, which were supported and extended by the general practice workshops, focus on making changes through multiple channels, while ensuring these are centrally coordinated and integrated in an overall plan. The Council of Australian Governments Closing the Gap Indigenous health initiatives, which focused on primary health care, have helped to improve identification in the sector and led to improved uptake of health interventions specific to Indigenous people. These reforms have helped to address some of the barriers to identification, but there are opportunities for further improvements and for the potential of reforms to be fully realised. Some of the identified barriers which have not yet been addressed include the need to: establish a central point of national responsibility and organisation, for example, through the establishment of a taskforce of relevant government and non-government stakeholders, with the remit of improving both data collection and the service delivery outcomesimprove clinical information systemsinform Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people about the GP-mediated health interventions for which they may be eligible
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health performance framework 2012 report: Victoria
No full textThis report provides the latest information on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Victoria are faring according to a range of indicators on health status, determinants of health and health system performance. Indicators are based on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework. The report highlights the main areas of improvement and continuing concern. For example, while health assessments have increased significantly and immunisation coverage for Indigenous children is similar to non-Indigenous children by the age of 2, the incidence of treated end-stage renal disease is 4 times the rate for non-Indigenous Australians and unemployment rates continue to remain higher for Indigenous people than for non-Indigenous people.The report finds areas of improvement in the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in Victoria including: a significant increase in health assessments recorded through Medicare since the introduction of the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes in July 2009corresponding increases in allied health care services claimed by Indigenous Australians through Medicare since 1 July 2009. Indigenous Australians have higher rates of general practitioner management plans and team care arrangements than non-Indigenous Australiansimmunisation coverage for Indigenous children is higher than for Indigenous children nationally and is similar to non-Indigenous children by age 2some improvements in grammar, punctuation and spelling for Indigenous students in Year 7 and 9 between 2008 and 2011. The proportions of Indigenous students achieving literacy and numeracy benchmarks are generally higher in Victoria than the national average. Areas of concern include: low birthweight is more than twice as common among babies of Indigenous mothers as among babies of non-Indigenous mothers and there has been no sign of improvement in recent yearsalmost two-thirds (62%) of those aged 18 and over in non-remote areas have a disability or long-term health conditionincidence of treated end-stage renal disease is currently 4 times the rate for non-Indigenous Australianshigh rates of hospitalisations due to injury (particularly assault, intentional self-harm and transport accidents)barriers to accessing appropriate health care, such as cultural competency continue to remain a problemlower access to procedures in hospitalsbreast cancer screening rates for Indigenous women aged 50–64 are much lower than for other women of this age (28% compared with 53% in 2008–09)unemployment rates continue to remain higher for Indigenous persons than non-Indigenous Australians (17% compared with 3% in 2008)
National key performance indicators for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care: results from December 2013
No full textCaptures data from over 200 primary health care organisations that receive funding from the Australian Government Department of Health to provide services primarily to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Summary
This is the second national report on the Indigenous primary health care national Key Performance Indicators (nKPIs) data collection. Data for this collection are provided to the AIHW by primary health care organisations who receive funding from the Department of Health to provide services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The purpose of the nKPIs is to improve the delivery of primary health care services by supporting continuous quality improvement (CQI) activity among service providers. The nKPIs also support policy and planning at the national and state and territory level by monitoring progress and highlighting areas for improvement.
The report presents data on 19 indicators (and 24 indicator measures) collected for 4 reporting periods over 2 years: June 2012, December 2012, June 2013 and December 2013. The number of organisations reporting increased substantially over the 4 reporting periods, from 90 in June 2012 to 207 in December 2013.
The indicators focus on chronic disease prevention and management, and on maternal and child health. There are 19 ‘process of care’ measures and 5 ‘health outcomes’ measures. The former are largely under the control of organisations and are therefore used to assess practices in primary health care. Health outcomes, on the other hand, are influenced by a wide range of factors beyond the immediate control of primary health care organisations
Assessment of acquired brain injury in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians: guidance for DisabilityCare Australia
No full textIn early 2013, Brain Injury Australia was funded by the National Disability Insurance Scheme\u27s (NDIS) Practical Design Fund to develop a culturally appropriate NDIS assessment process for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons living with an acquired brain injury (ABI).This project was co-managed by Brain Injury Australia and Synapse (Brain Injury Association of Queensland, Inc.). The research was undertaken by researchers from James Cook University.The key results of this research were:guidelines for appropriate protocols for engaging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in the assessment process;a four-stage Planning and Assessment framework that describes the appropriate actions that DisabilityCare Australia Planners and/or Local Area Coordinators need to take during the assessment process when determining eligibility to DisabilityCare Australia; a prototype instrument toolkit (requiring scientific validation before use), containing cognitive and functional assessments that are culturally acceptable for assessment of acquired brain injury in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians; and the identification of necessary training components for the professional development of DisabilityCare staff, including cultural awareness, competency and ABI training programmes and coursework.Authored by India Bohanna, Anne Stephens, Rachael Wargent, Juliette Catherall, Carolyn Timms, Deborah Graham and Alan Clough
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