Building Indigenous Australian research capacity.

OBJECTIVES: To build individual Indigenous research capacity and strengthen the capability of health research programmes to be culturally and ethically inclusive of Indigenous Australians in public health research. METHODS: In order to facilitate optimal participation and in recognition of the differing levels of research experience and knowledge held within this community of practice, an inclusive and culturally appropriate mixed methods approach with influences from action research and Indigenous research principles was undertaken. RESULTS: Over the duration of the project, participants improved their research outcomes as measured by a range of factors including publications, completion of degrees and retention of project members. CONCLUSIONS: Provision of an Indigenous led, culturally appropriate system of infrastructure and support centred on capacity building is effective in strengthen the inclusion of Indigenous Australians in research.

'Living between two worlds': who is living in whose worlds?

OBJECTIVE: Indigenous people have often been depicted as 'living between two worlds'. They have been described as living neither in their 'Indigenous' world nor in the 'Western' world but in some middle, liminal, or in-between 'world'. People in such situations are often described as 'caught' or 'suspended' and with obvious negative social, emotional and health consequences. What is this cultural space that is often described as 'being between two worlds'? Can Indigenous people develop their identity within the demands and values of contemporary Australian society? CONCLUSIONS: Most people who live within the context of modernity move across a mixture of different social, spiritual and cultural 'worlds'. By projecting particular and negative meanings onto Indigenous people and their journey of identity, non-Indigenous people diminish the value of Indigenous energies and initiatives in attempting to cope with life's diverse pressures and expectations. The perpetuation of such attitudes serves to undermine the efforts that Indigenous people make to engage modernity while at the same time attempting to maintain values that are of critical importance for their health and wellbeing. Consequently, non-Indigenous people can end up diminishing the importance of their own life transitions.

Boys becoming men: what makes a difference?

OBJECTIVE: In 1983 an Under 17 Australian Rules Football team visited Melbourne. They came from Townsville in North Queensland and the majority were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. For several months prior to the trip they worked to raise the money and resources they needed for the trip. This paper describes the preliminary results of a research project that looked at the health of this group 25 years later. What can we learn from their experience in 1983? What can they tell us about the health of the next generation of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men? METHOD: The research project used a mixture of quantitative and qualitative research methods. It included a questionnaire, interviews, workshop and a focus group. RESULTS: All of those involved in 1983 are still alive. Over a range of social and economic indicators many score very well but there are signs, as with other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men, of underlying health issues. CONCLUSIONS: Sport can provide for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men a culturally 'safe' place where important values across generations are developed and sustained.

Suicide and desert men: the power and protection of kanyirninpa (holding).

OBJECTIVE: Fred Myers described kanyirninpa (holding) as a deeply embedded value for desert Aboriginal people. He explained it as authority with nurturance where older people 'grew up' and protected younger people. Can a cultural understanding of kanyirninpa provide any insight or response to the high rates of suicide among young Aboriginal men today? METHOD: This paper draws on qualitative health research that was conducted among desert communities in the southeast Kimberley region of Western Australia between 2001 and 2004. The research was primarily with men and explored cultural understandings of the particular male expressions and praxis of kanyirninpa. The research also occurred at a time when the first suicides of young men, who had grown up within this desert region, were taking place. RESULTS: Research showed that the fracture of kanyirninpa over recent generations has seriously affected key social processes and generational relationships within desert society. This wounding has implications for men's health and can provide an understanding as to why young men attempt self-harm and suicide. However, the social expression of kanyirninpa can also sustain important meanings for young men as they grow up. It can protect them from high-risk behaviour and self-harm. CONCLUSIONS: While the experience of suicide continues to deeply wound Aboriginal families and communities, desert people's efforts to sustain and express kanyirninpa offers hope. This is a social process and relationship that can help inform health policy and practice in response to self-harm, suicide ideation and behaviour, particularly for young Aboriginal men.