Evaluating an Aboriginal community controlled residential alcohol and other drug services: Use of benchmarking to examine within treatment changes in wellbeing.

INTRODUCTION: Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCO) have an important role in the Australian health-care sector. However, there has been a lack of research evaluating ACCOs in the treatment of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use. Using a benchmarking approach, the present study examined within treatment changes on measures of wellbeing for people attending a residential AOD ACCO. METHODS: The study focused on The Glen, an AOD residential treatment service that is managed by the Ngaimpe Aboriginal Corporation (n = 775). The Glen is a male-only service and provides treatment to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous men. The evaluation focused on measures of wellbeing (i.e. symptom distress and quality of life) collected at intake, 30 and 60 days during the person's stay. Comparative benchmarking was conducted with a cohort of men who were attending non-ACCO residential AOD treatment services (n = 4457). RESULTS: The Glen participants demonstrated statistically significant improvements on measures of wellbeing. The Glen participants were more likely to complete treatment than participants attending non-ACCO services. Likewise, Indigenous people attending The Glen were more likely to complete treatment (compared to Indigenous people attending non-ACCO services). Rates of reliable and clinically significant change suggested that changes in quality of life were largely equivalent between The Glen and non-ACCO services, while participants attending The Glen tended to demonstrate larger reductions in symptom distress compared to the non-ACCO services. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The study provides further support for the important role that ACCOs play in supporting Indigenous people in their recovery.

Integrating Trauma and Violence Informed Care in Primary Health Care Settings for First Nations Women Experiencing Violence: A Systematic Review.

It is imperative that access to primary health care services is equitable as health care practitioners are often the first responders to women who experience violence. This is of particular importance for First Nations women who disproportionately experience interpersonal and structural violence when compared to non-First Nations women, as well as the ongoing impact of colonization, racism, and intergenerational trauma. To understand how primary health care services can provide equitable and effective care for First Nations women, we explored how trauma and violence informed care is integrated in primary health care settings through the lens of an equity-oriented framework. A systematic search of electronic databases included Medline (via Ovid), Scopus, Informit, and PubMed and grey literature. Six studies were included in the review and we undertook a narrative synthesis using the equity-oriented framework to draw together the intersection of trauma and violence informed care with culturally safe and contextually tailored care. This review demonstrates how equity-oriented primary health care settings respond to the complex and multiple forms of violence and intergenerational trauma experienced by First Nations women and thus mitigate shame and stigma to encourage disclosure and help seeking. Key attributes include responding to women's individual contexts by centering family, engaging elders, encouraging community ownership, which is driven by a culturally competent workforce that builds trust, reduces retraumatization, and respects confidentiality. This review highlights the importance of strengthening and supporting the workforce, as well as embedding cultural safety within intersectoral partnerships and ensuring adequate resourcing and sustainability of initiatives.

Leading with local solutions to keep Yarrabah safe: a grounded theory study of an Aboriginal community-controlled health organisation's response to COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Pandemics such as COVID-19 are a serious public health risk for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, yet primary healthcare systems are not well resourced to respond to such urgent events. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a federal government advisory group recommended a rapid, tailored Indigenous response to prevent predicted high morbidity and mortality rates. This paper examines the efforts of one ACCHO, which in the absence of dedicated funding, pivoted its operations in response to COVID-19. Gurriny Yealamucka Health Service (Gurriny) is the only primary healthcare service in the discrete Indigenous community of Yarrabah, Far North Queensland. METHODS: The research was conducted at the request of the Chief Executive Officer of Gurriny. Using grounded theory methods, thirteen Gurriny staff and five Yarrabah and government leaders and community members were interviewed, transcripts of these interviews and 59 documents were imported into NVIVO-12 and coded, and key concepts were compared, organised into higher order constructs, then structured into a theoretical framework. RESULTS: Gurriny responded to COVID-19 by leading with local solutions to keep Yarrabah safe. Four key strategies were implemented: managing the health service operations, realigning services, educating and supporting community, and working across agencies. These strategies were enabled or hindered by five conditions: the governance and leadership capacity of Gurriny, relying on the health taskforce, locking the door, "copping it", and (not) having resources. A year after the first case was experienced in Australia and on the eve of vaccine rollout to Indigenous communities, there have been no COVID-19 cases in Yarrabah. DISCUSSION: The success of the locally led, holistic, comprehensive and culturally safe response of Gurriny suggests that such tailored place-based approaches to pandemics (and other health issues) are appropriate, but require dedicated resourcing. Key challenges were the fragmented and rapidly changing government processes, poorly coordinated communication and resource allocation channels, and bottlenecks in hierarchical funding approval processes. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 response in Yarrabah demonstrates the need for governance reform towards greater resourcing and support for local decision making by Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations.

Responses to the primary health care needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experiencing violence: A scoping review of policy and practice guidelines.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: It is demonstrated that primary health care (PHC) providers are sought out by women who experience violence. Given the disproportionate burden of violence experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, it is essential there is equitable access to appropriate PHC services. This review aimed to analyse whether Australian PHC policy accounts for the complex needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experiencing violence and the importance of PHC providers responding to violence in culturally safe ways. METHODS: Using the Arskey and O'Malley framework, an iterative scoping review determined the policies for analysis. The selected policies were analysed against concepts identified as key components in responding to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experiencing violence. The key components are Family Violence, Violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women, Social Determinants of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Wellbeing, Cultural Safety, Holistic Health, Trauma, Patient-Centred Care and Trauma-and-Violence-Informed Care. RESULTS: Following a search of Australian government websites, seven policies were selected for analysis. Principally, no policy embedded or described best practice across all key components. CONCLUSION: The review demonstrates the need for a specific National framework supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who seek support from PHC services, as well as further policy analysis and review. SO WHAT?: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women disproportionately experience more severe violence, with complex impact, than other Australian women. PHC policy and practice frameworks must account for this, together with the intersection of contemporary manifestations of colonialism and historical and intergenerational trauma.

Trauma and Violence Informed Care Through Decolonising Interagency Partnerships: A Complexity Case Study of Waminda's Model of Systemic Decolonisation.

Through the lens of complexity, we present a nested case study describing a decolonisation approach developed and implemented by Waminda South Coast Women's Health and Welfare Aboriginal Corporation. Using Indigenous research methods, this case study has unfolded across three phases: (1) Yarning interviews with the workforce from four partner health services (n = 24); (2) Yarning circle bringing together key informants from yarning interviews to verify and refine emerging themes (n = 14); (3) Semi-structured interviews with a facilitator of Waminda's Decolonisation Workshop (n = 1) and participants (n = 10). Synthesis of data has been undertaken in stages through collaborative framework and thematic analysis. Three overarching themes and eight sub-themes emerged that centred on enhancing the capabilities of the workforce and strengthening interagency partnerships through a more meaningful connection and shared decolonisation agenda that centres Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities. Health and social services are complex systems that function within the context of colonisation. Waminda's innovative, model of interagency collaboration enhanced workforce capability through shared language and collective learning around colonisation, racism and Whiteness. This process generated individual, organisational and systemic decolonisation to disable power structures through trauma and violence informed approach to practice.