Ethics guidelines use and Indigenous governance and participation in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research: a national survey.

Objectives: To assess the use of NHMRC Indigenous research guidelines by Australian researchers and the degree of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander governance and participation in Indigenous health research.

Design, Setting, Participants: Cross-sectional survey of people engaged in Indigenous health research in Australia, comprising respondents to an open invitation (social media posts in general and Indigenous health research networks) and authors of primary Indigenous health research publications (2015-2019) directly invited by email.

Main Outcome Measures: Reported use of NHMRC guidelines for Indigenous research; reported Indigenous governance and participation in Indigenous health research.

Comment: Sedation as part of secondary prophylaxis to prevent recurrent rheumatic fever in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: time for a reset?

Australia's national clinical practice guidelines recommend intramuscular (IM) penicillin every 28 days for persons diagnosed with an initial episode of acute rheumatic fever (ARF). This antibiotic coverage is initiated to reduce recurrent ARF episodes by preventing repeat infections with the causative bacterium, group A Streptococcus. Because disease has already occurred, this regimen is known as secondary prophylaxis (SP), done in order to prevent more episodes of ARF (known as recurrences).

Communicable disease outbreaks: Surveillance and infrastructure.

The sixth article in a series on communicable disease outbreaks looks beyond the acute epidemic to the rationale for surveillance systems, mandatory notification and social determinants.

Communicable disease outbreaks: Ethics in an outbreak.

This fifth article in a series on communicable disease outbreaks explores ethical aspects of public health action, information disclosure and research in an epidemic.

Communicable disease outbreaks: The bigger picture.

This fourth article in a series on communicable disease outbreaks introduces the larger legislative, executive and social framework within which health protection takes place.

Communicable disease outbreaks: Contact tracing.

This third article in a series on communicable disease outbreaks focuses on contact tracing, fondly known as 'shoe-leather epidemiology'.

Communicable disease outbreaks: What is a case?

This second article in a series on communicable disease outbreaks focuses on case definitions, testing and early phases of a public health response.

Communicable disease outbreaks: Describing an epidemic.

This first article in a series on communicable disease outbreaks explains terms used by public health authorities during epidemics.

Syphilis testing performance in Aboriginal primary health care: exploring impact of continuous quality improvement over time.

Data from 110 primary healthcare clinics participating in two or more continuous quality improvement (CQI) cycles in preventive care, which included syphilis testing performance (STP) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged between 15 and 54 years, were used to examine whether the number of audit cycles including syphilis testing was associated over time with STP improvement at clinic level in this specific measure of public health importance. The number of cycles per clinic ranged from two to nine (mode 3). As shown by medical record audit at entry to CQI, only 42 (38%) clinics had tested or approached 50% or more of their eligible clients for syphilis in the prior 24 months.

Clinic factors associated with better delivery of secondary prophylaxis in acute rheumatic fever management.

Background And Objectives: Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is a complication of infection with group A streptococcus. ARF is treated with a long-term regimen of antibiotic secondary prophylaxis. Recent data have shown that only 36% of clients receive >80% of their regimen.

Clinic predictors of better syphilis testing in Aboriginal primary healthcare: a promising opportunity for primary healthcare service managers.

Integration of public health and primary healthcare (PHC) is a hallmark of comprehensive PHC to reduce inequitable rates of preventable diseases in communities at risk. In the context of a syphilis outbreak among Indigenous people in Northern Australia, the association between PHC clinic factors and syphilis testing performance (STP) was examined to produce empirical insights for service managers. Data from the Audit and Best Practice for Chronic Disease National Program (2012-14) were analysed to examine associations between clinic factors and STP (proportion of clients ≥15 years who were tested for or offered a test for syphilis in the prior 24 months).

Community-Based Prescribing for Impetigo in Remote Australia: An Opportunity for Antimicrobial Stewardship.

Background: To support antibiotic prescribing for both hospital and community-based health professionals working in remote North Western Australia, a multidisciplinary Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) Committee was established in 2013. This Committee is usually focused on hospital-based prescribing. A troubling increase in sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim resistance in antibiograms from 9 to 18% over 1 year prompted a shift in gaze to community prescribing.

Provision of maternity care for women in remote Far West New South Wales: how far have we come?

Background: The National Maternity Services Review in 2009 sought to address the ongoing issues of access, workforce capacity and inequalities in health outcomes for women and their babies in rural and remote Australia. The subsequent National Maternity Services Plan describes the type of care that should be offered to all women in Australia.

Objective: The aim of our study was to better understand the local context and progress in delivering recommendations of the National Plan to improve maternity services for women in remote communities of Far West New South Wales.

Investigating the potential for evidence-based midwifery-led services in very remote Australia: viewpoints from local stakeholders.

Background: Since the National Maternity Services Review, non-medical models of care involving midwives as the primary care giver are gaining prominence in urban settings in Australia. However, there remains a paucity of evidence about which non-medical primary maternity care models are best suited for rural and remote communities.

Aim: We investigated the perceptions, acceptability and barriers and enablers to the delivery of non-medical primary maternity care models in Far West NSW, as an example of remote Australia.

Feasibility, acceptability and impact of a telephone support service initiated in primary medical care to help Arabic smokers quit.

Evidence-based tobacco control in ethnic minorities is compromised by the near absence of rigorous testing of interventions in either prevention or cessation. This randomised controlled trial was designed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and impact of a culturally specific cessation intervention delivered in the context of primary medical care in the most culturally diverse region of New South Wales. Adult Arabic smokers were recruited from practices of 29 general practitioners (GPs) in south-west Sydney and randomly allocated to usual care (n=194) or referred to six sessions of smoking cessation telephone support delivered by bilingual psychologists (n=213).

Research engagement and outcomes in public health and health services research in Australia.

Objectives: To retrospectively explore research outcomes in Australian public health research and their relationship to full engagement with potential research users during the research process.

Methods: A self-administered survey of all principal investigators (PIs) receiving research funds from one of three well-known research funding agencies. 'Research value' and 'research utility' were self-reported using fixed response sets.

Smoking patterns and readiness to quit--a study of the Australian Arabic community.

Background: Smoking cessation interventions have typically focused on majority populations who, in Australia, are English speaking. There has been an overall decline in the prevalence of smoking in the Australian community. However, there remains a relative paucity of useful information about tobacco use and the effectiveness of tobacco interventions among specific ethnic minorities.

Health research funding agencies' support and promotion of knowledge translation: an international study.

Context: The process of knowledge translation (KT) in health research depends on the activities of a wide range of actors, including health professionals, researchers, the public, policymakers, and research funders. Little is known, however, about health research funding agencies' support and promotion of KT. Our team asked thirty-three agencies from Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, and the United States about their role in promoting the results of the research they fund.