The Marri Gudjaga project: a study protocol for a randomised control trial using Aboriginal peer support workers to promote breastfeeding of Aboriginal babies.

Background: Breastfeeding protects against a range of conditions in the infant, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), diarrhoea, respiratory infections and middle ear infections [1, 2]. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding until six months of age, with continued breastfeeding recommended for at least two years and other complementary nutritious foods [3]. The 2017-18 National Health Survey (NHS) and 2018-19 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (NATSIHS) reported that the proportion of breastfeeding in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants (0-2 years) were less than half that of non-Indigenous infants (21.

Accuracy of reporting of Aboriginality on administrative health data collections using linked data in NSW, Australia.

Background: Aboriginal people are under-reported on administrative health data in Australia. Various approaches have been used or proposed to improve reporting of Aboriginal people using linked records. This cross-sectional study used self-reported Aboriginality from the NSW Patient Survey Program (PSP) as a reference standard to assess the accuracy of reporting of Aboriginal people on NSW Admitted Patient (APDC) and Emergency Department Data Collections (EDDC), and compare the accuracy of selected approaches to enhance reporting Aboriginality using linked data.

Eclampsia in Australia and New Zealand: A prospective population-based study.

Background: Eclampsia is a serious consequence of pre-eclampsia. There are limited data from Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) on eclampsia.

Aim: To determine the incidence, management and perinatal outcomes of women with eclampsia in ANZ.

Learning about Aboriginal health and wellbeing at the postgraduate level: novel application of the Growth and Empowerment Measure.

Introduction: Public health education strives to transform and empower students to engage in policy and practice improvement. However, little is known of the nature of such change among students, especially when studying Aboriginal health and wellbeing, which may involve disrupting long held assumptions and prejudices. This article reports findings regarding the feasibility, specificity and sensitivity of the Growth and Empowerment Measure (GEM) in the evaluation of two innovative Australian 13-week postgraduate public health electives focused on Aboriginal health and wellbeing.

The effectiveness of a sustained nurse home visiting intervention for Aboriginal infants compared with non-Aboriginal infants and with Aboriginal infants receiving usual child health care: a quasi-experimental trial - the Bulundidi Gudaga study.

Background: In Australia there is commitment to developing interventions that will 'Close the Gap' between the health and welfare of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and recognition that early childhood interventions offer the greatest potential for long term change. Nurse led sustained home visiting programs are considered an effective way to deliver a health and parenting service, however there is little international or Australian evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of these programs for Aboriginal infants. This protocol describes the Bulundidi Gudaga Study, a quasi-experimental design, comparing three cohorts of families from the Macarthur region in south western Sydney to explore the effectiveness of the Maternal Early Childhood Sustained Home-visiting (MECSH) program for Aboriginal families.

Rheumatic heart disease in pregnancy: strategies and lessons learnt implementing a population-based study in Australia.

Background: The global burden of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is two-to-four times higher in women, with a heightened risk in pregnancy. In Australia, RHD is found predominantly among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Methods: This paper reviews processes developed to identify pregnant Australian women with RHD during a 2-year population-based study using the Australasian Maternity Outcomes Surveillance System (AMOSS).

Rheumatic heart disease in pregnancy: How can health services adapt to the needs of Indigenous women? A qualitative study.

Objectives: To study rheumatic heart disease health literacy and its impact on pregnancy, and to identify how health services could more effectively meet the needs of pregnant women with rheumatic heart disease.

Materials And Methods: Researchers observed and interviewed a small number of Aboriginal women and their families during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum as they interacted with the health system. An Aboriginal Yarning method of relationship building over time, participant observations and interviews with Aboriginal women were used in the study.

What factors contribute to the continued low rates of Indigenous status identification in urban general practice? - A mixed-methods multiple site case study.

Background: Indigenous peoples experience worse health and die at younger ages than their non-indigenous counterparts. Ethnicity data enables health services to identify inequalities experienced by minority populations and to implement and monitor services specifically targeting them. Despite significant Government intervention, Australia's Indigenous peoples, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, continue to be under identified in data sets.

Equity in disease prevention: Vaccines for the older adults - a national workshop, Australia 2014.

On the 20th June, 2014 the National Health and Medical Research Council's Centre for Research Excellence in Population Health "Immunisation in under Studied and Special Risk Populations", in collaboration with the Public Health Association of Australia, hosted a workshop "Equity in disease prevention: vaccines for the older adults". The workshop featured international and national speakers on ageing and vaccinology. The workshop was attended by health service providers, stakeholders in immunisation, ageing, primary care, researchers, government and non-government organisations, community representatives, and advocacy groups.

The uptake of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health assessments fails to improve in some areas.

Background: The Medicare-rebated Health Assessment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People (Medicare Benefits Schedule [MBS] item number 715) has been progressively implemented across Australia since 1999.

Objective: This paper explores some of the reasons why the uptake of Health Assessment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People remains low in some metropolitan general practices.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews and self-complete mail surveys with 31 general practice staff and practitioners were combined with an audit of practice systems and patient medical records in seven general practices in Sydney.

Maternal super-obesity and perinatal outcomes in Australia: a national population-based cohort study.

Background: Super-obesity is associated with significantly elevated rates of obstetric complications, adverse perinatal outcomes and interventions. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence, risk factors, management and perinatal outcomes of super-obese women giving birth in Australia.

Methods: A national population-based cohort study.

The value of partnerships: lessons from a multi-site evaluation of a national social and emotional wellbeing program for Indigenous youth.

Objective: To evaluate the first three years of a national program to improve the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous youth in remote and regional Australia.

Methods: Combination of open inquiry and audit review involving investigation of process and outcomes, with a broad national overview supplemented by five in-depth case studies in diverse settings.

Results: Community development principles were applied at all 14 sites.

Experiences and views of a brokerage model for primary care for Aboriginal people.

Objective: A mixed methods study was conducted to determine the views of Aboriginal people on their experiences of a brokerage model for access to community-based health services in an urban setting.

Methods: A broad range of approaches, using surveys, semi-structured interviews and community forums with Aboriginal people were used to find out people's views and experiences of using the brokerage service.

Results: Of the 1304 people invited to participate, only 127 people provided feedback on the brokerage service model for Aboriginal people.

The Koori Growing Old Well Study: investigating aging and dementia in urban Aboriginal Australians.

Background: Dementia is an emerging health priority in Australian Aboriginal communities, but substantial gaps remain in our understanding of this issue, particularly for the large urban section of the population. In remote Aboriginal communities, high prevalence rates of dementia at relatively young ages have been reported. The current study is investigating aging, cognitive decline, and dementia in older urban/regional Aboriginal Australians.

Immunisation coverage among a birth cohort of Aboriginal infants in an urban community.

Aim: The aim of this study is to examine the age-appropriate immunisation coverage and the factors associated with this in a cohort of Aboriginal infants in an outer urban Sydney community in comparison with non-Aboriginal infants in this community.

Methods: Data on immunisation coverage were extracted from the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register for a birth cohort of 178 Aboriginal and 356 non-Aboriginal infants born in Campbelltown between October 2005 and May 2007. Non-Aboriginal infants were matched on birthdates and gender.

Validation and enhancement of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychiatric hospitalisation statistics through an Indigenous Mental Health Worker Register.

Introduction: Inaccuracy in identification of Indigenous status on health records hampers collection of the good quality data required to guide policies, programs and services. This study examined the use of an Indigenous Mental Health Worker Register to assess the level of correct identification of Indigenous status and sources of error among psychiatric admissions within a regional public hospital information system.

Method: The study was conducted in 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 at the Cairns Base Hospital Mental Health Unit, Queensland, Australia, serving a population of 230,000 of which 13.

Under-reporting of birth registrations in New South Wales, Australia.

Background: To determine the rates of birth registration over a five-year period in New South Wales (NSW) and explore the factors associated with the rate of registration.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study using linked population databases. The study population included all births of NSW residents in NSW between 2001 and 2005.

The Australasian Maternity Outcomes Surveillance System: an evaluation of stakeholder engagement, usefulness, simplicity, acceptability, data quality and stability.

Background: The Australasian Maternity Outcomes Surveillance System (AMOSS) conducts active, prospective surveillance of severe maternal conditions in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ). AMOSS captures greater than 96% of all births, and utilises an online, active case-based negative reporting system.

Aim: To evaluate AMOSS using the United States Centres for Disease Control (MMWR 2001; 50 (RR13): 1-35.

Using linkage between hospital and ABS mortality data to enhance reporting of deaths among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Objective: To investigate the potential of record linkage between the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) mortality data and the NSW Admitted Patient Data Collection (APDC) to improve reporting of deaths among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Methods: ABS mortality data for 2002 to 2006 were linked with APDC records for 2001 to 2006. Six algorithms were developed to enumerate deaths.

Initiation and duration of breastfeeding in an aboriginal community in south western Sydney.

The Gudaga Study is a prospective, longitudinal birth cohort study of Australian urban Aboriginal children. Mothers of Aboriginal infants were recruited using a survey of all mothers admitted to the maternity ward of an outer urban hospital in Sydney. These data established initiation rates among Gudaga infants and those of non-Aboriginal infants born locally (64.

Risk and protective factors for pregnancy outcomes for urban Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal mothers and infants: the Gudaga cohort.

This paper aims to describe delivery and birth outcomes of Aboriginal infants and their mothers in an urban setting on the east coast of Australia. The paper uses a causal pathway approach to consider the role of risk and protective factors for low birthweight. All mothers who delivered at Campbelltown Hospital between October 2005 and May 2007 were eligible.