Time to celebrate

In November, we marked two years since the launch of the Mayi Kuwayu Study. In that time, we’ve learnt some really positive things: 87 per cent of participants report being satisfied with their lives; and some really concerning things: more than half of our participants have at least one member of the Stolen Generations in their family.

This information is vital in providing insights into how culture contributes to wellbeing, and how forms of oppression impede equitable life chances.

The data tells us how forces other than education, employment and socio-economic position contribute to social inequity, and raises important questions about how we, as individuals, communities, and as a nation can modify these factors to improve outcomes.

Mayi Kuwayu is the largest cohort study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing, and our participant levels continue to grow.

We are sharing some of the data from the MK Study via a series of videos available on our Facebook page.

Connect with us on Facebook here.

………………………………………………………………

What we’ve been doing…

Ray Lovett and our team of Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander researchers featured in an Australian National University article for NAIDOC Week, in which Wiradjuri woman and Study research assistant Makayla-May Brinckley explained her connection to Ngunnawal/Ngambri Country.

“When I connect to Ngunnawal/Ngambri Country the old spirits heal me and guide me as a visitor on their land,” she says. “Physically and spiritually connecting to Country for me is important because Country sustains who we are – and just as Country cares for us, we have a responsibility to care for her.”

For Yamatji woman Bobby Maher, ANU PhD candidate and research associate, it’s about “honouring our knowledge – past and present – and privileging the voices of our knowledge holders is important.

“Knowledge continues to evolve and be our strength. I feel it is a connector to our sense of belonging, land, country and our mob,” Bobby says.

Roxy Jones and Alyson Wright took part in the webinar “Knowledge to action and action to knowledge: how collaborative processes can address climate change” examining the health and wellbeing benefits of Indigenous ranger programs to demonstrate how these collaborative processes can work in practice. The event recording is available here.

In September, the Lowitja Institute held a roundtable discussion bringing together government stakeholders, representatives of the NATSIHP Implementation Plan Advisory Group and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander expert thinkers, including MK Study leader Ray Lovett and ambassador Carmen Parter.  The roundtable sought to draw on their expertise and to explore how governments and communities can collaborate effectively to ensure the cultural determinants of health are prioritised and embedded in all policy and program considerations. You can view Lowitja CEO Janine Mohamed’s opening address here.

As part of its NAIDOC week activities, MK founding partner AIATSIS invited Ray Lovett and the team to present on the Study’s cultural domains. More information will be available in the upcoming issue of the AIATSIS journal.

Left to right: Hope Davison (AIATSIS), Katie Thurber, Casey Millward (AIATSIS), Makayla-May Brinckley, Lisa Strelein (AIATSIS), Ray Lovett, Roxy Jones and Brax the dog.

………………………………………………………………

The write stuff: Papers from the MK team

“When working with Indigenous data, there is a responsibility to nurture respectful relationships with Indigenous Peoples from whom the data originate.”

Read more from Ray Lovett about the “Care Principles of Indigenous Data Governance” published today in Data Science Journal.

Congratulations Tamara Riley on the publication of “Evaluating Impacts of a One Health Approach to Companion Animal Health and Management in a Remote Aboriginal Community in the Northern Territory, Australia”.

The paper describes Tamara’s evaluation of a collaborative program at Wadeye, NT, on the community-driven One Health program.  Her research involved comparing the percentage of animals desexed, the body and hair condition of dogs, and the presentations at the health clinic for dog bites before versus after 12 months of program implementation. Results show improved animal health measures, while the change in human presentations for dog bites was not statistically significant.

With thanks to Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities; Thamarrurr Development Corporation, and the West Daly Regional Council.

You can read Tamara’s paper here.

Want to know why a strengths-based approach is best practice in Indigenous research? Then read our team’s paper “Strengths-based approaches for quantitative data analysis: A case study using the Australian Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children”.

Read here.

………………………………………………………………

And in other news…

Ray Lovett’s running continues to take him places, from supporting Indigenous Marathon Project runner Nat Heath on his 100km ultra-marathon fundraiser in Newcastle, to attending a Deadly Runners’ training session with the Governor-General David Hurley and Mrs Hurley at Government House.

Ray is pictured here on the right with Rob de Castella and Canberra and Queanbeyan Deadly Runners, including Bobby Maher and Mikala Sedgwick.

………………………………………………………………

Data for a brighter future

According to Mayi Kuwayu data, almost half of our Study participants report high family wellbeing, with support and connection to family vital. Here, community researcher Nadine Hunt’s son Alex plays the warup with his datu Timothy David, and enjoys a lollipop with his friend Wiggy, son of ambassador Elsie Seriat.

Already communities are using Mayi Kuwayu data to implement real and effective change, from measuring changes in cultural wellbeing for youth, to culturally appropriate care in clinics. And the information from those hard-to-answer questions on psychological wellbeing will be examined so we can look at the links between what contributes to psychological distress.