ED Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health

Adj Assoc Prof Jackie Hanson, Chief Executive, MN Health

The Research Alliance for Urban Goori Health (RAUGH) was established in 2021 as a formal partnership between Metro North Health, the University of Queensland’s Poche Centre for Indigenous Health (UQ Poche) and the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH).

RAUGH’s vision is to transform health service delivery and achieve health parity for urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by ensuring the whole of health care system is responsive to the health and wellbeing needs of Indigenous peoples. This vision aligns with the strategic goals and objectives of the Metro North Health’s Equity Strategy.

RAUGH seeks to achieve this vision through leading world-class research, evaluation, and knowledge translation pursuits, alongside a focus on building research capabilities and capacity across the entire health care system.

With this in mind, we are extremely pleased to announce the successful applicants for the inaugural round of the RAUGH Collaborative Seed Grants. The RAUGH Collaborative Seed Grants are designed to build and/or strengthen collaborations between the Metro North Health and IUIH health workforce and UQ researchers, to support the transformation of health service delivery across the Community Controlled Health Sector and the mainstream secondary and tertiary health system through coordinated care pathways. It is anticipated that research funded through this program will form the basis for ongoing research collaborations and potential applications for nationally competitive funding. We congratulate the following investigative teams:

A conceptual model of integrated care pathways between primary and tertiary mental health care.

Chief Investigator – Metro North: Dr Katrina Campbell
Chief Investigator – UQ: Prof Roxanne Bainbridge
Chief Investigator – IUIH: Dr Halina Clare

This project will use a ‘participatory’ systematic review methodology to identify the effective implementation components of integrated mental health care in primary and tertiary transitions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The aim is to establish a coherent integrated model at funding, administrative/governance, organisational, service delivery and clinical levels with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as partners in care. The outcome will be an evidence-informed conceptual model of integrated care pathways between primary and tertiary mental health care.

Laying the foundations for a whole-of health-care-system approach to addressing inequities in bowel cancer outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Metro North.

Chief Investigator – Metro North: Dr Mark Appleyard
Chief Investigator – UQ: Prof Gail Garvey
Chief Investigator – IUIH: Dr Jonathon Leitch

This project aims to take a whole of system approach to address identified inequities in health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people diagnosed with bowel cancer. The project will integrate the data between hospital services and primary care to improve visibility of the issues. We will assess the journey through the system for patients – from bowel cancer screening through to diagnosis and management. Healthcare providers, health service managers and most importantly, service users will be engaged to hear their stories to identify issues, challenges and areas for improvement.

Models of integrated primary, secondary and tertiary care – effective partnerships to address health equity for First Nations People.

Chief Investigator – Metro North: Dr Katrina Campbell
Chief Investigator – UQ: Prof Roxanne Bainbridge
Chief Investigator – IUIH: Dr Halina Clare

Using current literature and patient/provider engagement from existing models within Metro North/IUIH, the team intend to develop a framework relevant to First Nations people against which to evaluate integrated care models thereby ensuring the development and delivery of quality and culturally appropriate care.

Unmet needs in prostate cancer care for indigenous men and their communities.

Chief Investigator – Metro North: Dr Natasha Roberts
Chief Investigator – UQ: Prof Gail Garvey
Chief Investigator – IUIH: Dr Jonathon Leitch

This mixed methods project aims to:

• better understand the cancer journey of Indigenous people impacted by prostate cancer;
•  identify the unmet supportive care needs of Indigenous people impacted by prostate cancer; and
• co-design targeted strategies to improve access to healthcare services in primary and tertiary care.

Congratulations to all the successful applicants. We look forward to seeing the progress of these projects.

Regards,
Jackie and Sherry