Indigenous people 'need to be at the heart of research'
Published on 23 August, 2012
Yvette Roe is a Njikena Jawuru woman from the West Kimberley, Western Australia whose PhD research explores the disparity of care experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people admitted to hospital for acute coronary syndromes (ACS).
"When ill-health is so normalised that good health is often the exception, you realise there are things that we can do to improve health outcomes in our communities," she says. "The desire to be an agent of change is very motivating."
In the final year of her PhD with the University of South Australia, Yvette was invited to CQUniversity to deliver a research seminar about the quality of healthcare received by Aboriginal adults admitted to hospital for acute coronary syndromes. The seminar was presented in Rockhampton, with video links to other CQUniversity campuses.
The guest speaker was welcomed and introduced by Professor Bronwyn Fredericks, our Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Engagement) and BMA Chair in Indigenous Engagement. Participants via the Gladstone video site included some public health physicians visiting from India.
Yvette says a key focus of her research is exploring the extent to which patients felt 'engaged' in the healthcare process and whether patient-clinician engagement is a determinant of outcome.
"The research results may assist clinicians and health service managers develop strategies to improve the quality of diagnosis, treatment and management of ACS Indigenous clients," she says.
Dr Nita Vijayan and Dr Sukumaran Ariyari participated via video from Gladstone Campus
"We need Aboriginal people to be experts and leaders in high quality research ... we need to be on the front foot about driving the research agenda in partnership with our non-Indigenous colleagues and designing programs that lead to improved health outcomes."
Yvette notes that cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have a devastating impact on our communities; and this is compounded by the high rates of co-morbidities such as diabetes and high-risk lifestyle factors such as smoking.
CVD and chronic disease management is a ‘whole of life' approach and people should be able to seamlessly negotiate their way through the system. Yvette believes that the health system needs to address the challenge of providing an environment for Indigenous patients that supports and nurtures continued engagement across all sectors ie primary care, acute, rehabilitation and secondary care.
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