The Indigenous Health Research Priorities Study Report for Far North Queensland

The Health Research Priorities Study aims to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (herein respectfully referred as Indigenous) communities in Queensland through a co-designed and collaborative process, to identify health and medical research priorities for young families during preconception, pregnancy, post-partum, and early childhood. The goal of this research study is to work in partnership with local Indigenous community-controlled health services to co-identify health research priorities for families and communities during the perinatal period, which can inform future health programs, services and research projects which have been chosen by communities.

Using a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach, yarning sessions and Delphi workshop methods have been held with clients and staff of three Indigenous community-controlled health services in Far North Queensland (Mareeba, Edmonton, and Cairns), from May 2022 to February 2023. Qualitative data collection and thematic analysis was used to identify and report on community and health service research priorities from two community consultation phases – Phase 1 yarning sessions and Phase 2 entailing a Delphi workshop. The Delphi workshop prioritised the health issues identified during the yarns with corresponding communities through participants’ voting for and reaching a on the top 10 health issues for their community and health service. Participants’ demographic information, and a short feedback form with five open-ended questions were collected to gauge reach, views, and satisfaction with the research process.

This report presents findings from the yarning sessions and Delphi workshops, with the top 10 health research priorities identified per Indigenous community-controlled health service, and overall, for the Far North Queensland region. It also includes participant demographic information, feedback on the research process and reactions to participating in the yarning sessions and the Delphi workshops. There were a total 12 yarning sessions and three Delphi workshops with a total 98 participants. The qualitative analysis identified at least 100 themes and subthemes based on initial yarning sessions. Feedback from 61 community members and health professionals has highlighted they valued sharing stories, being heard, and feeling hopeful. Across these services and communities, the priorities in common were Social and Emotional Wellbeing, Trauma - grief and loss, and Family and Domestic Violence.

Identification of health research priorities will allow each Indigenous community-controlled organisation and region of Queensland to develop research initiatives and translational outcomes that are a focus for their community members. Recommendations for future directions for this study include revisiting services to hold male-specific focus groups; formalising a Queensland-wide Indigenous governance group; and reflecting on the strongest and overlapping themes for the region to consider collaboration on future programs between services, and research projects.

Full report: https://doi.org/10.14264/cf0a26b

Authors: Rae, Kym M.,Weatherall, Loretta,Massi, Luciana,Fredericks, Bronwyn,andToombs, Maree