Continuing the conversation about strengths-based approaches and deficit discourses in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nutrition research; response to Brimblecombe et al., 2023

In Chittleborough et al. (2023) we investigated, through critical discourse analysis, how strengths-based approaches and deficit discourses, as theorised by the Lowitja Institute (Fogarty, Bulloch, McDonnell, & Davies, 2018; Fogarty, Lovell, Langenberg, & Heron, 2018) shape the language of research dissemination in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nutrition peer reviewed publications. This is the first study of its type to empirically investigate the extent to which strengths-based approaches and deficit discourses are/are not present in nutrition and dietetics literature and emerged from a call led by this authorship team (Wilson et al., 2020).

We are pleased that our critical discourse analysis has stimulated a conversation about how language and discourse influence how research is written, understood and interpreted when disseminated into the broader cultural, social, historical and political landscapes. We thank Brimblecombe et al. (2023) for the points they have raised. We hope this scholarly conversation is a way for all of us, as researchers and practitioners in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and nutrition, to reflect deeply upon the ways in which language in research dissemination contributes to broader colonial and decolonial forces. Importantly, in Chittleborough et al. (2023) we do not seek to pose criticism of the implementation of research programs, rather we seek to critique language and discourse within the practice of research dissemination. Previous studies have demonstrated that deficit discourse related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health is common in the policy and health sectors (Askew et al., 2020; Bryant et al., 2021; Bullen et al., 2023; Fforde, Bamblett, Lovett, Gorringe, & Fogarty, 2013; Fogarty, Bulloch, et al., 2018; Fogarty, Lovell, et al., 2018). Despite the challenge and discomfort associated with naming this in nutrition and dietetics, we purposefully do so in order to advocate and facilitate strengths-based approaches in research dissemination as the preferred approach going forward (Chittleborough et al., 2023; Foley & Shubert, 2012; Wilson, 2014; Wilson et al., 2020)...