TY - JOUR
T1 - Parents' and carers' views on factors contributing to the health and wellbeing of urban Aboriginal children
AU - Miller, Hilary M.
AU - Young, Christian
AU - Nixon, Janice
AU - Talbot-McDonnell, Melissa
AU - Cutmore, Mandy
AU - Tong, Allison
AU - Craig, Jonathan C.
AU - Woolfenden, Susan
N1 - This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - Objective: To identify and describe caregiver perspectives on factors important for the health and wellbeing of urban Aboriginal children. Methods: Caregivers of Aboriginal children participating in the Study of Environment on Aboriginal Resilience and Child Health (SEARCH) were asked to describe the single most important factor that would help their children to be healthy and well. Responses were analysed using thematic and content analysis. Results: Of the 626 carers in SEARCH, 425 (68%) provided a response. We identified 13 factors related to: loving family relationships, culturally competent healthcare, food security, active living, community services, education, social and emotional connectedness, safety, breaking cycles of disadvantage, housing availability and affordability, positive Aboriginal role models, strong culture, and carer wellbeing. Conclusions: Aligning with holistic concepts of health, caregivers believe that a broad range of child, family and environmental-level factors are needed to ensure the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal children. Implications for public health: This study highlights the importance of providing public health initiatives that enable equal access to the social determinants of health for carers of Aboriginal children. Affordable and adequate housing, food security, culturally appropriate healthcare, and family and community connectedness remain critical areas for targeted initiatives.
AB - Objective: To identify and describe caregiver perspectives on factors important for the health and wellbeing of urban Aboriginal children. Methods: Caregivers of Aboriginal children participating in the Study of Environment on Aboriginal Resilience and Child Health (SEARCH) were asked to describe the single most important factor that would help their children to be healthy and well. Responses were analysed using thematic and content analysis. Results: Of the 626 carers in SEARCH, 425 (68%) provided a response. We identified 13 factors related to: loving family relationships, culturally competent healthcare, food security, active living, community services, education, social and emotional connectedness, safety, breaking cycles of disadvantage, housing availability and affordability, positive Aboriginal role models, strong culture, and carer wellbeing. Conclusions: Aligning with holistic concepts of health, caregivers believe that a broad range of child, family and environmental-level factors are needed to ensure the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal children. Implications for public health: This study highlights the importance of providing public health initiatives that enable equal access to the social determinants of health for carers of Aboriginal children. Affordable and adequate housing, food security, culturally appropriate healthcare, and family and community connectedness remain critical areas for targeted initiatives.
KW - Aboriginal
KW - caregiver
KW - children
KW - qualitative
KW - wellbeing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085988070&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/NHMRC/358457
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/NHMRC/512685
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/NHMRC/1023998
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/NHMRC/1035378
U2 - 10.1111/1753-6405.12992
DO - 10.1111/1753-6405.12992
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85085988070
SN - 1753-6405
VL - 44
SP - 265
EP - 270
JO - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
JF - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
IS - 4
ER -