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Background: Historical socio-political processes have produced gross inequity of health resource for Aboriginal Australians and New Zealand Māori. Objectives: This paper argues that socio-political factors resulting from the entrenchment of colonialism have produced significant personal and structural barriers to the utilisation of healthcare services and directly impact the health status of these two vulnerable groups. Design: Discussion Paper. Conclusions: Understanding the actual barriers preventing the utilisation of healthcare facilities, as perceived by Indigenous people, is essential in reducing the gross disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous morbidity and mortality in Australia and New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the notion of indigenous cultural identity in Australia and New Zealand by examining how indigenous culture is represented in popular music, specifically, through 'known' signifiers of indigenous culture. This paper argues that these signifiers are limited to specific instrumentation, musical characteristics such as rhythm and melody, and indigenous language. These findings are reached through an examination of the extant literature on indigenous popular music in Australia and New Zealand, and by applying the same methods these studies employ to a comparison of indigenous popular music from these countries. Music from the groups Yothu Yindi (from Australia), and Moana and the Moahunters (from New Zealand) is analysed, demonstrating how signifiers of indigenous culture are perceived to have roots in traditional culture. This paper concludes by presenting an Australasian framework through which signifiers of indigenous identity have been identified and discussed in academic literature, and argues that the limitations of semiotic analysis has restricted the exploration of popular music's capacity to express indigenous identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper provides a perspective from two cultures and suggests ways to improve relationships between the Australian White fellas and First Nation (Aboriginal) populations. Several differences are highlighted especially the lack of formal protracted wars with the natives that characterized most other countries in the setting up of the British Empire. It is suggested that a great deal more work needs to be done with the way First Nation people were seen as non-human until 1970, a topic that seems either talked out or denied depending on whom you talk to. Modern efforts focus on positive and collaborative ways to remedy the problems from those who stand firmly in both camps. Its seems to this writer that more needs to be known about the elder, the dream world and other levels of consciousness that influence the transmission of essential knowledge. With some hesitation I have gone along with the idea of making Western suggestions, but I know what I would rather have. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every woman experiences the menopause transition period in a very individual way. Menopause symptoms and management are greatly influenced by socioeconomic status in addition to genetic background and medical history. Because of their very unique cultural heritage and often holistic view of health and well-being, menopause symptoms and management might differ greatly in aboriginals compared to non-aboriginals. Our aim was to investigate the extent and scope of the current literature in describing the menopause experience of aboriginal women. Our systematic literature review included nine health-related databases using the keywords ‘menopause’ and ‘climacteric symptoms’ in combination with various keywords describing aboriginal populations. Data were collected from selected articles and descriptive analysis was applied. Twenty-eight relevant articles were included in our analysis. These articles represent data from 12 countries and aboriginal groups from at least eight distinctive geographical regions. Knowledge of menopause and symptom experience vary greatly among study groups. The average age of menopause onset appears earlier in most aboriginal groups, often attributed to malnutrition and a harsher lifestyle. This literature review highlights a need for further research of the menopause transition period among aboriginal women to fully explore understanding and treatment of menopause symptoms and ultimately advance an important dialogue about women’s health care. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Hospitalisation of a child is a unique opportunity for health staff to offer smoking cessation support; that is screening for carer smoking status, discussing cessation and providing interventions to carers who smoke. This has the potential to reduce the child's exposure to second-hand smoke, and in turn tobacco related illnesses in children. However, these interventions are not always offered in paediatric wards. The aim of this study was to explore the provision and prioritisation of smoking cessation support to patient carers in a paediatric ward with a high proportion of Aboriginal patients and carers in a regional area of Australia's Northern Territory. Methods: This is a qualitative descriptive study of data collected through semi-structured interviews with 19 health staff. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was performed on the transcripts. Results: We found low prioritisation of addressing carer smoking due to, a lack of systems and procedures to screen for smoking and provide quitting advice and unclear systems for providing more detailed cessation support to carers. Staff were demotivated by the lack of clear referral pathways. There were gaps in skills and knowledge, and health staff expressed a need for training opportunities in smoking cessation. Conclusion: Health staff perceived they would provide more cessation support if there was a systematic approach with evidence-based resources for smoking cessation. These resources would include guidelines and clinical record systems with screening tools, clear action plans and referral pathways to guide clinical practice. Health staff requested support to identify existing training opportunities on smoking cessation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both Australia and New Zealand have been marked by powerful claims for reparation for wrongs committed against indigenous peoples, with the responses to these claims including apologies. The trajectories of these responses have differed, however, particularly with respect to the relative role of formal institutional recognition and social movements. This paper argues that the institutionalisation of Crown apologies to New Zealand Māori has led to a certain alienation of these apologies from broader Pākehā society, whereas the failure to institutionalise recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights in Australia has more deeply engaged questions of national identity for Australia as a whole. This comparative finding is consistent with a complex understanding of the relationship between political opportunity structures and social movements, whereby "a mix of open and closed structures" (Eisinger 1983: 15) is most conducive to social movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To recognize the significance of indigenous cultures and their landscapes as well as to appraise these places, identification and evaluation have to focus on indigenous worldviews rather than on the deeply embedded Western civilization ideals and values of the design. Australian Aboriginal and New Zealand's Maori cultures are genuinely rooted in experiential interrelationships with land with a particular orientation toward relationship and time entrenched in cosmology, narrative, and place. This article explores a participatory design strategy that facilitates and benefits indigenous cultures in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. Using a design-led research approach, this study endeavors to nurture capacity building within "traditional custodians" in order to contribute to the sustainability of rural communities as well as caring for landscape. The article also introduces a framework better suited to nurturing and managing cultural landscapes. This framework demonstrates the potential to simultaneously empower indigenous cultures to protect things that matter but also to enhance their economic, political, and social freedom as they understand it through the lens of their own cultural values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In recent decades, financial investment has been made in health-related programs and services to overcome inequities and improve Indigenous people's wellbeing in Australia and New Zealand. Despite policies aiming to 'close the gap', limited evaluation evidence has informed evidence-based policy and practice. Indigenous leaders have called for evaluation stakeholders to align their practices with Indigenous approaches. Methods: This study aimed to strengthen culturally safe evaluation practice in Indigenous settings by engaging evaluation stakeholders, in both countries, in a participatory concept mapping study. Concept maps for each country were generated from multi-dimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis. Results: The 12-cluster Australia map identifies four cluster regions: An Evaluation Approach that Honours Community; Respect and Reciprocity; Core Heart of the Evaluation; and Cultural Integrity of the Evaluation. The 11-cluster New Zealand map identifies four cluster regions: Authentic Evaluation Practice; Building Māori Evaluation Expertise; Integrity in Māori Evaluation; and Putting Community First. Both maps highlight the importance of cultural integrity in evaluation. Differences include the distinctiveness of the 'Respecting Language Protocols' concept in the Australia map in contrast to language being embedded within the cluster of 'Knowing Yourself as an Evaluator in a Māori Evaluation Context' in the New Zealand map. Participant ratings highlight the importance of all clusters with some relatively more difficult to achieve, in practice. Notably, the 'Funding Responsive to Community Needs and Priorities' and 'Translating Evaluation Findings to Benefit Community' clusters were rated the least achievable, in Australia. The 'Conduct of the Evaluation' and the 'Prioritising Māori Interests' clusters were rated as least achievable in New Zealand. In both countries, clusters of strategies related to commissioning were deemed least achievable. Conclusions: The results suggest that the commissioning of evaluation is crucial as it sets the stage for whether evaluations: reflect Indigenous interests, are planned in ways that align with Indigenous ways of working and are translated to benefit Indigenous communities Identified strategies align with health promotion principles and relational accountability values of Indigenous approaches to research. These findings may be relevant to the commissioning and conduct of Indigenous health program evaluations in developed nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the results of a study on haemodialysis (HD) outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients from the remote Kimberley region of Australia. The researchers retrospectively identified Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients from the Kimberley region and analysed secondary data from the Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry. The study concludes that HD treatment provided closer to home can be safe and effective in remote locations.

The health of indigenous Australians remains well below that of non-indigenous Australians and indigenous peoples in Canada and New Zealand. Although recent planning has initiated many outstanding, culturally appropriate programmes with indigenous involvement, health statistics only reflect marginal improvement in recent years. It is crucial that positive programmes are sustained with appropriately directed funding. An approach that includes respect for the emotional and spiritual wellbeing of Australia's indigenous peoples will assist to redress some of the disadvantage caused by dispossession of country, language, and identity. It is clear from many programmes that are in place, that primary health care delivered locally through community controlled organisations, will minimise the impact of serious illnesses that currently threaten whole families and communities. Westernised health care systems are slow to learn from indigenous peoples in Australia and other places, that maintenance of wellness, not management of illness should be the goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]