Kathleen Clapham

• PhD, BA (Hons)
• Professor at University of Wollongong

Objective The objective was to describe mental health service and psychotropic medicine use among a cohort of Aboriginal young people and quantify their relation to sociodemographic, family and health factors. Methods In a prospective cohort study with data linkage, 892 Aboriginal children aged 0–17 years living in urban and regional areas of New...

Background Quality and safety in Australian healthcare is inequitably distributed, highlighted by gaps in the provision of quality care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Burns have potential for long-term adverse outcomes, and quality care, including culturally safe care, is critical to recovery. This study aimed to develop and ap...

Background: In Australia, Aboriginal people are underserved by the transport system and are less able to easily get to places they need to go than others. This is a part of a larger pattern of exclusion and inequity for Aboriginal people which affects their health, wellbeing, and social participation. Guided by a decolonising framework, this resea...

Supporting older people’s use of sustainable transport is important for both population health and sustainable development, especially in the context of global population ageing. This systematic review identifies individual and environmental factors that influence older people’s sustainable transport use and synthesises findings using a framework a...

Age-Friendly Cities (AFC) is a framework for promoting healthy ageing through local actions. We use systems thinking to assess potential outcomes of actions to support older people’s mobility, undertaken within an AFC commitment in Greater Sydney. Interviews with 20 informants involved in providing space, infrastructure, or services that affect how...

Objectives: Housing is a social determinant of health that impacts the health and well-being of children and families. Screening and referral to address social determinants of health in clinical and social service settings has been proposed to support families with housing problems. This study aims to identify housing screening questions asked of...

Introduction: Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCO) have an important role in the Australian health-care sector. However, there has been a lack of research evaluating ACCOs in the treatment of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use. Using a benchmarking approach, the present study examined within treatment changes on measures of wellbeing...

Background Mutual support groups are a popular treatment for substance use and other addictive behaviours. However, little is known about the cultural utility of these programmes for Indigenous peoples. Methods A three-round Delphi study, utilising Indigenous research yarning methods was conducted to: (1) Obtain expert opinion regarding the cultur...

Background: With increasingly tough graduated driver licensing laws in all Australian States and Territories, driver licensing support programs are recognised as being important to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to obtain a driver licence. Such programs appear to improve licensing attainment rates, but few studies have exami...

Research undertaken by outsiders into issues of concern to Aboriginal communities frequently ignores community culture and the knowledge embedded within Aboriginal communities. Methodologies are adopted which perpetuate the colonialist mindset of non-indigenous Australians leading to failed solutions to Aboriginal problems. This paper describes an...

Background Quality and safety in Australian healthcare is inequitably distributed, highlighted by gaps in the provision of quality care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Burns have potential for long-term adverse outcomes, and quality care, including culturally safe care, is critical to recovery. This study aimed to develop and ap...

Objective: To better understand issues driving quality in burn care related to equity of outcomes and equality of provision for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Methods: Seventy-six interviews with team members who provide care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in six paediatric burn units across five Australian juri...

Introduction SMART Recovery is a popular mutual support group program. Little is known about its suitability or perceived helpfulness for Indigenous peoples. This study explored the cultural utility of SMART Recovery in an Australian Aboriginal context. Methods An Indigenous‐lensed, multi‐methods, exploratory study design was used to develop initi...

Context In Australia, injury is the leading cause of death for children aged over 1 year and the highest cause of hospitalisation. There is good evidence for effectiveness of many existing injury prevention programs. Despite this evidence, there has been limited change in rates for specific injury areas and populations. To explore the gaps in injur...

It is imperative that access to primary health care services is equitable as health care practitioners are often the first responders to women who experience violence. This is of particular importance for First Nations women who disproportionately experience interpersonal and structural violence when compared to non-First Nations women, as well as...

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and adolescents are disproportionately affected by burn injuries, yet often omitted from burns literature or inadequately portrayed under Western frameworks. We highlight and address the urgent need for knowledge about pediatric burns among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to be produced fr...

Background: Mutual support groups are a popular treatment for substance use and other addictive behaviours. However, little is known about the cultural utility of these programmes for Indigenous peoples. Methods: A three-round Delphi study, utilising Indigenous research yarning methods was conducted to: (1) Obtain expert opinion regarding the cultu...

Introduction Process evaluations examining programme implementation are often conducted in conjunction with effectiveness studies. Their inclusion in studies with Aboriginal participants can give an understanding of programme delivery in Aboriginal community contexts. The Ironbark: Standing Strong and Tall programme was codesigned with Aboriginal c...

Through the lens of complexity, we present a nested case study describing a decolonisation approach developed and implemented by Waminda South Coast Women’s Health and Welfare Aboriginal Corporation. Using Indigenous research methods, this case study has unfolded across three phases: (1) Yarning interviews with the workforce from four partner healt...

Introduction: Older Aboriginal people have a strong leadership role in their community including passing on knowledge and teachings around culture and connections to Country. Falls significantly affect older people and are a growing concern for older Aboriginal people and their families. Regular participation in balance and strength exercise has b...

Globally, unintentional injuries contribute significantly to disability and death. Prevention efforts have traditionally focused on individual injury mechanisms and their specific risk factors, which has resulted in slow progress in reducing the burden. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a global agenda for promoting human prosperit...

Issue addressed: It is demonstrated that primary health care (PHC) providers are sought out by women who experience violence. Given the disproportionate burden of violence experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, it is essential there is equitable access to appropriate PHC services. This review aimed to analyse whether Australia...

Transportation influences health through its effects on people's access to goods, services, and life chance opportunities; social interactions; physical activity levels; air pollution exposures; and road injury risks. Given the ageing of populations, it is essential that decisions about land use and transportation systems are appropriate to meet th...

Background: Paediatric burns are highly painful and traumatising injuries that are overrepresented among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Paediatric burn patients' pain remains poorly managed by pharmacological interventions, leading to increased anxiety, distress, and trauma in patients and their caregivers. Non-pharmacological psych...

Background: Paediatric burns are highly painful and traumatising injuries that are overrepresented among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Paediatric burn patients’ pain remains poorly managed by pharmacological interventions, leading to increased anxiety, distress and trauma in patients and their caregivers. Non-pharmacological psychos...

The growth in the number and proportion of older adults is unprecedented in the history of Australia. Two factors, longer life spans and ageing baby boomers, have combined to increase this portion of population of Australian aged in recent decades. Using qualitative approach, 20 Iranian migrants, aged 65 and over, were selected and interviewed thro...

Objective: To investigate factors informing burns care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Design: In-depth qualitative study with semi-structured interview questions. Setting and participants: Multidisciplinary team members who provide care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in six tertiary burn units across fi...

Background: Early childhood social and emotional development underpins later social, emotional, academic and other outcomes. The first aim of this study was to explore the association between child, family and area-level characteristics associated with developmental vulnerability, amongst Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children in their first year...

Abstract Background Addictions contribute significantly to the overall disease burden for Indigenous peoples of colonised countries. Mutual support groups are one of the most common addiction recovery resources, however their effectiveness for Indigenous peoples is unclear. Methods A PRISMA-informed search was performed to retrieve empirical studie...

Objective This study aimed to describe road user behaviour, attitudes and crashes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in four urban, regional and remote communities located in New South Wales (NSW) and South Australia (SA). Methods Face-to-face surveys were administered to clients (n=625) in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Servi...

Injury burden is greater in children from vulnerable and disenfranchised populations. This systematic review aimed to describe injury related Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and function outcomes in children through a health equity lens. A systematic review was conducted focussed on HRQoL and functional outcomes in children (≤16 years) follo...

Objective: To assess if rates of hospitalised injury in Australian Aboriginal children, and differences in these rates between Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal children, have changed over time. Methods: We used linked hospital data for New South Wales (NSW), Australia, to construct cohorts of children born in NSW hospitals between 2003–2007 and 2008–2...

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence and determine protective factors for resilience in urban Aboriginal adolescents. Methods: Cross‐sectional survey data was collected from 119 Aboriginal adolescents participating in the Study of Environment on Aboriginal Resilience and Child Health (SEARCH). Resilience was defined as having ‘low‐risk’ Strengths...

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia experience fatal road crashes at 2–3 times the rate of other Australians and sustain serious injuries at a rate about 20% higher. High rates of transport injury have been attributed to reduced driver licence participation in Aboriginal communities. Community-based licensing programs are an i...

Objectives The aim of the current study is to quantify mental health-related emergency department (ED) presentations and hospitalisations, and associated child and family characteristics, in children recruited through four Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations. Setting Four Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services that delive...

Background Little is known about the barriers to use of child car seats in Australian Aboriginal communities, or the acceptability of programs to increase appropriate car seat use. This formative evaluation sought to consult and partner with Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) to develop and evaluate the feasibility and acceptab...

Objective In caregivers of urban Aboriginal children, to determine the frequency of major stressful life events, the proportion who meet criteria for resilience, and factors that are associated with resilience. Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting Four Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services located in urban or regional areas in New Sou...

Issue addressed Aboriginal Australian children experience higher rates of injury than other Australian children. However few culturally acceptable programs have been developed or evaluated. The Illawarra Aboriginal Medical Service (IAMS) developed the Safe Homes Safe Kids program as an injury prevention program targeting disadvantaged Aboriginal fa...

Objective: Despite being disproportionately affected by injury, little is known about factors associated with injury in Aboriginal children. We investigate factors associated with injury among urban Aboriginal children attending four Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services in New South Wales, Australia. Methods: We examined characteristics...

This chapter provides an overview of ageing and aged care in the Indigenous population of Australia. Based on a review of current research and literature on this topic, the overarching theme is responding to diversity. Understanding the social and cultural diversity of the Indigenous population is essential for those working in any area of Indigeno...

Safety and quality in the systematic management of burn care is important to ensure optimal outcomes. It is not clear if or how burn injury models of care uphold these qualities, or if they provide a space for culturally safe healthcare for Indigenous peoples, especially for children. This review is a critique of publically available models of care...

We explored the factors influencing the use of age-appropriate car seats in a community with a high proportion of Aboriginal families in regional New South Wales. We conducted a survey and three focus groups with parents of children aged 3–5 years enrolled at three early learning centres on the Australian south-east coast. Survey data were triangul...

Background Indigenous children living in high income countries have a consistently high prevalence of mental health problems. We aimed to identify psychosocial risk and protective factors for mental health in this setting. Methods A systematic review of studies published between 1996 and 2016 that quantitatively evaluated the association between p...

Objective: To describe Aboriginal community members' perspectives on the outcomes and origins of resilience among Aboriginal children. Methods: Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 36 Aboriginal adults (15 health service professionals, 8 youth workers and 13 community members) at two urban and one regional Aboriginal Community Controlled...

The Driving Change programme was developed to facilitate access to licensing in Aboriginal communities in Australia. This process evaluation aimed to explore whether Driving Change was implemented as intended and was addressing the needs of the communities. A mixed methods approach was used, with triangulation of client data (n = 984), semi-structu...

Introduction Reduced licence participation in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities contributes to transport disadvantage, higher rates of transport-related morbidity and mortality. This study will incorporate a social ecology framework to better understand the economic, social inclusion and cultural impacts of licensing at all levels o...

Objective: Low rates of driver licensing have been linked to increased risk of transport-related injury, and reduced access to health services, employment and educational opportunities in the Aboriginal population. This paper reports on how barriers to obtaining a driver licence are being addressed in four Aboriginal communities in New South Wales...

Objective: To investigate differences in the characteristics of burn injuries leading to hospitalisation of Indigenous Australian and non-Indigenous children in New South Wales.Design, setting: Population-based cohort analysis of linked hospital and mortality data for 2000-2014. Participants: 35 749 Indigenous and 1 088 938 non-Indigenous childr...

Aim: This paper reports on the use of a logic model to underpin the process, outcomes and impact evaluation of the Kids Together program. Methods: The research team worked across 15 Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) centres and in home and community settings. A realist evaluation using mixed methods was undertaken to understand what work...

Objective: To describe the leading mechanisms of hospitalised unintentional injury in Australian Aboriginal children and identify the injury mechanisms with the largest inequalities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children. Methods: We used linked hospital and mortality data to construct a whole of population birth cohort including 1,124,7...

Background In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience higher rates of injury-related morbidity and mortality relative to the non-Aboriginal population. Aboriginal people are almost three times as likely to die from transport-related injury and 30% more likely to sustain serious transport-related injury. This disparity has...

Background In Australia, road related fatality rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0–4 years are 4 times higher than for other Australian children the same age. Children are less likely to be severely injured in a car crash if they are restrained in an age-appropriate car restraint and if the restraint is used correctly. D...

Background Despite increasing knowledge about the burden of unintentional injury among Australian Aboriginal children there is a lack of effective programs targeting Aboriginal children and families. Moreover, little is known about how Aboriginal people engage in child injury prevention programs. Research was conducted to inform the development of...

Background Driver licensing is essential to effective road safety management systems however strengthened graduated driver licensing systems may make licensing less accessible. The impact of barriers to licensing can be far reaching, particularly for already marginalised groups. We aimed to describe licensing rates and factors associated with drive...

IntroductionAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are overrepresented in transport-related morbidity and mortality. Low rates of licensure in Aboriginal communities and households have been identified as a contributor to high rates of unlicensed driving. There is increasing recognition that Aboriginal people experience challenges and adversi...

Objective: To examine the factors associated with psychological distress in parents and carers of Aboriginal children living in urban communities in New South Wales. Design: Cross-sectional survey (phase one of the Study of Environment on Aboriginal Resilience and Child Health [SEARCH], November 2007 - December 2011). Setting and participants:...

Objective To identify the factors associated with ‘good’ mental health among Aboriginal children living in urban communities in New South Wales, Australia. Design Cross-sectional survey (phase I of a longitudinal study). Setting 4 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services that deliver primary care. All services were located in urban communi...

In this article, we provide an emic perspective of being uniquely positioned as part of Australia’s only multidisciplinary Indigenous research network, the National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network (NIRAKN). We used collaborative autoethnography and reflection in our practices and experiences. Our purpose was to better understand and impr...

Objective: Education, employment and equitable access to services are commonly accepted as important underlying social determinants of health. For most Australians, access to health, education and other services is facilitated by private transport and a driver licence. This study aimed to examine licensing rates and predictors of licensing in a sam...

Issue addressed Aboriginal people face significant barriers to accessing the driver licensing system in New South Wales (NSW). Low rates of licence participation contribute to transport disadvantage and impede access to employment, education and essential health services. The Driving Change program has been piloted in three communities to increase...

Aim: This paper outlines the formative evaluation of the program, including logic model construction and exploration of contextual factors. Methods: Purposive sampling was used to identify key informants (n=12) from a consultative committee of key stakeholders and program staff. Semi-structured interviews were transcribed and thematically analys...

Objectives: To quantify inequalities in rates of unintentional injury-related hospitalizations between Australian Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children. Methods: We used linked hospital and mortality data to construct a retrospective whole-of-population birth cohort including 1 124 717 children born in the state of New South Wales, Australia, b...

Introduction Although Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Australia have higher risk of burns compared with non-Aboriginal children, their access to burn care, particularly postdischarge care, is poorly understood, including the impact of care on functional outcomes. The objective of this study is to describe the burden of burns, acce...

A report to Parliament under s.34H of the Community Services (Complaints, Reviews and Monitoring) Act 1993

Background Research reveals consistently higher injury rates amongst Aboriginal Australian children (AIHW: Pointer 2014). Intervention strategies for this population must be culturally appropriate and take into account a broad range of social, historical and cultural factors impacting on Aboriginal health and safety, however few culturally acceptab...

This paper describes the development of Pictorial Conceptual Metaphors, a pictorial outcome of systemic action research that captures and explains complex systems from the perspectives of the participants involved. Page 78 and argue that PCMs provide a powerful way of 'seeing the system', understanding a system within its historical context, and de...

Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) are a common way of gathering qualitative data in Aboriginal health services research; however there have been no studies on the question of whether they are appropriate research tools in such contexts, nor are there are specific guidelines available to ensure that FGDs are delivered to collect data in ways that are c...

Objective: To conduct a process and impact evaluation of a multifaceted education-based pilot program targeting correct use of age-appropriate restraints in a regional setting with a high proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. Methods: The program was delivered in 2010 in 3 early learning centers where 31 percent of the ch...

This paper describes the collaborative work practices of the Health and Wellbeing Node within the National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network (NIRAKN). The authors reflect on the processes they used to research and develop a literature review. As a newly established research team, the Health and Wellbeing Node members developed a collaborat...

Background Alcohol management plans have been introduced in several remote communities in Australia to address a high rate of alcohol-related harm. Aims/Objectives/Purpose To evaluate the impact on injury of the alcohol management plan in Bourke NSW (population 2175; 33% Aboriginal) following introduction of takeaway alcohol restrictions in Februar...

Background Aboriginal children are over represented in car crash fatalities, however little is known about knowledge and attitudes towards use of child restraints in Aboriginal communities in Australia. Aims/Objectives/Purpose To explore the knowledge, attitudes and factors that impede and facilitate the use of appropriate restraints in Aboriginal...

Objectives: To compare the injury profiles of the Indigenous population in New South Wales with that of the non-Indigenous population. Design and setting: Descriptive analysis of NSW Health data obtained from the Health Outcomes Information and Statistical Toolkit (HOIST) database. Hospitalisation data were collected for the period 1 July 1999 to 3...

This chapter explores the impact of the 2007 Northern Territory Intervention on the Aboriginal men and women affected by these ‘emergency measures’ through the eyes of one Aboriginal elder. The chapter commences with a brief look at colonisation and its impact on Aboriginal people and their connections to land. It goes on to demonstrate that milita...

This article is based on a presentation to the 2011 Indigenous Studies Research Network and Faculty of Health Symposium Healthier Futures Thru Indigenous Led Research held at the Queensland University of Technology. It critically examines the proposition that, in the context of the current health reform in Australia, an Indigenous-led and -develope...

Objective To design and evaluate an intervention targeting urban indigenous Australian children in order to increase their self-efficacy, knowledge and attitudes towards safety.Methods The Safe Koori Kids intervention was developed and delivered to 790 children primary school aged children (13% indigenous) in 24 middle and upper primary classes acr...

While transport-related injuries represent a leading cause of death for all Australians, several disparities exist between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations. Compared to non-Indigenous Australians, Indigenous Australians are more than twice as likely to have a transport-related fatal injury, with fatality risk remaining high with age while...

Injury prevention in Indigenous communities in Australia is a continuing national challenge, with Indigenous fatality rates due to injury three times higher than the general population. Suicide and transport are the leading causes of injury mortality, and assault, transport and falls the primary causes of injury morbidity. Addressing the complex ra...

This chapter explores lessons learnt and challenges in the development of and sustainability of community based interventions addressing the social determinants of health. Three distinct types of programs are explored; those addressing diabetes; injury prevention; and alcohol.

To compare the injury profiles of the Indigenous population in New South Wales with that of the non-Indigenous population. Descriptive analysis of NSW Health data obtained from the Health Outcomes Information and Statistical Toolkit (HOIST) database. Hospitalisation data were collected for the period 1 July 1999 to 30 June 2003. Mortality data were...

Objectives: To compare the injury profiles of the indigenous population in New South Wales with that of the non-indigenous population. Design and setting: Descriptive analysis of NSW Health data obtained from the Health Outcomes Information and Statistical Toolkit (HOIST) database. Hospitalisation data were collected for the period 1 July 1999 to 3...