Collaborative Social-Epidemiology: A Co-analysis of the Cultural and Structural Determinants of Health for Aboriginal Youth in Victorian Schools

Joanne Nicole Luke, Alister Thorpe, Carlina Black, Lisa Thorpe, David Thomas, Sandra Eades and Kevin Rowley
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Joanne Nicole Luke: School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Carlton 3053, Australia
Alister Thorpe: School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Carlton 3053, Australia
Carlina Black: The Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, Preston 3072, Australia
Lisa Thorpe: Bubup Wilam-Aboriginal Child and Family Centre, Thomastown 3074, Australia
David Thomas: Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin 0810, Australia
Sandra Eades: School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Carlton 3053, Australia
Kevin Rowley: School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Carlton 3053, Australia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 16, 1-22

Abstract: Social-epidemiology that excludes Aboriginal voices often fails to capture the full and complex social worlds of Aboriginal people. Using data from an existing co-designed Victorian government Adolescent Health and Wellbeing Survey (2008/9), we worked with Aboriginal organizations to identify data priorities, select measures, interpret data, and contextualize findings. Using this participatory co-analysis approach, we selected “cultural” and “structural” determinants identified by Aboriginal organizations as important and modelled these using principal component analysis. Resulting components were then modelled using logistic regression to investigate associations with “likely being well” (Kessler-10 score < 20) for 88 Aboriginal adolescents aged 11–17 years. Principal component analysis grouped 11 structural variables into four components and 11 cultural variables into three components. Of these, “grew up in Aboriginal family/community and connected” associated with significantly higher odds of “likely being well” (OR = 2.26 (1.01–5.06), p = 0.046). Conversely, “institutionally imposed family displacement” had significantly lower odds (OR = 0.49 (0.24–0.97), p = 0.040) and “negative police contact and poverty” non-significantly lower odds (OR = 0.53 (0.26–1.06), p = 0.073) for “likely being well”. Using a co-analysis participatory approach, the voices of Aboriginal researchers and Aboriginal organizations were able to construct a social world that aligned with their ways of knowing, doing, and being. Findings highlighted institutionally imposed family displacement, policing, and poverty as social sites for health intervention and emphasized the importance of strong Aboriginal families for adolescents.

Keywords: Aboriginal; health and wellbeing; cultural determinants; structural determinants; adolescent; Victoria (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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