Chronic diseases greatly impact on the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people – with 50 per cent having a chronic condition or disability. Conditions such as heart disease (22%), diabetes (12%) and liver disease (11%) account for 80% of the mortality gap (in terms of potential years of life lost) between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and other Australians.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death (19%) for Australia’s First Peoples. Despite this, it rarely features as a specific concern in health policies and strategy documents because they experience cancer at a lower rate than other Australians. However, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with cancer have a significantly higher mortality rate in the first two years after diagnosis.
Key resources
Active projects
- Evaluation of a health education initiative for urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Insights into early origins of Aboriginal chronic non‐communicable disease
- Scabies mite complement inhibitors as targets for novel therapeutics
- Towards a national approach to improving cancer outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Phase 1 clinical trial of a vaccine for group A Streptococus bacteria
- Standardisation of diagnostic protocols for early detection of rheumatic heart disease (PhD thesis)
- Disparities in lung cancer care and outcomes in New South Wales (PhD thesis)
Completed projects
- Support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer CRE (Centre for Research Excellence)
- Centre for Clinical Research Excellence (CCRE) in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
- Chronic condition management strategies in Aboriginal communities
- ABCD (Audit and Best Practice in Chronic Disease)
- Stress and chronic disease
- A structured systems approach to improving health promotion practice for chronic disease in Indigenous communities
- Mibbinbah (Men's Spaces)
- The burden of disease and injury in Indigenous Australians
- Establishing the prevalence of HPV infection – WHINURs
- Investigating cross-cultural responses to the introduction of the Human papillomavirus [HPV] vaccine
- The relevance of an accredited Australian Diabetes Educators Association course to Aboriginal health worker and Torres Strait Islander health worker education programs
- ACE Prevention – Guiding intervention choices around avoidable disease burden and cost effectiveness of prevention
- Clinical management of Aboriginal people with co-existing diabetes and alcohol-related health problems
- East Arnhem Healthy Skin project
- Developing, sustaining and evaluating health programs for Aboriginal men
- IMPAKT (Improving Access to Kidney Transplants)
- Filling the gaps in the Healthy Skin program
- Wuchopperen skin study
- Predicting heart disease in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Publications
- M. N. King 2006, Relevance of an Accredited Australian Diabetes Educators Association Course to Aboriginal Health Workers, Supervisors and Aboriginal People in South Australia, CRCAH, Darwin
- M. Lawrence, Z. Dodd, S. Mohor, S. Dunn, C. de Crespigny, C. Power & L. MacKean 2009, Improving the Patient Journey: Achieving positive outcomes for remote Aboriginal cardiac patients, CRCAH, Darwin
- G. Schierhout, J. Brands & R. Bailie 2010, Audit and Best Practice for Chronic Disease Extension Project, 2005–2009: Final Report, The Lowitja Institute, Melbourne
- I. Kowanko, Y. Helps, P. Harvey, M. Battersby, B. McCurry, R. Carbine, J. Boyd & O. Abdulla 2012, Chronic Condition Management Strategies in Aboriginal Communities: Final Report 2011, Flinders University and the Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia, Adelaide
Case story
News
- $2.5m cancer CRE sparked by Institute Roundtable, Wangka Pulka, August 2012
- Follow-up study looks at diabetes impact over time in Darwin region, Wangka Pulka, August 2012
- Chronic conditions: making a difference through self-management, Wangka Pulka, April 2012
- Institute scholarship holder behind world-first RHD guidelines, Wangka Pulka, April 2012
- Cancer survival rates focus of large-scale Qld study, Wangka Pulka, April 2012
- Paper finds plenty of scope for health centre improvements, Wangka Pulka, August 2011
- Guest Editorial: Associate Professor Gail Garvey, Wangka Pulka, December 2011
- ABCDE project achievements, Wangka Pulka, December 2010
- Community controlled health sector delivers ‘good health’, Wangka Pulka, December 2010
Related keywords
Diabetes | Heart Health | Skin Health | Renal | Mortality
Related Research Topics
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Created: 28 May 2012 - Updated: 04 February 2013