New Aboriginal health research has highlighted the critical role of cultural connection while calling for a rethink of the health system's approach to closing the gap.
The UNSW Sydney research, published in The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific on Monday, analyses the role culture, connection to Country and kinship play in improving health and wellbeing among Aboriginal people.
The study saw researchers from the Gaawaadhi Gadudha Research Collaborative, (translating to 'from saltwater to freshwater'), examine how cultural camps (or walaays) held across Yuwaalaraay, Gamilaraay (Northwestern NSW), and Yuin (Far South Coast NSW) nations affected the cultural health and wellbeing of attendees.
School of Population Health at UNSW Medicine & Health study co-author, Dr Aryati Yashadhana, said results indicate engaging in traditional practises improves health outcomes for Aboriginal people.
"Our research shows that when Aboriginal people have the freedom to practise culture on Country, it has a positive impact on their health and wellbeing," Dr Yashadhana said.
The camps, held in cultural landscapes minimally impacted by colonisation and urbanisation, were attended by 280 people, with approximately 100 participating in yarning circles or surveys for the study.
Facilitated by cultural knowledge holders of Country, camps provided exposure to sacred teaching sites, sharing of language and cultural knowledge, and participation in cultural practices, including weaving, woodwork and ceremonial dance.
Dr Yashadhana said the camps had an overwhelmingly positive impact on indicators of self-rated cultural health.
This included an increase in people's sense of connection to Country, mob and ancestors, pride in Aboriginal identity, and knowledge of cultural stories, foods, and medicines," she said.
"The vast majority of those who attended reported a sense of healing, with the camps helping with stress relief, inter-generational healing, and the journey to overcoming trauma, which in turn had a positive impact on their overall health and wellbeing."
UNSW's Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Engagement and Research, Associate Professor Brett Biles said the research underscores the importance of cultural health and the need to integrate Indigenous knowledges into public health strategies and programs.
He also suggested a shift away from the deficit-focused 'gap', which measures individual health outcomes against non-Aboriginal counterparts, was also needed.
"Aboriginal peoples have sustained their cultural practices for over 60,000 years, yet we continue to focus on these gaps which inadvertently position Aboriginal people as deficient and also neglect Aboriginal ways of understanding health," he said.
"While comparative epidemiology remains a useful tool in addressing health inequity, it is not the only way, we should also be focusing on the strengths that have been practised as part of Aboriginal cultures for thousands of years.
Associate Professor Biles said the shift would need to start with policy reforms to ensure Aboriginal knowledge was respected and incorporated into health approaches.
"Adopting Aboriginal ways of understanding health is crucial. In Aboriginal knowledge, the health of people, family, Mob, culture, and Country are symbiotic. They also involve spiritual, emotional, and physical dimensions," he said.
Associate Professor Biles said acknowledging the importance of supporting cultural health initiatives, like cultural camps, would be a good starting point.
"We also need further research that explores the largely untapped potential and long-term impacts of cultural engagement on health and wellbeing," he said.
The Gaawaadhi Gadudha Research Collaborative is a group of Aboriginal cultural knowledge holders - from the Yuwaalaraay, Gamilaraay and Yuin Nations in NSW - and interdisciplinary researchers from UNSW, Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), James Cook University and Swinburne University of Technology.
Following research on the camps, the Collaborative is working on co-designing and trialling a cultural health and traditional healing program to improve social and emotional wellbeing outcomes and considering how cultural health can be sustainably supported beyond short-term funding periods.
