SEARCH project aiming to understand Aboriginal childrens' health through long-term study

Riverina Medical and Dental Aboriginal Corporation (RivMed) staff are helping with the SEARCH project – the Study of Environment on Aboriginal Resilience and Child Health – which is being conducted by the Sax Institute.

The long-term study aims to understand the causes of poor health among urban Aboriginal children, where a significant portion of health inequality begins.

RivMed chief executive officer Darren Carr said the study was critical in ensuring health funding was allocated to effective programs.

“There are some core factors that cause poor health outcomes and this kind of longitudinal study will enable sound decisions to be made on where to spend health dollars,” Mr Carr said.

“The kids involved actually undergo a greater range of health testing and we can pick up problems early and intervene so there are better outcomes too.”

The 20-year study will enable researchers to get a complete picture of Aboriginal childrens’ health, particularly with regard to hearing, which has shown to be a significant issue in Wagga and western NSW.

The data has enabled RivMed to successfully lobby for increased speech pathology services.

Sax Institute chief executive officer Sally Redman said the community perspectives and guidance provided by organisations like RivMed were vital in a long-term study.

“We’re all aware of the need to close the gap in health between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people,” Ms Redman said.

“We need good information on how to do it and we have lacked the studies into long-term causes of ill health, so SEARCH has been a wonderful opportunity to explore it in partnership with Aboriginal health services.”

The results of two Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) studies released this month paints a poor picture of health among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, who consume too much sugar and not enough vegetables.