An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Australian Army’s Aboriginal Community Assistance Program from a Military Participant Perspective

Abstract

Study/Objective Evaluating the effectiveness of the Army Aboriginal Community Assistance Programs (AACAPs) from a military participant perspective provides the objective of this research. The study will identify areas of concern and provide guidance on current military policy, doctrine and protocol. Background Army Aboriginal Community Assistance Programs (AACAPs) represent a co-operative initiative between the Australian Army and Australian Government, that delivers complex support for Disaster Relief and Humanitarian Assistance (HA/DR) to improve the health and well-being of indigenous communities. Since 1997, the Army has conducted a number of AACAPs in remote Indigenous communities within continental Australia. No previous evaluations of these programs exist. Methods A ‘Quality Improvement’ study underpins this evaluation. Shewhart’s “Plan, Do, Study, Act” Model provides the guiding framework for the study. Allen’s Logic Model exemplifies the most appropriate framework to articulate the program needs and objectives, and to delineate the processes inherent in the program for this evaluation. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) evaluation model for public health programs, provides the evaluation standards to examine the delivery of health care to the deployed force in an austere environment. Part 1 of the study will be a desktop examination of current military policy, doctrine and protocol relating to AACAP. Part 2 will overlay personal experience from military participants in the AACAPs through a semi-structured interview, to enable deployed health personnel the opportunity to comment on their experiences. Analysis will comprise quantitative and qualitative method, specifically descriptive statistics and thematic analysis respectively. Army has approved all required governance, and ethics approval will be sought from Monash University. Results This is a proposed study, no results are available. Conclusion The benefit of this research will be gaining new knowledge with context of a humanitarian focused military task, through the lens of quality improvement to build capacity and enhance capability.