Abstract
BackgroundImproving the wellbeing of Indigenous populations is an international priority. Robust research conducted with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is key to developing programs and policies to improve health and wellbeing. This paper aims to quantify the extent of participation in a national longitudinal study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous Australian) children, and to understand the reasons why caregivers participate in the study.MethodsThis mixed methods study uses data from Wave 6 of Footprints in Time, the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children. We conducted descriptive analysis of quantitative variables to characterise the sample and retention rates. We applied conventional content analysis to 160 caregivers’ open-ended responses to the question, ‘Why do you stay in the study?’, identifying themes and overarching meta-themes.ResultsThe study has maintained a high retention rate, with 70.4% (n = 1239/1671) of the baseline sample participating in the study’s 6th wave. We identified seven themes related to why participants stay in the study: telling our story, community benefit, satisfaction, tracking Study Child’s progress, study processes, receiving study gifts, and valuing what the study stands for. These related to two meta-themes: reciprocity, and trust and connection. Caregivers reported that participation was associated with benefits for their family and community as well as for the study. They identified specific features of the Footprints in Time study design that built and maintained trust and connection between participants and the study.ConclusionsOur findings support the assertion that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people want to be involved in research when it is done ‘the right way’. Footprints in Time has successfully recruited and retained the current-largest cohort of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Australia through the use of participatory research methodologies, suggesting effective study implementation and processes. Participants indicated ongoing commitment to the study resulting from perceptions of reciprocity and development of trust in the study. Footprints in Time can serve as a successful model of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research, to promote good research practice and provides lessons for research with other Indigenous populations.
Highlights
Improving the wellbeing of Indigenous populations is an international priority
Many of the health and social inequities experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia are experienced by other Indigenous populations internationally [1]
Study population This paper uses data from Footprints in Time, the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC), a national study managed by the Australian Government Department of Social Services, and overseen by an Aboriginal-majority Steering Committee
Summary
Robust research conducted with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is key to developing programs and policies to improve health and wellbeing. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are Australia’s First Peoples, and maintain some of the longest continuing cultures in the world [2]. The 3% of Australians who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander are a heterogeneous peoples, comprising a diversity of cultures and experiences. While Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have demonstrated resilience in the face of this, the population is over-represented in poor health and wellbeing outcomes [3, 4]. Many of the health and social inequities experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia are experienced by other Indigenous populations internationally [1]
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