Using the health hardware method to measure poverty in Indigenous Australia

Abstract

Two issues confront researchers concerned with the relationship between poverty and health. The first deals with the problem of an accurate measure of poverty. The second deals with revealing for policy makers the pathway between poverty and health status. This is an arena where research is still very much embryonic despite the strong evidence that poverty is a social determinant of health. This paper outlines a method used with four remote Aboriginal communities in South Australia to establish a correlation between poverty and health. Drawing on Tregenza and Tregenza’s adaptations to the Cost of Living methodology we incorporated a wide range of health hardware, health consumables and food into poverty predictions for four Aboriginal communities. While the method cannot generalize findings to larger population groups it does provide clear evidence to the participants and policy makers of the impact of poverty on well-being.