Research themes
Our work to transform health inequity and improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is centred in core research themes:
Indigenous epidemiology
Epidemiology for and by Indigenous peoples uses quantitative methodologies and statistical techniques to transform health inequity and improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia, along with other Indigenous peoples internationally. We focus on:
- Documenting the health experiences, strengths, concerns, priorities and solutions of Indigenous peoples
- Understanding the cultural, socio-economic, political and environmental determinants of Indigenous health and wellbeing
- Developing and evaluating effective, appropriate, community-controlled health responses
Our strengths-based approach prioritises the knowledge of Indigenous peoples, identifies Indigenous researchers and community partners as leaders across all aspects of research process, and supports the training of future generations of Indigenous epidemiologists and statisticians.
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Health service performance and transforming practices
We analyse, improve, reorient and transform health programs and services to better meet the needs of Indigenous peoples, improve health and wellbeing outcomes, and reduce health inequity.
Working in partnership with health services and community coalitions, we ensure Indigenous data governance, support local data-informed decision making, and respect communities’ capacities to design and evaluate systems of care that protect, incorporate and promote cultural knowledge and expertise.
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Health system reform
Our research examines how health institutions, systems, policies, structures and processes produce and sustain health inequity and undermine Indigenous health and wellbeing. This work is situated in ongoing and historical experiences of colonisation and a holistic view of macro-level determinants of health. We use methodologies that focus on Indigenous worldviews and lived experiences of racism and injustice to:
- Document how health systems can be restructured in ways that meaningfully rebalance relationships of power between Indigenous peoples and the state
- Identify benefits that arise through Indigenous community control and ownership of health systems and policy making
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Social research
Our social public health research focuses on the social worlds and lived experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia and Indigenous peoples internationally. Working in collaboration with communities, community-controlled organisations and other health care providers we use qualitative, participatory and Indigenous methodologies to build understandings of:
- Indigenous people’s experiences of health and wellbeing
- The social and political structures that produce and maintain longstanding health inequity
- The relationships and practices that are integral to Indigenous community action, activism and resistance to demand social justice and transform health inequities
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Supporting Indigenous expertise
UQ Poche offers activities designed to contribute to the expertise of research partners within academic, health service and community settings. We also encourage ongoing learning about how research and evaluation can address health issues of greatest importance to Indigenous peoples in Australia and other international settings.
Through supervision and mentoring, delivering research workshops, and providing opportunities for on-the-job training, we are strongly committed to nurturing the talents of community, undergraduate and postgraduate students and early career postdoctoral researchers working in Indigenous health.