I would first like to acknowledge the
Kaurna people as the traditional custodians of the Adelaide region, where the
SAHMRI building is located; I recognize the Kaurna peoples cultural, spiritual,
physical and emotional connection with their land. I honor and pay my respects
to Kaurna elders, both past and present, and all generations of Kaurna people,
now and into the future. I also pay respect to and acknowledge Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people from other parts of Australia, and their
connection to country. I want to say thank you to the warm welcome I received
from every single Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and non-Indigenous person
I have met here and for allowing me to come to their home and work with them.
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| Wardliparingga Hosts Reconciliation Event |
Thank you to Wardliparingga for hosting me
for the past few months and all their words of encouragement, guidance for this
report, and allowing me to work with them. I would like to thank Dr. Natasha
Howard for agreeing to supervise me and set up my work in the unit and making
space for me in her busy schedule. I also would like to thank Dr. Karla Canuto
for agreeing to co-supervise and being great help with all the edits and advice
for the structure of this report. Finally, I would like to thank Professor Alex
Brown for agreeing to have me in the unit.
My placement would not be possible without
the funding from the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship.
--Over the past twelve weeks at Wardliparingga, the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute’s (SAHMRI) Aboriginal Research Unit, I’ve had the opportunity to work on their Aboriginal Diabetes Study (ADS). The ADS emerged out of the need to understand the burden, natural history, and complication development of Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in South Australia. The goals of the study are to understand T2D and is complications, better predict the development of complications of it, improve the delivery of T2D care, and find better preventions.
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Wardliparringa Staff Member Tirritpa
gives a tour of River Torrens
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During my time with the ADS team, my job was to observe the team during their data collection in clinics and evaluate their data collection, health promotion, and overall interactions with the participants. My goal was to provide them a comprehensive report on what and how they can do better in interacting and sharing information with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people coming into the study. Overall, I discovered some incredible things. While there were a few areas for improvement on the data collection end, the areas around participant interaction is where I was most in awe. The team is so welcoming, and kind and it was reflected in their interactions. It was clear that they valued the social and emotional well-being of each participant and often went above and beyond to make the study a positive experience.
The team’s passion for care is definitely a result of the unit they work in. Every single person within Wardliparringa handles their respective studies in such a manner, making the unit an exceptionally welcoming hub for Indigenous health research. This may not seem like much, but as we know, there is a long history of general dis-trust of health care systems for Indigenous peoples across the world, and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in South Australia, this is no exception. Having a research hub that approaches research from an Indigenous perspective, has Indigenous researchers, research assistants, and medical professionals, and focuses on health topics important to their Indigenous population is incredibly important for closing all kinds of gaps.
I couldn’t have been more lucky to be welcomed into such an environment for my placement. I encourage anyone reading this to keep an eye out for Wardliparringa and all the great things they will do in the future.
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| Taylor giving her final report presentation |
