The Kids Research Institute Australia and Australian National University researchers will work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in South Australia to come up with better ways to care for women at risk of pregnancy complications caused by diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience diabetes and cardiovascular disease at rates up to four times those of other Australians – creating stark health inequities the Federal Government has sought to address by providing dedicated funding under the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
Dr Katharine Brown – a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Indigenous Cardiovascular Research based at The Kids Research Institute Australia’s Adelaide office – will lead one of six new diabetes and cardiovascular disease-focused research projects announced last week by Federal Health Minister Mark Butler and Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health Malarndirri McCarthy.
Supported by a total $6 million in funding, the projects will seek to address health system gaps and provide better care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders affected by these conditions.
All six projects prioritise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices and ways of doing, with communities involved in the project design and implementation.
The funding has been provided under the Targeted Translation Research Accelerator (TTRA) Program, an MRFF initiative which is being delivered by MTPConnect – an independent organisation that drives innovation in Australia’s medical technology and pharmaceutical sectors.
Dr Brown’s project – a partnership with the Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia, the Aboriginal Communities and Families Health Research Alliance and the South Australian Aboriginal Chronic Disease Consortium – will see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in South Australia working to reduce the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular complications in pregnancy.
Dr Brown said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experienced a substantial burden of hyperglycaemia, hypertension and cardiovascular disease during and following pregnancy.
“There is limited awareness within the clinical setting of the potential effect of these pregnancy complications on short- and long-term cardiometabolic health,” Dr Brown said.
“This often results in sub-optimal management and support during the pre- and post-partum period, and ongoing care.”
The project will see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women with personal and professional experience of diabetes and heart complications of pregnancy design a model of care for affected women.
The model will seek to develop a system that provides care, support and knowledge to pregnant women and those who provide their health care. Women and health professionals will design and evaluate required resources, with existing partnerships enabling the model to be built into services and systems.
Our team is excited to work alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women across South Australia to build on their knowledge and experiences and develop a model of care that meets women’s needs.
“Using this strength-based approach, we seek to improve the care, support and information available to Aboriginal women and their babies and those who provide health care."
Funding for the project will be administered through the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University.
Another The Kids Research Institute Australia researcher – co-director of the Rio Tinto Children’s Diabetes Centre, Professor Liz Davis – is a chief investigator on a separate study awarded funding through the TTRA program.
Led by Menzies School of Health Research, the ‘Doing it together’ project will develop innovative, co-designed peer-support and peer-led education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people living with type 2 diabetes in the Northern Territory’s Big Rivers region.
The project aims to draw on the strengths, skills and capacity of young people living with type 2 diabetes to overcome the shame, stigma and isolation that many feel.
For more information on the projects – each of which received just under $1 million – and the TTRA Program, see the Ministers’ media release here, and a media release from MTPConnect here.