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This study implemented Indigenous research methods, including yarning, to understand First Nations youth's perspectives of social and emotional well-being and how e-health can support their well-being. Six First Nations youth (aged 18–25 years, M = 21.33) based in Victoria, Australia, yarned with the First Nations researcher between April and July 2022. Yarns emphasised the importance of connection to family, Community, Mob, Country, and Spirit in maintaining and strengthening well-being. These findings were extended to yarns about e-health, where it was recommended that trust and cultural safety be considered in their design and implementation. These considerations should be explored in light of the ongoing impacts of colonisation, which contribute to fear and mistrust of governments experienced by First Nations youth. The findings provide meaningful contributions to the growing field of e-health and amplify First Nations voices to guide the development of culturally safe and effective e-health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationally within academia settler-colonial processes occur in various ways alongside a growth in the use of research methods conceived with Indigenous knowledges. However, most research environments and practices are built upon and privilege dominant non-Indigenous settler-colonial knowledge systems. It is within this power imbalance and contested space that Yarning research method is being applied and interpreted. Underpinned by an Indigenous Research Paradigm, we employed storying ways to examine researcher experiences of settler-colonialism and the Yarning research method. The story outlines challenges and pitfalls that researchers can fall into and critically examines how researchers can fail to recognise the depth of Indigenous knowledge embedded within the practice. This story is gifted by creating an imagined narrative interview with a character called Settler-Colonisation, whereby we identify a litany of settler-colonial processes impacting Yarning research. Scrutinising the epistemological and methodological practices and processes enacted in academia is imperative for better-informed application of Indigenous research methods and create sustainable research more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Culture is an essential factor in the wellbeing of Indigenous peoples, but colonisation has disrupted and fragmented Indigenous cultures across the world. In Australia, urban Aboriginal young people are a growing population. However, research, policies and programmes aimed at improving Aboriginal wellbeing are unclear in their understanding of what culture is and how it is included in practice, particularly from the perspective of urban Aboriginal young people. Therefore, this study used yarning and thematic analysis to explore the experiences and conceptualisations of culture from the perspective of young, urban Aboriginal people. The young people described culture in terms of relationships, connection to Country, shared beliefs and values, and with regards to identity. Such understanding will contribute to an evidence-base of appropriate, better targeted and more effective wellbeing policies and programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Culture is an important social and emotional wellbeing factor for Aboriginal peoples in Australia, particularly regarding recovery from colonization. However, little is understood about how culture and wellbeing interact for young urban Aboriginal people. This study used Yarning methods to explore experiences and perceptions of culture and wellbeing for young urban Aboriginal people in Narrm, Australia. Findings indicate that culture is experienced as connection, and that perceived connection or disconnection has an essential influence on the wellbeing of young people. Through sharing young people stories, a range of factors, including colonization, relationships, cultural knowledge, community support, and agency, were identified as affecting perceptions of connectedness, and therefore on wellbeing. Youth were able to develop strategies to increase connection and provided illuminating advice and suggestions for improving connection for future generations. This study thus contributes to efforts to improved understanding of Aboriginal perspectives about social and emotional wellbeing and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The aim of the present systematic review was to investigate whether placements in Aboriginal health affect the self‐perceived skill in working in Aboriginal health settings and career aspirations of health students, and in particular, aspects of the placement that had the greatest impact. The Embase, Cinahl, ProQuest, Scopus, Informit, Ovid MEDLINE, PsychINFO, and PubMed databases were searched in April/May 2016. Placements of at least 1 week duration in an Aboriginal health setting involving Australian students of medical, nursing, dentistry, or allied health disciplines, with outcomes relating to changes in students’ knowledge, attitudes, and/or career aspirations, were included. The search retrieved 1351 papers. Fourteen studies were eligible for inclusion in this review. Narrative synthesis found that work placements in Aboriginal health increased understanding and awareness of Aboriginal culture, promoted deeper understanding of Aboriginal health determinant complexity, increased awareness of everyday racism toward Aboriginal Australians, and enhanced desire to work in Aboriginal health. There is a need for improved teaching and learning scholarship to understand whether placements improve students’ skill working with Aboriginal people in health care or increase the likelihood of future employment in these settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Using critical discourse analysis, this study examined the portrayal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australian Government policies regarding alcohol and other drug (AOD) use.Methods: We used critical discourse analysis, informed by an Indigenous Research Paradigm, to analyse texts and contexts of six key Australian Government AOD drug policies; two Aboriginal AOD data documents, two reporting documents and two AOD strategy documents.Results: The social practice analysis found issues of power imbalance relating to the socio-political situation the documents were created in. Textual analysis identified: culture being performative or functional in documents; cultural unsafety in construction of targets and outcomes, and; the decentring of Aboriginal peoples in the framing of the documents. The discourse analysis identified that the documents often wrote about Aboriginal peoples rather than writing documents with or by Aboriginal peoples. This typically: absented complexities of consultation occurring within a complex power imbalanced cultural interface; did not support an Aboriginal paradigm; centred Gubba people in power and; promoted a paternalistic view of 'helping' Aboriginal people.Conclusions: There is an urgent need to move from policy relating to Aboriginal affairs that relies on a deficit discourse, to more effective AOD policy that improves power balance in policy development, is written with or by Aboriginal people, is inclusive of Aboriginal epistemologies and ontologies, and represents a paradigm-shift to a strength-based approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]