Our games our health: a cultural asset for promoting health in indigenous communities.
OBJECTIVE
Indigenous Australians have higher morbidity and mortality rates than non-Indigenous Australians. Until recently, few health promotion interventions have had more than limited success in Indigenous populations.


METHODS
This community-based health promotion initiative introduced traditional Indigenous games into schools and community groups in Cherbourg and Stradbroke Island (Queensland, Australia). A joint community forum managed the project, and the Indigenous community-based project officers co-ordinated training in traditional games and undertook community asset audits and evaluations.


RESULTS
The games have been included in the activities of a range of community organisations in Cherbourg and Stradbroke Island. Several other organisations and communities in Australia have included them in their projects. A games video and manual were produced to facilitate the initiative's transferability and sustainability.


CONCLUSIONS
Conventional approaches to health promotion generally focus on individual risk factors and often ignore a more holistic perspective. This project adopted a culturally appropriate, holistic approach, embracing a paradigm that concentrated on the communities' cultural assets and contributed to sustainable and transferable outcomes. There is a need for appropriate evaluation tools for time-limited community engagement projects.
Parker
Elizabeth
E
Queensland University of Technology, Queensland Gilla Preece, The George Institute for Internaltional Health, New South Wales. e.parker@qut.edu.au
Meiklejohn
Beryl
B
Patterson
Carla
C
Edwards
Ken
K
Preece
Cilia
C
Shuter
Patricia
P
Gould
Trish
T
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D015444:Exercise; D006293:Health Promotion; D006694:Holistic Health; D006801:Humans; D044382:Population Groups; D011793:Queensland; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D013177:Sports; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014741:Video Recording