title: Identifying psychosocial mediators of health amongst indigenous Australians for the Heart Health Project.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Heart Health Project is an ongoing community-directed health promotion programme encompassing the collection of health-related data and interventions promoting cardiovascular health. Following research which has emphasised the importance of psychological factors including mastery, or personal control, in mitigating cardiovascular health outcomes, this qualitative study explored whether such constructs were relevant from Indigenous perspectives, or whether there were other, more meaningful and relevant psychosocial factors identified by participants that should be incorporated into models of Indigenous health and which could be effective targets for change.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study fits within the broader participatory action research design of the Heart Health Project. Data comprised 30 in-depth interviews with members of a rural Aboriginal community in south-eastern Australia to identify psychosocial factors relevant to their health. Interviews were semi-structured and carried out by two interviewers, one Aboriginal and one non-Aboriginal. Qualitative analysis using QN6 software resulted in a number of salient themes and sub-themes. These are summarised using extracts from the data.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Five major themes and 15 sub-themes emerged from data analysis. The findings indicated that while a sense of control may be one factor impacting on health and health behaviours, there were other factors that participants spoke about more readily that have specific relevance to the social and cultural context of Indigenous health. These included history, relationship with mainstream and connectedness. These may be worthy of further empirical investigation and are likely to assist in the design of community health promotion interventions for Aboriginal people.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, St Vincent's Hospital, University of Melbourne, Australia. rachel@unimelb.edu.au
authors.forename: Rachel E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Reilly
authors.forename: Joyce
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bretherton
authors.forename: Kevin G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Rowley
authors.forename: Jirra L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Harvey
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Briggs
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Charles
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Calleja
authors.forename: Rochelle
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Patten
authors.forename: Vicki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Atkinson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D003256:Community Participation / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D040361:Healthy People Programs; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology