title: Beyond the rhetoric of participatory research in indigenous communities: advances in Australia over the last decade.
abstract: Evidence-based approaches to health care have been difficult to achieve in Indigenous populations across the world, a situation which has contributed to the significant health disparities found in this group. One reason for the inadequacy of evidence-based health interventions is that empirical knowledge tends to be organized around professional disciplines that are grounded in Western ways of knowing. In this article we describe events that have led to more appropriate research methods in Australia, and the resulting changes in the research community. The principles that have guided Australian research policy development might not yet be fully matured, but the improvements we have experienced over the last several decades have gone a long way toward acknowledging the significant disparities that affect Indigenous people and the role of researchers in addressing this issue.
authors.affiliation: Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. e.kendall@griffith.edu.au
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kendall
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sunderland
authors.forename: Leda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barnett
authors.forename: Glenda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nalder
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Matthews
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research / Q000379:methods*; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D032984:Ethics, Research; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D012107:Research Design