title: The Study of Environment on Aboriginal Resilience and Child Health (SEARCH): a long-term platform for closing the gap.
abstract: The full potential for research to improve Aboriginal health has not yet been realised. This paper describes an established long-term action partnership between Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHSs), the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of New South Wales (AH&MRC), researchers and the Sax Institute, which is committed to using high-quality data to bring about health improvements through better services, policies and programs. The ACCHSs, in particular, have ensured that the driving purpose of the research conducted is to stimulate action to improve health for urban Aboriginal children and their families. This partnership established a cohort study of 1600 urban Aboriginal children and their caregivers, known as SEARCH (the Study of Environment on Aboriginal Resilience and Child Health), which is now having significant impacts on health, services and programs for urban Aboriginal children and their families. This paper describes some examples of the impacts of SEARCH, and reflects on the ways of working that have enabled these changes to occur, such as strong governance, a focus on improved health, AH&MRC and ACCHS leadership, and strategies to support the ACCHS use of data and to build Aboriginal capacity.
authors.affiliation: Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Darryl
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.affiliation: Awabakal Ltd, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Raylene
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.affiliation: Riverina Medical and Dental Corporation, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Darren
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Carr
authors.affiliation: Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia; Centre for Kidney Research, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Jonathan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT; The Sax Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Banks
authors.affiliation: The Sax Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia, sumithra.muthayya@saxinstitute.org.au.
authors.forename: Sumithra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muthayya
authors.affiliation: The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre, Sax Institute, Sydney, NSW; Menzies Centre for Health Policy, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wutzke
authors.affiliation: Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Sandra J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Eades
authors.affiliation: The Sax Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Redman
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006292:Health Priorities; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006303:Health Services, Indigenous / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009517:New South Wales; D058996:Quality Improvement; D012107:Research Design; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population