Moving Forward Together in Aboriginal Women's Health: - Theses ...

Moving Forward TogetherJanet KellySpirit and IntegrityMany Aboriginal people 16 regard spirit and integrity as the most importantvalues that unite them. Spirit refers to the ongoing connection and continuitybetween past, current and future generations, and country. Integrity is aboutrespectful and honourable behaviours that hold Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander values and cultures together (National Health and Medical ResearchCouncil 2003). By using collaborative models and the holistic view of health,my approach to research has supported concepts and experiences of spirit andintegrity. I was continually guided by the co-researchers as to what wasimportant for them, and to remember that there could be important cultural,spiritual and personal aspects and preferences that I was unaware of.User driven research & formal ethics applicationLocating this research within a wider health and research agenda has beenanother important ethical aspect. Early meetings with Aboriginal healthresearch leaders from the Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia(ACHSA) and Flinders Aboriginal Health Research Unit (FAHRU) and the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health (CRCAH), has ensured thatthis research complements other existing research projects in South Australiaas well as national directions of Aboriginal health research. A facilitateddevelopmental approach to Aboriginal research promoted by the CRCAH,ensures that Aboriginal people and the Aboriginal health sector provide thepriorities and directions for research, rather than external academics orresearchers following their own interests (Brands 2005).Preparing the ethics application was a collaborative process occurring afterextensive consultation with Aboriginal community women, healthprofessionals, the Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia (Chong, A.2005, pers. comm., 23 June) and the Flinders Aboriginal Health Research Unit(O'Donnell 2006a). Formal ethics approval was sought and granted from theFlinders University Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee, theSouth Australian Aboriginal Health Research Ethics Committee, andDepartment of Education and Children’s Services (see Appendix 2). Letters of16 The NHMRC document discusses Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People. In this study Irefer only to Aboriginal people, as no co-researchers identified as Torres Strait Islander people.116