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

Moving Forward TogetherJanet KellyForms of evidenceKnowledge sharingand collaborationAssessment of diseaseprevention strategybased on traditionalepidemiologicalmethodsUsually conducted outof the situation and thenused to explain whatwas happening within.Professional knowledgevalued over clientknowledge or needsCompliance rather thancollaboration(Baum 2007, 2008, p. 34; Talbot & Verrinder 2005)local politicalstructuresComplex and variedresearch methodsincludingepidemiology andqualitative andparticipatorymethodologyBoth professional andclient knowledgevaluedTwo way knowledgesharing encouragedCollaborative actionand communitydevelopmentunderpins health careapproachesAs this table shows, the two different forms of primary health care hadsignificantly different approaches to knowledge sharing and collaboration.In Australia, both comprehensive and selective approaches to primary healthcare developed in parallel during the 1980s as the country sought to develop amore efficient and equitable health system. A number of public health policyinitiatives addressed structural issues and social determinants of health, whileothers addressed individual behavioural measures (Hancock 1999). Forexample the newly established Better Health Commission identifiedcardiovascular disease, nutrition and injury as three priority areas and theHealth For All Australians report emphasised significant health inequalitiesthat existed for certain groups in Australia including Aboriginal people (BetterHealth Commission 1986a, 1986b; Health Targets and ImplementationCommittee 1988).There were both positives and challenges for this combined approach. On theone hand it assisted Australia to effectively address emerging issues that wereimpacting on health and well-being, such as HIV/AIDS (Baum 2008). On theother, the fluctuating and different approaches made it difficult for health71