Browsing by Author "Whiteside M."
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Item Acceptability of an Aboriginal wellbeing intervention for supporters of people using methamphetamines.(2018-06-08) Whiteside M.; MacLean S.; Callinan S.; Marshall P.; Nolan S.; Tsey K.Families and workers often suffer significant stress while supporting people who are experiencing problems related to methamphetamine use yet there is little evidence on how best to help. Small pilot studies can provide valuable information about potential ways to intervene. This paper presents a pilot study of an Aboriginal family wellbeing intervention with workers in an Aboriginal health service. The pilot indicated that participation in the intervention improved the psychosocial empowerment and wellbeing of workers, that these workers perceived the program as relevant to families, and that this was an intervention they felt they could deliver to clients themselves. Implications: An Aboriginal family wellbeing intervention was piloted and found to improve the empowerment and wellbeing of workers. Participants regarded it as highly relevant for families supporting people using methamphetamines and other drugs. This research has added to our knowledge about how to assist those supporting Aboriginal people using methamphetamines and other drugs. Copyright © 2018, © 2018 Australian Association of Social Workers.Item Assessing research impact: Australian research council criteria and the case of family wellbeing research.(2019-08-21) Tsey K.; Onnis L.-A.; Whiteside M.; McCalman J.; Williams M.; Heyeres M.; Lui S.M.C.; Klieve H.; Cadet-James Y.; Baird L.; Brown C.; Watkin Lui F.; Grainger D.; Gabriel Z.; Millgate N.; Cheniart B.; Hunter T.; Liu H.-B.; Yinghong Y.; Yan L.; Lovett R.; Chong A.; Kinchin I.Researchers worldwide are increasingly reporting the societal impact of their research as part of national research productivity assessments. However, the challenges they encounter in developing their impact case studies against specified government assessment criteria and how pitfalls can be mitigated are not reported. This paper examines the key steps taken to develop an Aboriginal Family Wellbeing (FWB) empowerment research impact case study in the context of an Australian Research Council (ARC) pilot research impact assessment exercise and the challenges involved in applying the ARC criteria. The requirement that researchers demonstrate how their institutions support them to conduct impactful research has the potential to create supportive environments for researchers to be more responsive to the needs of users outside academia. However, the 15-year reference period for the associated research underpinning the reported impact and the focus on researcher's current institutional affiliation constitute potential constraints to demonstrating the true impact of research. For researchers working with Indigenous people, relationships that build over long periods of time, irrespective of university affiliation, are critical to conducting impactful research. A more open-ended time-frame, with no institutional restrictions for the 'associated research' provides the best opportunity to demonstrate the true benefits of research not only for Indigenous people but for Australian society more broadly.Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.Item Capturing research impact: the case study of a community wellbeing research partnership.Whiteside M.; Thomas D.; Griffin T.; Stephens R.; Maltzahn K.; Tsey K.; MacLean S."Demonstration of impact" is now a key measure of research value. Within and beyond social work, researchers are looking for guidance on how to best demonstrate this. To provide an example, this paper reports on a case study of the impact of a collaborative project conducted by a university and an Aboriginal community organisation in regional Victoria, the aim of which was to promote community wellbeing. The paper presents the case study within the Australian Research Council's impact framework; it is also informed by the ethical research principles of the Lowitja Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research. Some of the challenges associated with documenting more complex and participatory forms of social research are highlighted, including identifying the primary research and differentiating knowledge translation from impact. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)Item Gambling in two regional Australian Aboriginal communities: a social practice analysis.(2020-02-04) MacLean S.; Maltzahn K.; Thomas D.; Atkinson A.; Whiteside M.Reflecting international patterns, Aboriginal people in Victoria are more likely to gamble and to experience gambling harm than non-Indigenous Victorians. This paper describes experiences of gambling reported by 50 Aboriginal people interviewed in regional Victoria in 2016 and 2017 as part of studies initiated by two Aboriginal community-controlled organisations. Data were analysed using social practice theory (SPT) and coded to the elements of 'meaning', 'material', 'competence', and 'temporality'. Across each element we identified highly contradictory experiences. Gambling held meaning as an opportunity for community gatherings but was also regarded as a cause of domestic violence, conflict, isolation and shame. Materially, the venues that offered gambling were experienced by many Aboriginal people as safe and welcoming, but at the same time gambling produced a damaging affective sense of addiction for some. Gambling was a competency that some people valued and taught to children, but it was also seen as undermining cultural practices. While Aboriginal people were historically denied access to licensed venues offering commercial gambling, many participants now found opportunities to gamble inescapable. The intermingling of benefits and harms described above supports the need for a multi-faceted response to gambling in Aboriginal communities, which includes harm reduction as well as supply restriction and treatment. Some experiences of gambling related by our participants reflected those reported also by non-Indigenous Australians, while others were differently nuanced. Because SPT is used to understand collectively-shared practices, it facilitates the identification of gambling interventions at the level of the community, as recommended by our research participants.Item Integrating the family wellbeing program into practice: a conceptual model.Onnis L.; Moylan R.; Whiteside M.; Klieve H.; Smith K.; Tsey K.The experience of trauma in childhood can have lifelong consequences. For Indigenous people the effects can be overcome through protective factors such as connection to family and country, and feeling empowered by having more control over their lives in the socio-political environment in which they are living. There is growing evidence for trauma-informed social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) interventions that foster a sense of empowerment and enable positive personal- and community-level outcomes. However, in the face of challenges such as short-term funding cycles, such programs are hard to sustainably implement and evaluate over time, even where they demonstrate promise. This article reflects on a successful experience of integrating the Family Wellbeing empowerment program into an existing child and family support organisation. It presents the essential elements for integrating a SEWB program as a conceptual model and highlights the implications for sustainable implementation of promising SEWB programs in new settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)Item Social determinants of health, the 'control factor' and the family wellbeing empowerment program.(2006-01-05) Tsey K.; Whiteside M.; Deemal A.; Gibson T.Objective: To explore links between the social determinants of health, the 'control factor', and an Aboriginal empowerment program. Method(s): The evidence that rank or social status is one of the most important determinants of health is briefly presented. This is followed by a critique of the Australian policy and intervention framework for tackling and reducing social inequalities. The concept of 'control' as an important element in addressing social determinants of health is examined next and the Family Wellbeing empowerment program is analysed to illustrate how the concept of control might be operationalised at program or intervention level. Implications for health practitioners are identified. Result(s): By providing a safe group environment for participants to explore sets of critical questions about themselves, their families and communities, through the process of participatory action research, Family Wellbeing has demonstrated its potential to 'enable' Indigenous people to take greater control and responsibility for their situation. While program participants first address personal and immediate family issues, evidence is emerging of a ripple effect of increasing harmony and capacity to address issues within the wider community Conclusion(s): The social determinants of health are complex and multilayered and so addressing them needs to involve multilevel thinking and action. The control factor is only one element, albeit an important one, and Family Wellbeing is providing evidence that 'control' can be addressed in Indigenous settings. For empowerment programs to achieve their full potential, however, there is a need to ensure that such programs reach a critical mass of the target group. It is also imperative that policy-makers and practitioners take a longer-term approach, including properly resourced longitudinal studies to document and enhance the evidence base for such interventions. As health practitioners it is vital we consider our work within this broader context, creatively seek to enhance linkages between services and programs, and support processes for change or intervention at other levels.Item "We are not stray leaves blowing about in the wind": exploring the impact of family wellbeing empowerment research, 1998-2021.(2022-01-20) Perera N.; Tsey K.; Heyeres M.; Whiteside M.; Baird L.; McCalman J.; Cadet-James Y.; Calabria B.; Hamilton M.; Yan L.; Zuchowski I.; Sims K.; Udah H.Background: An Aboriginal-developed empowerment and social and emotional wellbeing program, known as Family Wellbeing (FWB), has been found to strengthen the protective factors that help Indigenous Australians to deal with the legacy of colonisation and intergenerational trauma. This article reviews the research that has accompanied the implementation of the program, over a 23 year period. The aim is to assess the long-term impact of FWB research and identify the key enablers of research impact and the limitations of the impact assessment exercise. This will inform more comprehensive monitoring of research impact into the future. Method(s): To assess impact, the study took an implementation science approach, incorporating theory of change and service utilisation frameworks, to create a logic model underpinned by Indigenous research principles. A research impact narrative was developed based on mixed methods analysis of publicly available data on: 1) FWB program participation; 2) research program funding; 3) program outcome evaluation (nine studies); and 4) accounts of research utilisation (seven studies). Result(s): Starting from a need for research on empowerment identified by research users, an investment of $2.3 million in research activities over 23 years produced a range of research outputs that evidenced social and emotional wellbeing benefits arising from participation in the FWB program. Accounts of research utilisation confirmed the role of research outputs in educating participants about the program, and thus, facilitating more demand (and funding acquisition) for FWB. Overall research contributed to 5,405 recorded participants accessing the intervention. The key enablers of research impact were; 1) the research was user- and community-driven; 2) a long-term mutually beneficial partnership between research users and researchers; 3) the creation of a body of knowledge that demonstrated the impact of the FWB intervention via different research methods; 4) the universality of the FWB approach which led to widespread application. Conclusion(s): The FWB research impact exercise reinforced the view that assessing research impact is best approached as a "wicked problem" for which there are no easy fixes. It requires flexible, open-ended, collaborative learning-by-doing approaches to build the evidence base over time. Steps and approaches that research groups might take to build the research impact knowledge base within their disciplines are discussed.Copyright © 2022, The Author(s).