Gee G.Sheridan S.Charles L.Dayne L.Joyce L.Stevens J.Paradies Y.Hulbert C.Haslam N.Thorpe R.Thorpe L.Thorpe A.Stewart P.Austin L.Lyons L.Belfrage M.Warber R.Paxton A.Thompson L.2024-11-192024-11-1920222022-02-28International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Vol.19(4), 2022.https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042381https://lowitja.intersearch.com.au/handle/1/805This study documents evaluation of the Her Tribe and His Tribe Aboriginal-designed empowerment pilot programs. The programs were designed to support Victorian Aboriginal people to strengthen mental health, social and emotional wellbeing, community connection, and to reduce psychological distress. A second aim was to explore participants' experiences of the programs, including the feasibility and acceptability of the evaluation component. Her Tribe ran for 16 weeks and His Tribe for 12 weeks. In total, 43 women and 26 men completed assessments at pre-and post-program completion, and 17 and 10, respectively, participated in yarning circles at the 6-month follow up. For both programs, there were significant increases in participants' access to personal strengths and resources, relationship-community-cultural strengths and resources, and decreases in psychological distress. These changes were associated with small to moderate effects that were maintained at the 6-month follow up. There was a significant increase in aerobic fitness for female but not male participants, and no significant changes in weight for either group. Participants described a range of benefits from the programs, including positive elements and areas for improvement. They also viewed the evaluation as feasible and acceptable, and the findings of value. The outcomes from both pilot programs provide evidence that Aboriginal-designed programs, with a focus on physical and cultural activities, can help to strengthen mental health and wellbeing, community connection, and reduce psychological distress in Victorian Aboriginal communities.Copyright © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.ArticleIdentityMental health(Gee) Intergenerational Health Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC 3052, Australia(Gee, Hulbert, Haslam) School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia(Sheridan, Charles, Thompson) Clothing The Gaps Foundation, Melbourne, VIC 3056, Australia(Dayne, Thorpe, Austin) Victorian Aboriginal Health Service, Melbourne, VIC 3065, Australia(Joyce) Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia(Stevens) Murrup Barak, Melbourne Institute for Indigenous Development, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia(Paradies) Faculty of Arts and Education, School of Humanities and Social Science, Deakin University, Melbourne, VIC 3125, Australia(Thorpe) Bubup Wilam Aboriginal Child and Family Centre, Melbourne, VIC 3074, Australia(Thorpe) Moondani Balluk Indignenous Academic Unit, Victoria University, Melbourne, VIC 3011, Australia(Stewart) Lowitja Institute, Melbourne, VIC 3053, Australia(Lyons) National Indigenous Genomic Program, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia(Belfrage) The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Melbourne, VIC 3002, Australia(Warber) Department of Families, Fairness and Housing Victoria, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia(Paxton) Monash Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia35206570 [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=35206570]