Overview
Walbira Murray, a Research Officer with Central Australia Aboriginal Congress, took part in the JBI Evidence Implementation Training Program through the Centre of Research Excellence in Aboriginal Chronic Disease Knowledge Translation and Exchange (CREATE). Her evidence-based implementation project examined whether current interventions used by Congress to promote and support infant nutrition were consistent and aligned with the National Infant Feeding Guidelines.
Background
Central Australia Aboriginal Congress is dedicated to improving Aboriginal health in Central Australia, where infants and young children make up a significant proportion of its clients. Many young Aboriginal children in the region experience substantial health issues. Consistent, culturally appropriate nutrition advice to caregivers has the potential to address some of these challenges.
Nutrition and growth disorders are widespread among Indigenous people. At birth, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies are significantly lighter than their non-Aboriginal counterparts, with more than twice the rate of low birth weight. Growth is usually satisfactory until breast milk alone becomes insufficient; at this point infants require complementary foods and are more exposed to the substandard environments in which many Indigenous families live, increasing vulnerability to infection and malnutrition. This cycle of infection and under-nutrition can persist into adulthood and across generations, with major consequences for health, education, productivity and wellbeing.
Identifying the gap in infant nutrition support
Despite improvements in Aboriginal health, anaemia, wasting, and growth faltering remain issues for many infants in Central Australia. At the time of Walbira’s project, Congress lacked a formal framework to guide staff in giving consistent, culturally appropriate, evidence-based infant nutrition advice to caregivers.
As part of CREATE’s program of work, Walbira undertook two weeks of intensive JBI Evidence Implementation training in Adelaide, then worked with a JBI research fellow over six months to develop and implement her project. Her focus was to promote evidence-based practice in infant nutrition interventions, improve clinicians’ skills and confidence, and assess compliance with evidence-based criteria for Aboriginal infant nutrition advice in Congress clinics.
