How do kinship and foster caregivers differ in their conceptualization of family connectedness?

BACKGROUND: In out-of-home care in Australia and internationally, there is an increasing preference to place children in kinship than foster care placements as it is assumed that kinship care promotes caregiver, family, and cultural connectedness. However, little research has examined whether and how the quality of these connections differ between kinship and foster care. OBJECTIVE: We utilized qualitative methodology to provide a richer, strengths-based exploration of caregivers' perspectives on the caregiver-child relationship and other connections (i.e., family, culture) in kinship compared to foster care. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Sixty-six kinship (N = 31) and foster (N = 35) caregivers of 8- to 16-year-olds in Australia. METHODS: Kinship and foster caregivers provided Five-Minute Speech Samples about their child and the caregiver-child relationship. Thematic analysis was used to explore the ways caregivers described family relationships and connectedness. RESULTS: Results highlighted the value caregivers place on strong attachment relationships with their children and the skills that help them develop a safe haven for children. Caregiver groups also differed in their discussions of commitment to the child and family and cultural connectedness, with kinship caregivers more likely to emphasize the strengths and challenges of birth family relations and the importance of cultural connectedness than foster caregivers. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the ways in which kinship and foster caregivers emphasize different aspects of family and cultural connectedness which can be used to inform policy and practice in an area currently lacking evidence.

Developing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural indicators: an overview from Mayi Kuwayu, the National Study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing.

BACKGROUND: For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, culture is foundational to health and wellbeing. However, its inherent conceptual complexity and diversity across and within different Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural groups means that it has rarely been explored in depth by epidemiological research. As a result, there are very few measures which adequately represent the heterogeneity and importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures for health and wellbeing. Tools grounded in the social determinants of health are mostly based on European academic opinion about what constitutes culture and wellbeing, and the views of Indigenous peoples are rarely included. Mayi Kuwayu, the National Study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing, developed a new survey tool based on health and wellbeing as perceived by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This paper describes several of the key processes used to identify cultural domains and develop questionnaire items for the survey tool, reflecting the importance of culture to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. METHODS: Focus groups were conducted at community organisations and conferences with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These sessions were aimed at identifying key cultural domains to be addressed by the Mayi Kuwayu questionnaire and to field test drafts of the questionnaire, which were then modified according to focus group feedback and expert input. RESULTS: Extensive community consultations allowed us to identify key cultural domains, generate questionnaire items, and test initial content validity. The six overarching cultural domains identified during the development of the Mayi Kuwayu questionnaire were: Connection to Country; Beliefs and knowledge; Language; Family, kinship, and community; Cultural expression and continuity; and Self-determination and leadership. CONCLUSIONS: The processes used by Mayi Kuwayu have generated meaningful cultural items for use in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing research. Further assessment of these processes, including a comparison with best practice guidelines and psychometric testing of the items and scales developed, will be conducted in a future program of work.

Knowledge translation in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research contexts in Australia: scoping review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Knowledge translation (KT) involves bridging the gaps between research knowledge and research application or practice, by sharing this knowledge with knowledge-users. KT is increasingly being used in research with Indigenous peoples globally to address the top-down and inappropriate research approaches commonly used in Indigenous research. Employing KT in Indigenous research in Australia is an emergent field, despite Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples having conducted KT for generations.There is limited evidence which demonstrates how KT is applied in the Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander context. Results will benefit researchers by demonstrating ways of appropriately translating research findings to knowledge-users, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, researchers and policy makers. The scoping review will also inform a KT definition, method and practices used in a large-scale, longitudinal cohort study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults: the Mayi Kuwayu Study. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Under guidance of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander governance committee, we will conduct a scoping review on KT in Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander research. We will follow the scoping review method outlined by the Joanna Briggs Institute. We will search the ANU SuperSearch, and grey and hard to find literature in June 2022. Abstracts and full-text articles will be screened by two independent reviewers. We will include studies that relate to KT in Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander research, regardless of the research topic. Results will be used to inform the KT definition, method and practices that can be used in Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander research contexts in Australia. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The Mayi Kuwayu Study has ethics approvals from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, 12 Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander organisations, and the Australian National University Human Research Ethics Committee. Results will be disseminated through peer-review publication and community workshops. Protocol registration is available online (10.17605/OSF.IO/JMFQ3).