Maboo wirriya, be healthy: Community-directed development of an evidence-based diabetes prevention program for young Aboriginal people in a remote Australian town

Kimberley H Seear; David N Atkinson; Lynette M Henderson-Yates; Matthew P Lelievre; Julia V Marley

doi:10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2020.101818

Maboo wirriya, be healthy: Community-directed development of an evidence-based diabetes prevention program for young Aboriginal people in a remote Australian town

Eval Program Plann. 2020 Aug:81:101818. doi: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2020.101818. Epub 2020 May 3.

Authors

Kimberley H Seear¹, David N Atkinson², Lynette M Henderson-Yates³, Matthew P Lelievre⁴, Julia V Marley⁵

Affiliations

¹ The Rural Clinical School of Western Australia, University of Western Australia, 12 Napier Terrace (PO Box 1377), Broome WA 6725, Australia. Electronic address: kimberley.seear@rcswa.edu.au.
² The Rural Clinical School of Western Australia, University of Western Australia, 12 Napier Terrace (PO Box 1377), Broome WA 6725, Australia. Electronic address: david.atkinson@rcswa.edu.au.
³ Derby Aboriginal Health Service, 1 Stanley Street (PO Box 1155) Derby WA 6728, Australia. Electronic address: ceo@dahs.org.au.
⁴ Derby Aboriginal Health Service, 1 Stanley Street (PO Box 1155) Derby WA 6728, Australia. Electronic address: matthew.lelievre@nwrh.com.au.
⁵ The Rural Clinical School of Western Australia, University of Western Australia, 12 Napier Terrace (PO Box 1377), Broome WA 6725, Australia; Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services, 12 Napier Terrace (PO Box 1377), Broome WA 6725, Australia. Electronic address: julia.marley@rcswa.edu.au.

PMID: 32512400
DOI: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2020.101818

Abstract

Supporting healthy lifestyle behaviours is a key aspect of preventing type 2 diabetes which disproportionately affects disadvantaged groups from a younger age. Formative participatory research was undertaken to design a program for young Aboriginal people in a remote town in North West Australia with a high level of health needs and relatively few prevention initiatives. Focus groups and advisory discussions with Aboriginal community members were used to determine the nature of the program. The need for a comprehensive program was consistently expressed and limited healthy lifestyle knowledge and difficulties with healthy eating influenced by food environments were noted to be important. With guidance from the Derby Aboriginal Health Service, findings were integrated with previous international research evidence to develop a program tailored to local Aboriginal people aged 15-25 years and refine it after piloting. This 8-session program, 'Maboo wirriya, be healthy' involved an education component consistent with the US Diabetes Prevention Program and practical activities including group exercise. Changes to program structure and documentation were made after piloting for future use. The community-directed approach used in this study is vital to ensure relevance of localised chronic disease prevention programs in a range of settings.

Keywords: Aboriginal health; Action research; Design; Prevention; Tailored intervention; Type 2 diabetes.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Australia
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* / prevention & control
Health Services, Indigenous*
Health Status
Humans
Program Evaluation
Young Adult