Clinical yarning with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples-a systematic scoping review of its use and impacts

Alexander W Burke; Susan Welch; Tamara Power; Cherie Lucas; Rebekah J Moles

doi:10.1186/s13643-022-02008-0

Clinical yarning with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples-a systematic scoping review of its use and impacts

Syst Rev. 2022 Jun 23;11(1):129. doi: 10.1186/s13643-022-02008-0.

Authors

Alexander W Burke¹, Susan Welch^{1

2}, Tamara Power³, Cherie Lucas⁴, Rebekah J Moles⁵

Affiliations

¹ Sydney Pharmacy School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Pharmacy Building A15, Science Road, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia.
² Pharmacy Department, St Vincent's Hospital, Darlinghurst, NSW, 2010, Australia.
³ Susan Wakil School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia.
⁴ Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia.
⁵ Sydney Pharmacy School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Pharmacy Building A15, Science Road, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia. Rebekah.moles@sydney.edu.au.

Abstract

Objectives: To explore how clinical yarning has been utilised as a health intervention for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples and if there are any reported impacts yarning might have on health outcomes.

Study design: Systematic scoping review of published literature.

Data sources: A one-word search term "yarning" was applied in Scopus, EMBASE, CINAHL, MEDLINE, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Australian Public Affairs Information Service-Health, and the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Bibliography databases. Databases were searched from inception to May 20, 2020.

Study selection: Studies were included where clinical yarning had been used as a health intervention. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were developed and applied according to PRISMA systematic and scoping review reporting methods.

Data synthesis: A total of 375 manuscripts were found from the initial data search. After removal of duplicates and removal of manuscripts based on abstract review, a total of 61 studies underwent full-text review. Of these, only five met the inclusion criteria of utilising yarning as a clinical intervention. Four of these studies described consumer self-reported health outcomes, with only one study looking at improvements in objective physiological health outcomes.

Conclusions: Whilst clinical yarning may be a culturally appropriate intervention in healthcare, there are limited studies that have measured the impact of this intervention. Further research may be needed to ascertain the true benefits of this intervention.

Keywords: Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander; Clinical yarning; Health outcomes; Yarning.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Australia
Delivery of Health Care
Humans
Indigenous Peoples*
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander*
Self Report