Jacinta Walton
Project Officer, Koolungar Moorditj Healthy Skin
jacinta.walton@telethonkids.org.au
Jacinta is a proud Wilman Noongar woman (Aboriginal Australian) from the South West corner of Western Australia. Jacinta is a Project Officer in the Healthy Skin and ARF Prevention team at Telethon Kids Institute where she has led community involvement on the Koolungar Moorditj Healthy Skin project, the first-ever co-designed research-service Australian study to describe skin health in urban-living Aboriginal CYP. Under the leadership of Elder researchers, Jacinta has guideded culturally safe methods of working with the community and ensured outputs strongly reflect and align to the perspectives of Aboriginal world views.
Projects
Koolungar (Children) Moorditj (Strong) Healthy Skin
The Koolungar (children) Moorditj (strong) Healthy Skin project is the first ever co-designed research-service Australian study to describe skin health in urban-living Aboriginal koolungar.
Published research
Skin health of Aboriginal children living in urban communities
Skin concerns are frequent among urban-living Aboriginal children, yet specialist dermatology consultations are limited with studies highlighting the need for improved cultural security. Through newly established paediatric dermatology clinics at two urban Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs), we aimed to describe clinic and patient data, including disease frequencies and associations, to inform dermatology service provision and advocacy.
Describing skin health and disease in urban-living Aboriginal children: co-design, development and feasibility testing of the Koolungar Moorditj Healthy Skin pilot project
Indigenous children in colonised nations experience high rates of health disparities linked to historical trauma resulting from displacement and dispossession, as well as ongoing systemic racism. Skin infections and their complications are one such health inequity, with the highest global burden described in remote-living Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (hereafter respectfully referred to as Aboriginal) children. Yet despite increasing urbanisation, little is known about the skin infection burden for urban-living Aboriginal children.