To celebrate NAIDOC week we sat down with Isabelle Adams, the coordinator of The Kids Research Institute Australia's Kulunga Aboriginal Research Development Unit (KARDU), which aims to empower Aboriginal people, families and communities to control their own health futures.
The Kids Research Institute Australia's Isabelle Adams understands the health challenges Aboriginal Australians face better than anyone and she knows the only way to combat them is to have Aboriginal people like herself involved in health research.
As a descendent of the Yadhiagana/Wuthuti people of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Isabelle has experienced firsthand the health problems associated with disadvantage.
"As a child, I was raised in a home and community situation in Cairns, Thursday Island and Darwin which was considered to be impoverished and disadvantaged", says Isabelle.
"I contracted and survived most infectious diseases such as chicken pox, measles, German measles, mumps, and scarlet fever for which we used home remedies and calamine lotion to relieve the itching. We were not immunised for infectious diseases when I was a child."
Isabelle spent most of her childhood in Darwin where she lived in a hut, left by the army after the war and turned into community accommodation, with her family of two parents and eventually eight children.
"Although we had very little in terms of furniture and possessions, we had cold water showers, toilets and laundry facilities," says Isabelle.
"Food was limited in choice and quantity and was cooked fresh every day. Cakes, sweets, juices and soft drinks were only for special occasions and we hardly ever had takeaway foods. We were always encouraged by family to drink water and have a shower every day."
Isabelle and her siblings also had reoccurring ear infections and bouts of gastro - a symptom of poverty and disadvantage that is still prevalent today in Aboriginal communities. One bout of gastro tragically took Isabelle's two year old sister's life.
"The loss of my sister at such a young age and the cause of her death was absolutely devastating for the whole family", says Isabelle, "and my Mum was unsure how my sister contracted the virus. Our poor living conditions may have been a contributor. Immunization against gastro was not available then. I think gastro is still prevalent in some Aboriginal communities and needs to be addressed to save the lives of young children."
As one of the eldest children in her family, Isabelle took on the role of carer when her younger siblings were sick.
"I read a medical book with illustrations which was given to my mother to work out what illness they might have and how it could be treated," says Isabelle.
"As an older child and teenager I had a lot of experience looking after my younger siblings and treating their cuts and bruises and when they were ill and was fascinated by my Mum's medical book."
A few decades on, Aboriginal children born today still face greater disadvantage than the wider population when it comes to health and well-being.
"I think for many Aboriginal people, our living conditions and lifestyles have changed, sometimes with better health outcomes and sometimes with worse outcomes," says Isabelle.
"In my childhood, we hardly knew people who had diabetes, cancer, and renal and heart disease. But today, these seem to be prevalent and increasing for many Aboriginal people across the diversity of groups."
Boosting education outcomes for Aboriginal children
Growing up, Isabelle wanted to be a doctor and surgeon but there was one barrier. "I tended to faint at the sight of blood," she says.
Instead, Isabelle became an early childhood teacher and began advocating for the rights of Aboriginal children.
Isabelle sat on the Australian Council of Educational Research (ACER) for 20 years. She worked to raise awareness of the importance of quality baseline data on education for Aboriginal children and was instrumental in getting ACER to conduct a longitudinal study on Aboriginal children's early literacy and numeracy development.
In 2008, Isabelle turned her attention back to the area she was so interested in as a child and an early childhood teacher - health.
She began researching the development of communication strategies and resources for Aboriginal communities in the areas of prevention of alcohol abuse and health checks and carried out consultations with Aboriginal groups in WA and the NT as part of this research.
Aboriginal voices need to be heard
In 2015, Isabelle joined The Kids Research Institute Australia as the joint Coordinator of the Kulunga Aboriginal Research Development Unit (KARDU), which aims to empower Aboriginal people, families and communities to control their own health futures.
It seeks to do this by conducting and facilitating research that Aboriginal communities themselves have identified as a priority and which will provide an evidence base to assist them to bring about changes in their health and wellbeing.
"I believe health research needs to have a medical and clinical focus," Isabelle says. "But it is also important to remember that the beneficiaries of the research are living people who want to know how the outcomes of health research affects them and how it can make a difference to their holistic health and well-being both through prevention and or cure."
As well as engaging communities, Isabelle says it is integral that Aboriginal people are involved in conducting research too.
"In the health industry, Aboriginal people tend to be the group most researched in Australia, often by researchers who have limited knowledge, understanding and experience of the diversity of Aboriginal culture, knowledge systems, traditions and lifestyles," says Isabelle.
"The use of Aboriginal health researchers working in Aboriginal health can help improve this situation, bring a different perspective to how Aboriginal health research is conducted, and assist the involvement of Aboriginal communities in research."
Learn more about the Kulunga Aboriginal Research Development Unit (KARDU).