The “ripple effect”: Health and community perceptions of the Indigenous Marathon Program on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait, Australia

Abstract

Positive "ripple" effects of the IMP on running and broader health were described to have occurred through local role modelling of healthy lifestyles by IMP runners that reduced levels of "shame" and embarrassment, a common barrier to physical activity among Indigenous Australians. A high initial level of community readiness for behaviour change was also reported. SO WHAT?: Strategies to overcome this "shame" factor and community readiness measurement should be incorporated into the design of future Indigenous physical activity programs.

Facilitators and Barriers to Physical Activity and Sport Participation Experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Adults: A Mixed Method Review

“…No studies scored “Yes” for all 14 categories. The highest scoring study scored “Yes” in 11 of the 14 categories [ 35 ], followed by a study scoring 10/14 [ 36 ] and five further studies scoring 7/14 [ 18 , 32 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. All studies included scores of “Partial” and “Unclear” in several categories.…”

Perceptions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians toward cardiovascular primary prevention programs: A qualitative systematic review

“…All 11 included studies were published between 2010 (Abbott et al, 2010;Foley, 2010) and 2019 (Brown et al, 2019;Seear et al, 2019). Three studies were conducted in the Australian State of Queensland (Brown et al, 2019;Foley, 2010;Sushames et al, 2017), two each in Western Australia (Nilson et al, 2015;Seear et al, 2019), and South Australia (Canuto et al, 2013;Tsourtos et al, 2014) and one each in New South Wales (Abbott et al, 2010), and the Northern Territory (Thompson et al, 2013) and a statutory authority of Australia called the Torres Strait Islands (Macniven et al, 2018). Additionally, one study was conducted across four Australian States-Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, and New South Wales (Chapple et al, 2016).…”

“…Additionally, one study was conducted across four Australian States-Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, and New South Wales (Chapple et al, 2016). Six studies (Brown et al, 2019;Chapple et al, 2016;Macniven et al, 2018;Nilson et al, 2015;Seear et al, 2019;Thompson et al, 2013) reported that they were conducted in remote Indigenous communities. The data collection methods for the 11 included primary studies were via interviews (semi-structured and unstructured) individually or focus groups (often referred to in the Indigenous communities as yarning groups).…”

“…The data collection methods for the 11 included primary studies were via interviews (semi-structured and unstructured) individually or focus groups (often referred to in the Indigenous communities as yarning groups). The phenomena of interest in each of the studies varied, five studies (Canuto et al, 2013;Macniven et al, 2018;Seear et al, 2019;Sushames et al, 2017;Thompson et al, 2013) explored physical activity programs among Indigenous Australians, four studies (Abbott et al, 2010;Brown et al, 2019;Foley, 2010;Nilson et al, 2015) examined nutritional and cooking interventions and promotions, and two studies (Chapple et al, 2016;Tsourtos et al, 2014) observed the perceptions and experiences of smoking cessation programs. Table 2 details the characteristics of the included studies.…”

“…Building a community spirit that incorporates a positive attitude toward prevention programs assists Indigenous Australians in feeling comfortable and free of shame (Macniven et al, 2018). The Stolen Generation refers to the forcible removal of Indigenous children from their families as part of various Government policies such as assimilation.…”