Investigating the effectiveness of the Health Justice Partnership program
The Health Justice Partnership is a First Nations-led pilot program embedded in the Jajumbora Birthing in Our Community hub in Logan, Queensland. It is designed to reduce Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander newborn removals and improve health and wellbeing outcomes by providing expectant mothers with access to legal advice and family support during pregnancy.
Griffith University, the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service (ATSICHS) have received a grant to investigate the effectiveness and potential scalability of the First Nations-led Health Justice Partnership pilot program.
Strengthening Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Maternal Health and Preventing Infant Removals: The Potential of a Health Justice Partnership
Partners
- Griffith University
- Institute for Urban Indigenous Health
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service
Funding
Medical Research Future Fund Indigenous Health Research Grant
$982,000
Aim
Griffith University has been working together with IUIH and ATSICHS to fund a health justice partnership within the Jajumbora Birthing in Our Community (BiOC) hub, which provides expectant mothers with access to legal advice and family support during pregnancy, to help reduce the risks and likelihood of infant removals at birth.
Our research will investigate the effectiveness and potential scalability of the First Nations-led Health Justice Partnership pilot program.
Background
By providing timely legal and social support the Health Justice Partnership aims to reduce the number of First Nations infants entering into out-of-home care and strengthen the health and wellbeing of mothers and families birthing First Nations infants.
Developed and implemented under First Nations leadership, the Jajumbora BiOC hub delivers a unique model of maternity care that provides comprehensive and culturally informed maternal and infant health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.
The program is integrated within a family services model grounded within a culturally intrinsic parenting model which supports connection, belonging and cultural growth.
The Health Justice Partnership provides embedded legal and social support through a First Nations lawyer and family support worker.
Institute for Urban Indigenous Health
Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH) is a Community Controlled Health Service (CCHS) that leads the planning, development and delivery of health, family wellbeing and social support services to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population of South East Queensland. IUIH is working with our member CCHSs to improve the health, wellbeing and economic independence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in South East Queensland, the largest and fastest growing Indigenous population in Australia.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service (ATSICHS) Brisbane is a not-for-profit, community-owned health and community services organisation delivering on the unique health and wellbeing needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Brisbane and Logan.
Researchers
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