Dawn Bessarab
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 219677 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Dawn Bessarab |
| NOMBRES | Dawn |
| APELLIDO | Bessarab |
| FIRMA | BESSARAB D |
| AFILIACIONES | The University of Western Australia |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9716-1593 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 29 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 216 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 29 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2007 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2025 |
| ÍNDICE H | 4 |
Privileging the spirit, voices, and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in dementia care
Data show that many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experiencing dementia receive services at mainstream health organizations and from non-Indigenous health care providers. It is imperative that non-Indigenous health care providers are educated about culturally respectful and safe care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with dementia. The purpose of this research was to partner with Aboriginal Elders to co-design and …
The acceptability of the Good Spirit, Good Life framework for remote-living Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
The Good Spirit, Good Life (GSGL) framework is a culturally informed quality of life (QoL) model co-designed with and for older Aboriginal people in Australia. The framework comprises twelve domains: family and friends, Country, community, culture, health, respect, safety and security, supports and services, Elder role, spirituality, future planning, and basic needs. The framework has been validated for urban and regional-living older Aboriginal …
A comparison of cognitive and health assessment tools used in a dementia prevention and risk management program for urban-dwelling older aboriginal Australians (Dampaa)
In partnership with Aboriginal Elders and Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, we developed a dementia risk management and prevention program for Aboriginal Australians aged ≥45 years. In this study, we report neuropsychological assessment data for people who underwent eligibility screening and baseline assessment and explore associations between the cognitive assessment tools used. Fifty Aboriginal people living in metropolitan Perth, …
Developing a best-practice guide to support care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living with cognitive impairment and dementia
Dementia is a global health issue. Although best-practice guidelines for detection and management of dementia exist for primary care, there is a pressing need for culturally appropriate resources to support care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with cognitive impairment and dementia. A best-practice guide (BPG) for cognitive and dementia care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people attending primary care was develo…
Adaptation of the Good Spirit, Good Life quality of life tool for remote Indigenous Australians
The adapted GSGL tool is an acceptable QoL tool for use in health and aged care with urban, regional and remote-living Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. When translating a tool, forward-back translation with an expert language committee is recommended to reach concordance in meaning. The adapted GSGL tool is suitable for use with an interpreter when required
Evaluating Ngaramura
Ngaramura is an innovative, Aboriginal-designed, strengths-based education program for Aboriginal young people. This unique program addresses the complex and seemingly entrenched issues of disengagement and disproportionate suspension of Aboriginal students from high schools, tackling challenges faced by students in mainstream school environments that fail to meet their needs. Derived from the Dharawal word meaning ‘see the way’, Ngaramura provid…
Process Evaluation of a Dementia Prevention Program for Aboriginal Australians (Dampaa) Using a Theory of Change Framework
A co-designed, Aboriginal health practitioner-led dementia risk management program (DAMPAA) was implemented from 2021 to 2024 to address the growing concern of dementia among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Western Australia. Key features of DAMPAA included group walking and yarning sessions incorporating health and well-being education twice a week, alongside a six-month home program. A theory of change framework guided a parall…
Seeing Jigamy; using an arts-based method to explore the meaning of place for an aboriginal community controlled organisation on the South Coast of NSW
The relationship between health and place is often difficult to articulate. This paper explores the use of community mapping to understand the meaning of place for members of an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation on the South Coast of NSW. The paper demonstrates that engagement in this arts-based method allows people to think deeply about place to construct a multilayered visual narrative which encompasses history, current experience, a…
Shifting sands
Place and health are deeply interconnected for Indigenous people, and place-based services have been established to better meet people's needs. The meaning of place, however, remains difficult to define, an issue compounded by non-Indigenous settler attempts to erase people's association with place. This paper argues that we must understand place as something more than a geographical locality, and consider the histories, experiences and feelings …
Counting the Ways That Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Older People Participate in Their Communities and Culture
The social lives of older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were characterized by widespread participation in cultural events and activities. These findings provide important insights into services as they support older people to live a good life
Valuing indigenous quality of life
Indigenous perspectives of quality of life (QoL) are different to that of non-Indigenous populations. Determining how to identify and value what is important to QoL for people from diverse cultural backgrounds is crucial for assessing effective outcomes for quality assessment and health economic evaluation to guide evidence-based decision making. This is particularly important for older Indigenous people who have complex care and support needs wi…
Decolonising qualitative research with respectful, reciprocal, and responsible research practice
Weaving a Mat That We Can All Sit On”
Research remains a site of struggle for First Nations peoples globally. Biomedical research often reinforces existing power structures, perpetuating ongoing colonisation by dominating research priorities, resource allocation, policies, and services. Addressing systemic health inequities requires decolonising methodologies to facilitate new understandings and approaches. These methodologies promote a creative tension and productive intercultural d…
Living with Rheumatic Heart Disease at the Intersection of Biomedical and Aboriginal Worldviews
Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) significantly impacts the lives of First Nations Australians. Failure to eliminate RHD is in part attributed to healthcare strategies that fail to understand the lived experience of RHD. To rectify this, a PhD study was undertaken in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia, combining Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing with interviews (24 participants from clinical and community settings) and participant obs…
Respect, Relationships, and “Just Spending Time with Them”
While disparities in educational outcomes for Aboriginal children have narrowed in early childhood education and for Year 12 completions, these positive trends are not replicated in the intervening years where attendance, reading, writing, and numeracy targets have been missed. Erratic attendance in the primary years has the greatest impact on achievement; literacy and numeracy scores decline as absences increase. Family functioning and health, c…
Decolonizing Indigenous health
In common with colonized Indigenous people worldwide, many Australian Aboriginal people experience inequitable health outcomes. While the commitment and advocacy of researchers and health practitioners has resulted in many notable improvements in policy and practice, systemic and structural impediments continue to restrain widespread gains in addressing Indigenous health injustices. We take Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD), a potent marker of extrem…
Collaborating for community-engaged scholarship in health and wellbeing
In this article, we provide an emic perspective of being uniquely positioned as part of Australia’s only multidisciplinary Indigenous research network, the National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network (NIRAKN). We used collaborative autoethnography and reflection in our practices and experiences. Our purpose was to better understand and improve the functionality of our research network and practice, and to offer some direction for the grow…
Working Together
Progress has been slow in improving health disparities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians and other Australians. While reasons for this are complex, delivering healthcare respectful of cultural differences is one approach to improving Indigenous health outcomes. This paper presents and evaluates an intercultural academic leadership programme developed to support tertiary educators teaching Indigenous health and…
Addressing unresolved tensions to build effective partnerships
Despite the group's achievements, unresolved tensions between opposing perspectives on how a support group should operate negatively impacted on the working relationship between the group and mainstream service providers, and posed a threat to the Network's sustainability. Our results support the need to acknowledge and address different perspectives and world views in order to build strong, effective partnerships between service providers and In…
A cohort study
Between 2000 and 2009, the prevalence of HF antecedents increased and remained disproportionately higher in Aboriginal (versus non-Aboriginal) HF patients. Risk-adjusted 1-year mortality did not improve in Aboriginal patients over the period in contrast with non-Aboriginal patients. These findings highlight the need for better prevention and post-HF care in Aboriginal Australians
Connecting tracks’
Aboriginal Australians are at higher risk of developing certain types of cancer and, once diagnosed, they have poorer outcomes than their non-Aboriginal counterparts. Lower access to cancer screening programmes, deficiencies in treatment and cultural barriers contribute to poor outcomes. Additional logistical factors affecting those living in rural areas compound these barriers. Cancer support groups have positive effects on people affected by ca…
Changing How and What We Do
Being asked to write the editorial for this Issue was a surprise, albeit a welcome one. The invitation, I believe, reflects the changing nature of the social work profession in Australia to not onl
Getting It Right
This article proposes a theoretical framework for integrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges in Australian social work education as a central focus of the Getting it Right: Creating Partnerships for Change project. This article presents analysis from a literature review to suggest ways Australian schools of social work can adapt their curriculum in order to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and practic…
Perspectives on intimate partner violence in Swaziland amongst 18–29-year-old men undergoing medical circumcision
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is perceived as a major contributor to HIV transmission in Swaziland. This exploratory study aimed to develop a culturally-specific understanding of men's perspectives of IPV. Focus group methods were used to gather information from 45 young urban Swazi men who had undergone medical male circumcision. A thematic analysis was conducted focussing on the manifestations of IPV and socio-cultural and economic factors wh…
Yarning About Yarning as a Legitimate Method in Indigenous Research
This article demonstrates the credibility and rigor of yarning, an Indigenous cultural form of conversation, through its use as a data gathering tool with two different Indigenous groups, one in Australia and the second in Botswana. Yarning was employed not only to collect information during the research interview but to establish a relationship with Indigenous participants prior to gathering their stories through storytelling, also known as narr…
Yarning About Yarning as a Legitimate Method in Indigenous Research
This article demonstrates the credibility and rigor of yarning, an Indigenous cultural form of conversation, through its use as a data gathering tool with two different Indigenous groups, one in Australia and the second in Botswana. Yarning was employed not only to collect information during the research interview but to establish a relationship with Indigenous participants prior to gathering their stories through storytelling, also known as narr…
Changing How and What We Do
Being asked to write the editorial for this Issue was a surprise, albeit a welcome one. The invitation, I believe, reflects the changing nature of the social work profession in Australia to not onl
Decolonizing Indigenous health
In common with colonized Indigenous people worldwide, many Australian Aboriginal people experience inequitable health outcomes. While the commitment and advocacy of researchers and health practitioners has resulted in many notable improvements in policy and practice, systemic and structural impediments continue to restrain widespread gains in addressing Indigenous health injustices. We take Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD), a potent marker of extrem…
Aboriginal Practitioners Speak Out
One month before the June 2007 Federal Government Emergency Intervention in the Northern Territory some 55 West Australian Aboriginal child protection workers attended a 3-day summit in Fremantle. Their purpose as front-line practitioners from across the State was to identify how more nurturing and healing communities could be developed and supported in a climate of despair. This paper reports on how the summit was designed and on some of the ide…
Getting It Right
This article proposes a theoretical framework for integrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges in Australian social work education as a central focus of the Getting it Right: Creating Partnerships for Change project. This article presents analysis from a literature review to suggest ways Australian schools of social work can adapt their curriculum in order to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and practic…
Shifting sands
Place and health are deeply interconnected for Indigenous people, and place-based services have been established to better meet people's needs. The meaning of place, however, remains difficult to define, an issue compounded by non-Indigenous settler attempts to erase people's association with place. This paper argues that we must understand place as something more than a geographical locality, and consider the histories, experiences and feelings …
Collaborating for community-engaged scholarship in health and wellbeing
In this article, we provide an emic perspective of being uniquely positioned as part of Australia’s only multidisciplinary Indigenous research network, the National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network (NIRAKN). We used collaborative autoethnography and reflection in our practices and experiences. Our purpose was to better understand and improve the functionality of our research network and practice, and to offer some direction for the grow…
Working Together
Progress has been slow in improving health disparities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians and other Australians. While reasons for this are complex, delivering healthcare respectful of cultural differences is one approach to improving Indigenous health outcomes. This paper presents and evaluates an intercultural academic leadership programme developed to support tertiary educators teaching Indigenous health and…
Connecting tracks’
Aboriginal Australians are at higher risk of developing certain types of cancer and, once diagnosed, they have poorer outcomes than their non-Aboriginal counterparts. Lower access to cancer screening programmes, deficiencies in treatment and cultural barriers contribute to poor outcomes. Additional logistical factors affecting those living in rural areas compound these barriers. Cancer support groups have positive effects on people affected by ca…
If you don't believe it, it won't help you
Background Little is known about the use of bush medicine and traditional healing among Aboriginal Australians for their treatment of cancer and the meanings attached to it. A qualitative study that explored Aboriginal Australians' perspectives and experiences of cancer and cancer services in Western Australia provided an opportunity to analyse the contemporary meanings attached and use of bush medicine by Aboriginal people with cancer in Western…
Everything is okay’
While Australian Aboriginal conceptions of health have been described as holistic and collective, contemporary approaches to health services and health research are often premised on the rational, reflexive subject of neoliberal discourse. This paper considers how neoliberal conceptions of health and subjectivity arose and were negotiated in the context of a qualitative research project on Aboriginal experiences of HIV in Western Australia. Quest…
Slowed right down”
Yarning About Yarning as a Legitimate Method in Indigenous Research
This article demonstrates the credibility and rigor of yarning, an Indigenous cultural form of conversation, through its use as a data gathering tool with two different Indigenous groups, one in Australia and the second in Botswana. Yarning was employed not only to collect information during the research interview but to establish a relationship with Indigenous participants prior to gathering their stories through storytelling, also known as narr…
Aboriginal Practitioners Speak Out
One month before the June 2007 Federal Government Emergency Intervention in the Northern Territory some 55 West Australian Aboriginal child protection workers attended a 3-day summit in Fremantle. Their purpose as front-line practitioners from across the State was to identify how more nurturing and healing communities could be developed and supported in a climate of despair. This paper reports on how the summit was designed and on some of the ide…
If you don't believe it, it won't help you
Background Little is known about the use of bush medicine and traditional healing among Aboriginal Australians for their treatment of cancer and the meanings attached to it. A qualitative study that explored Aboriginal Australians' perspectives and experiences of cancer and cancer services in Western Australia provided an opportunity to analyse the contemporary meanings attached and use of bush medicine by Aboriginal people with cancer in Western…
Perspectives on intimate partner violence in Swaziland amongst 18–29-year-old men undergoing medical circumcision
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is perceived as a major contributor to HIV transmission in Swaziland. This exploratory study aimed to develop a culturally-specific understanding of men's perspectives of IPV. Focus group methods were used to gather information from 45 young urban Swazi men who had undergone medical male circumcision. A thematic analysis was conducted focussing on the manifestations of IPV and socio-cultural and economic factors wh…
Getting It Right
This article proposes a theoretical framework for integrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges in Australian social work education as a central focus of the Getting it Right: Creating Partnerships for Change project. This article presents analysis from a literature review to suggest ways Australian schools of social work can adapt their curriculum in order to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and practic…
Changing How and What We Do
Being asked to write the editorial for this Issue was a surprise, albeit a welcome one. The invitation, I believe, reflects the changing nature of the social work profession in Australia to not onl
Addressing unresolved tensions to build effective partnerships
Despite the group's achievements, unresolved tensions between opposing perspectives on how a support group should operate negatively impacted on the working relationship between the group and mainstream service providers, and posed a threat to the Network's sustainability. Our results support the need to acknowledge and address different perspectives and world views in order to build strong, effective partnerships between service providers and In…
A cohort study
Between 2000 and 2009, the prevalence of HF antecedents increased and remained disproportionately higher in Aboriginal (versus non-Aboriginal) HF patients. Risk-adjusted 1-year mortality did not improve in Aboriginal patients over the period in contrast with non-Aboriginal patients. These findings highlight the need for better prevention and post-HF care in Aboriginal Australians
Connecting tracks’
Aboriginal Australians are at higher risk of developing certain types of cancer and, once diagnosed, they have poorer outcomes than their non-Aboriginal counterparts. Lower access to cancer screening programmes, deficiencies in treatment and cultural barriers contribute to poor outcomes. Additional logistical factors affecting those living in rural areas compound these barriers. Cancer support groups have positive effects on people affected by ca…
Collaborating for community-engaged scholarship in health and wellbeing
In this article, we provide an emic perspective of being uniquely positioned as part of Australia’s only multidisciplinary Indigenous research network, the National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network (NIRAKN). We used collaborative autoethnography and reflection in our practices and experiences. Our purpose was to better understand and improve the functionality of our research network and practice, and to offer some direction for the grow…
Working Together
Progress has been slow in improving health disparities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians and other Australians. While reasons for this are complex, delivering healthcare respectful of cultural differences is one approach to improving Indigenous health outcomes. This paper presents and evaluates an intercultural academic leadership programme developed to support tertiary educators teaching Indigenous health and…
Respect, Relationships, and “Just Spending Time with Them”
While disparities in educational outcomes for Aboriginal children have narrowed in early childhood education and for Year 12 completions, these positive trends are not replicated in the intervening years where attendance, reading, writing, and numeracy targets have been missed. Erratic attendance in the primary years has the greatest impact on achievement; literacy and numeracy scores decline as absences increase. Family functioning and health, c…
Decolonizing Indigenous health
In common with colonized Indigenous people worldwide, many Australian Aboriginal people experience inequitable health outcomes. While the commitment and advocacy of researchers and health practitioners has resulted in many notable improvements in policy and practice, systemic and structural impediments continue to restrain widespread gains in addressing Indigenous health injustices. We take Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD), a potent marker of extrem…
Decolonising qualitative research with respectful, reciprocal, and responsible research practice
Weaving a Mat That We Can All Sit On”
Research remains a site of struggle for First Nations peoples globally. Biomedical research often reinforces existing power structures, perpetuating ongoing colonisation by dominating research priorities, resource allocation, policies, and services. Addressing systemic health inequities requires decolonising methodologies to facilitate new understandings and approaches. These methodologies promote a creative tension and productive intercultural d…
Living with Rheumatic Heart Disease at the Intersection of Biomedical and Aboriginal Worldviews
Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) significantly impacts the lives of First Nations Australians. Failure to eliminate RHD is in part attributed to healthcare strategies that fail to understand the lived experience of RHD. To rectify this, a PhD study was undertaken in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia, combining Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing with interviews (24 participants from clinical and community settings) and participant obs…
Valuing indigenous quality of life
Indigenous perspectives of quality of life (QoL) are different to that of non-Indigenous populations. Determining how to identify and value what is important to QoL for people from diverse cultural backgrounds is crucial for assessing effective outcomes for quality assessment and health economic evaluation to guide evidence-based decision making. This is particularly important for older Indigenous people who have complex care and support needs wi…
Seeing Jigamy; using an arts-based method to explore the meaning of place for an aboriginal community controlled organisation on the South Coast of NSW
The relationship between health and place is often difficult to articulate. This paper explores the use of community mapping to understand the meaning of place for members of an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation on the South Coast of NSW. The paper demonstrates that engagement in this arts-based method allows people to think deeply about place to construct a multilayered visual narrative which encompasses history, current experience, a…
Shifting sands
Place and health are deeply interconnected for Indigenous people, and place-based services have been established to better meet people's needs. The meaning of place, however, remains difficult to define, an issue compounded by non-Indigenous settler attempts to erase people's association with place. This paper argues that we must understand place as something more than a geographical locality, and consider the histories, experiences and feelings …
Counting the Ways That Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Older People Participate in Their Communities and Culture
The social lives of older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were characterized by widespread participation in cultural events and activities. These findings provide important insights into services as they support older people to live a good life
Privileging the spirit, voices, and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in dementia care
Data show that many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experiencing dementia receive services at mainstream health organizations and from non-Indigenous health care providers. It is imperative that non-Indigenous health care providers are educated about culturally respectful and safe care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with dementia. The purpose of this research was to partner with Aboriginal Elders to co-design and …
The acceptability of the Good Spirit, Good Life framework for remote-living Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
The Good Spirit, Good Life (GSGL) framework is a culturally informed quality of life (QoL) model co-designed with and for older Aboriginal people in Australia. The framework comprises twelve domains: family and friends, Country, community, culture, health, respect, safety and security, supports and services, Elder role, spirituality, future planning, and basic needs. The framework has been validated for urban and regional-living older Aboriginal …
A comparison of cognitive and health assessment tools used in a dementia prevention and risk management program for urban-dwelling older aboriginal Australians (Dampaa)
In partnership with Aboriginal Elders and Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, we developed a dementia risk management and prevention program for Aboriginal Australians aged ≥45 years. In this study, we report neuropsychological assessment data for people who underwent eligibility screening and baseline assessment and explore associations between the cognitive assessment tools used. Fifty Aboriginal people living in metropolitan Perth, …
Sociology (22 obras) · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights (18 obras) · Medicine (16 obras) · Political science (15 obras) · Psychology (14 obras) · Indigenous (11 obras) · Public relations (10 obras) · Nursing (6 obras) · Qualitative research (6 obras) · Social science (6 obras)