Anke E. van der Sterren

Engaging with Aboriginal communities in an urban context: some practical suggestions for public health researchers

Objective : In this paper, one Indigenous and two non‐Indigenous public health researchers reflect on our combined experience of over thirty years in Aboriginal health, in order to develop some practical guidelines, particularly for researchers working with urban Indigenous population groups.

‘Individual’ harms, Community ‘harms’: reconciling Indigenous values with drug harm minimisation policy

This paper uses data on the social context of drug-related harms in the Melbourne Aboriginal Community to inform an alternative model of harm minimisation, and discusses its potential application in programme development. The paper involves a secondary analysis of interviews and focus group discussions with 62 Community members who participated in a qualitative injecting drug use study conducted at the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service in Melbourne. Individuals and families within the Melbourne Aboriginal Community experience significant levels of harm associated with injecting drug use, and face restricted access to appropriate service options. This experience of drug use contributes to a broad range of values within the Community around harm minimisation approaches to programme delivery. We propose a fundamentally distinct harm minimisation model which explicitly acknowledges this range of conflicting values, and reflects the need for a breadth of services and programmes that address these tensions. Policies and funding must support Aboriginal Communities to negotiate through these conflicting Community values to actively create spaces in the service system for both using and non-using Community members. This includes the development of regional approaches which articulate an appropriate mix of services and the roles of Aboriginal and mainstream services in their delivery.

Recall of anti-tobacco advertising and information, warning labels and news stories in a national sample of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers.

Objectives: To describe recall of anti‐tobacco advertising (mainstream and targeted), pack warning labels, and news stories among a national sample of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers, and to assess the association of these messages with attitudes that support quitting, including wanting to quit.

Personal attitudes towards smoking in a national sample of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers and recent quitters.

Objectives: To describe attitudes towards smoking in a national sample of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers and recent quitters and assess how they are associated with quitting, and to compare these attitudes with those of smokers in the general Australian population.

Research methods of Talking About The Smokes: an International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project study with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Objective: To describe the research methods and baseline sample of the Talking About The Smokes (TATS) project.

Tobacco control policies and activities in Aboriginal community-controlled health services

Objectives: To describe tobacco control policies and activities at a nationally representative sample of Aboriginal community‐controlled health services (ACCHSs).

Social acceptability and desirability of smoking in a national sample of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Objectives: To describe social normative beliefs about smoking in a national sample of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and to assess the relationship of these beliefs with quitting.

Use of nicotine replacement therapy and stop-smoking medicines in a national sample of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers and ex-smokers.

Objective: To examine the use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and the stop‐smoking medicines (SSMs) varenicline and bupropion in a national sample of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers and recent ex‐smokers.

A systematic review protocol: social network analysis of tobacco use

BackgroundTobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in the world. Evidence indicates that behaviours such as tobacco use can influence social networks, and that social network structures can influence behaviours. Social network analysis provides a set of analytic tools to undertake methodical analysis of social networks. We will undertake a systematic review to provide a comprehensive synthesis of the literature regarding social network analysis and tobacco use. The review will answer the following research questions: among participants who use tobacco, does social network structure/position influence tobacco use? Does tobacco use influence peer selection? Does peer selection influence tobacco use?MethodsWe will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systemic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and search the following databases for relevant articles: CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature); Informit Health Collection; PsycINFO; PubMed/MEDLINE; Scopus/Embase; Web of Science; and the Wiley Online Library. Keywords include tobacco; smoking; smokeless; cigarettes; cigar and ‘social network’ and reference lists of included articles will be hand searched. Studies will be included that provide descriptions of social network analysis of tobacco use.Qualitative, quantitative and mixed method data that meets the inclusion criteria for the review, including methodological rigour, credibility and quality standards, will be synthesized using narrative synthesis. Results will be presented using outcome statistics that address each of the research questions.DiscussionThis systematic review will provide a timely evidence base on the role of social network analysis of tobacco use, forming a basis for future research, policy and practice in this area. This systematic review will synthesise the evidence, supporting the hypothesis that social network structures can influence tobacco use. This will also include exploring the relationship between social network structure, social network position, peer selection, peer influence and tobacco use across all age groups, and across different demographics. The research will increase our understanding of social networks and their impact on tobacco use, informing policy and practice while highlighting gaps in the literature and areas for further research.

Electronic Cigarette Use and Understanding Among a National Sample of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Smokers

Introduction Adult daily smoking prevalence in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population is 2.8 times that of other Australians. There is little data on prevalence of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We measured e-cigarette use and beliefs about their harmfulness in national samples of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers and of all Australian smokers. Methods The Talking About The Smokes project interviewed a nationally-representative quota sample of 1,301 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers between August 2013 and August 2014. The Australian Wave 9 survey of the long-running International Tobacco Control Project interviewed 1,093 smokers between February and May 2013. Estimates for all Australian smokers were standardised to the age and sex distribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers. Results Fewer Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander than all Australian smokers had tried an e-cigarette (21% vs 30%). This was in part due to more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers having not heard of e-cigarettes. Fewer Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers than all Australian smokers agreed that e-cigarettes are less harmful than conventional cigarettes (22% vs 50%). Conclusions Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers have used e-cigarettes. However, there is considerable misunderstanding about the relative harm of e-cigarettes compared to conventional cigarettes, in part due to the tight regulatory environment in Australia.