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International Journal for Equity in Health
Published in: International Journal for Equity in Health 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research

‘Telling our story... Creating our own history’: caregivers’ reasons for participating in an Australian longitudinal study of Indigenous children

Authors: Katherine Ann Thurber, Anna Olsen, Jill Guthrie, Rachael McCormick, Andrew Hunter, Roxanne Jones, Bobby Maher, Cathy Banwell, Rochelle Jones, Bianca Calabria, Raymond Lovett

Published in: International Journal for Equity in Health | Issue 1/2018

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Abstract

Background

Improving the wellbeing of Indigenous populations is an international priority. Robust research conducted with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is key to developing programs and policies to improve health and wellbeing. This paper aims to quantify the extent of participation in a national longitudinal study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous Australian) children, and to understand the reasons why caregivers participate in the study.

Methods

This mixed methods study uses data from Wave 6 of Footprints in Time, the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children. We conducted descriptive analysis of quantitative variables to characterise the sample and retention rates. We applied conventional content analysis to 160 caregivers’ open-ended responses to the question, ‘Why do you stay in the study?’, identifying themes and overarching meta-themes.

Results

The study has maintained a high retention rate, with 70.4% (n = 1239/1671) of the baseline sample participating in the study’s 6th wave. We identified seven themes related to why participants stay in the study: telling our story, community benefit, satisfaction, tracking Study Child’s progress, study processes, receiving study gifts, and valuing what the study stands for. These related to two meta-themes: reciprocity, and trust and connection. Caregivers reported that participation was associated with benefits for their family and community as well as for the study. They identified specific features of the Footprints in Time study design that built and maintained trust and connection between participants and the study.

Conclusions

Our findings support the assertion that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people want to be involved in research when it is done ‘the right way’. Footprints in Time has successfully recruited and retained the current-largest cohort of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Australia through the use of participatory research methodologies, suggesting effective study implementation and processes. Participants indicated ongoing commitment to the study resulting from perceptions of reciprocity and development of trust in the study. Footprints in Time can serve as a successful model of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research, to promote good research practice and provides lessons for research with other Indigenous populations.
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Metadata
Title
‘Telling our story... Creating our own history’: caregivers’ reasons for participating in an Australian longitudinal study of Indigenous children
Authors
Katherine Ann Thurber
Anna Olsen
Jill Guthrie
Rachael McCormick
Andrew Hunter
Roxanne Jones
Bobby Maher
Cathy Banwell
Rochelle Jones
Bianca Calabria
Raymond Lovett
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
International Journal for Equity in Health / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1475-9276
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-018-0858-1

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