Study specific research officers (Aboriginal women) undertake recruitment, data collection, complete participant follow-up, data entry and attend to daily study requirements such as booking of specialist reviews.
Communication could also be improved by Cancer Nurse Coordinators (CNCs) (positions established in 2007, prior to the second period of data collection) or an Aboriginal Liaison Officer (ALO) supporting patients during their appointments with clinicians.
Using computerised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander HCs as data collection tools, as far as we know an Australian first, means they represent a clinical intervention with no increased inconvenience for patients.
From this we developed the concept of a 'unit of information', which relies on information about whether a person is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander being collected independently for each data collection and each health service encounter.
Practical steps to ensure cultural security included consultation with Aboriginal people prior to starting the research, close collaboration with Aboriginal people within the research team, during data collection and analysis, and the use of culturally suitable research methods such as yarning.
Continuity of field workers and particularly a male Aboriginal research team member employed over two adult data collection waves has been pivotal in engaging with shy Aboriginal men and cementing the legitimacy of the study.
A specific strategy to provide a culturally appropriate approach to data collection for the Port Lincoln Aboriginal people involved the development of an Aboriginal team of CCs led by an Aboriginal TL to work in districts identified as having a high proportion of Aboriginal residents.
Aboriginal women were not targeted in this data collection phase.
The importance of gaining insights into the health needs and health service usage patterns of Aboriginal Australians was addressed through employing a different approach to data collection in neighbourhoods where there was a high proportion of Aboriginal households.
This is not about paperwork or data collection; ascertaining a child's Aboriginal status is supposed to trigger a range of interventions and protections.
13 Some of the reasons behind this deficiency are limitations in the current health information system and data collection processes with respect to Aboriginal peoples.
