Aboriginal-led community-research partnerships generate sustainable, self-determined interventions creating positive change. Our Aboriginal co-led research team is working with communities in Maningrida and Kununurra to offer subcutaneous benzathine penicillin G (SCIP) in clinical trials of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) prophylaxis. We are guided by The Kids Research Institute of Australia’s Aboriginal Research Standards; designed to ensure research is important to Aboriginal people, and is co-designed and conducted in ways that ensure knowledge generated stays within communities.
As per these standards, having developed and trialed SCIP elsewhere to demonstrate it is safe, feasible, and often preferred over intramuscular injections as prophylaxis for RHD, the initial research stages involved identifying Aboriginal governance partners and building co-design relationships.
With guidance from ACCHO partners, the research questions, participant-facing materials and trial protocols were developed, including with consideration of the Indigenous Data Sovereignty Principles. Community capacity building will include SCIP training for ACCHO staff, with the intension of SCIP becoming embedded as an ongoing service offering. The trial objectives are to evaluate SCIP implementation within the communities. Analysis will involve a mixed-methods approach using the consolidated framework for implementation research, permitting experiential feedback from consumers to inform real-time improvements in outcome measures. Local Aboriginal stakeholders will guide the analysis and interpret results with wider community involvement. A co-designed translation plan will inform future SCIP implementation across Australia.
The Kids Research Institute of Australia’s Aboriginal Research Standards provide a straightforward and adaptable framework guiding ethical, culturally appropriate conduct across the life of these trials and beyond.