SynthesisBMC public health2015
A systematic review of studies evaluating Australian indigenous community development projects: the extent of community participation, their methodological quality and their outcomes.
Synthesis in BMC public health, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Consumers' and health providers' views and perceptions of partnering to improve health services design, delivery and evaluation: a co-produced qualitative evidence synthesis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Identifying evidence of effectiveness in the co-creation of research: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the international healthcare literature.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2021Pooled it
- What can primary care services do to help First Nations people with unhealthy alcohol use? A systematic review: Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2020Pooled it
- Preventing Substance Use Among Indigenous Adolescents in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand: a Systematic Review of the Literature.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2020Pooled it
- Who is research serving? A systematic realist review of circumpolar environment-related Indigenous health literature.PloS one · 2018Pooled it
- An Aboriginal community-led approach to reducing alcohol-related harm: A multiple baseline, stepped wedge evaluation.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- A Scoping Review of Health-Related Citizen Science Projects Involving Indigenous Peoples in Australia and Internationally.Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals · 2025Article
- Understanding Indigenous Australian men's compliance with domestic and family violence orders: a qualitative study of service provider perspectives.Australian journal of psychology · 2025Review
- Initial co-ideation phase of a shared decision-making tool aimed at promoting physical activity in primary care: views expressed by patients, academics, and healthcare professionals.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Article
- Inclusive approaches to involvement of community groups in health research: the co-produced CHICO guidance.Research involvement and engagement · 2023Article
- Scoping review of community health participatory research projects in Ghana.Global health action · 2022Article
- Co-creation of new knowledge: Good fortune or good management?Research involvement and engagement · 2022Article
- Article
- Drink driving among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians: What has been done and where to next?Drug and alcohol review · 2022Review
- A Web-Based Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Program (Strong & Deadly Futures) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander School Students: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2022Article
- Towards attainment of Indigenous health through empowerment: resetting health systems, services and provider approaches.BMJ global health · 2021Review
- Could health information systems enhance the quality of Aboriginal health promotion? A retrospective audit of Aboriginal health programs in the Northern Territory of Australia.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2020Article
- 'We walked side by side through the whole thing': A mixed-methods study of key elements of community-based participatory research partnerships between rural Aboriginal communities and researchers.The Australian journal of rural health · 2020Article
- A review of reviews on principles, strategies, outcomes and impacts of research partnerships approaches: a first step in synthesising the research partnership literature.Health research policy and systems · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCommunity development is a health promotion approach identified as having great potential to improve Indigenous health, because of its potential for extensive community participation. There has been no systematic examination of the extent of community participation in community development projects and little analysis of their effectiveness. This systematic review aims to identify the extent of community participation in community development projects implemented in Australian Indigenous communities, critically appraise the qualitative and quantitative methods used in their evaluation, and summarise their outcomes.
methodsTen electronic peer-reviewed databases and two electronic grey literature databases were searched for relevant studies published between 1990 and 2015. The level of community participation and the methodological quality of the qualitative and quantitative components of the studies were assessed against standardised criteria.
resultsThirty one evaluation studies of community development projects were identified. Community participation varied between different phases of project development, generally high during project implementation, but low during the evaluation phase. For the majority of studies, methodological quality was low and the methods were poorly described. Although positive qualitative or quantitative outcomes were reported in all studies, only two studies reported statistically significant outcomes. DISCUSSION: Partnerships between researchers, community members and service providers have great potential to improve methodological quality and community participation when research skills and community knowledge are integrated to design, implement and evaluate community development projects.
conclusionThe methodological quality of studies evaluating Australian Indigenous community development projects is currently too weak to confidently determine the cost-effectiveness of community development projects in improving the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians. Higher quality studies evaluating community development projects would strengthen the evidence base.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.