Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40889977›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2025

What are the Aboriginal worldviews of disability in the Fitzroy Valley? Aboriginal Participatory Action Research to develop strategies for decolonising disability services.

Thomas Stubbs, Mudge Bedford, Emma Bear, Emily Carter, Anita Pickard, Jadnah Davies, Sue Thomas, Alexandra L C Martiniuk, Elizabeth J Elliott, Lauren J Rice

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Thomas StubbsThe University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Public Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia thomas.stubbs@sydney.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5676-4374
Mudge BedfordMarninwarntikura Women's Resource Centre, Marulu Team, Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia, Australia.
Emma BearMarninwarntikura Women's Resource Centre, Marulu Team, Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia, Australia.
Emily CarterMarninwarntikura Women's Resource Centre, Marulu Team, Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia, Australia.
Anita PickardThe University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Public Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0006-5988-0120
Jadnah DaviesMarninwarntikura Women's Resource Centre, Marulu Team, Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia, Australia.
Sue ThomasMarninwarntikura Women's Resource Centre, Marulu Team, Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia, Australia.
Alexandra L C MartiniukThe University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Public Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1368-8206
Elizabeth J ElliottThe University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Public Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6501-5487
Lauren J RiceThe University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Speciality of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2315-7698

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with disability have unequal access to health and disability support services. The impacts of colonialism and the deficit-based, Western medical model of disability have been identified as barriers to services in remote Aboriginal communities. This study explored different perceptions of disability and identified strategies to help bridge the gap between Aboriginal community members in the Fitzroy Valley and Western health and disability support services.

designAboriginal Participatory Action Research approach with in-depth interviews. Transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Preliminary results were presented to community representatives for contextualisation, validation and to co-design recommendations.

settingFitzroy Valley in the Kimberley region, Western Australia.

participantsAboriginal community members with lived experience of disability (n=7) and health and disability support service providers (n=12).

resultsEight themes were identified: (1) Aboriginal kinship systems are a community strength and support for people living with disability; (2) Aboriginal people from the Fitzroy Valley perceive disability as a social construct; (3) Western medical model of disability differs from Aboriginal perceptions of disability; (4) Aboriginal people from the Fitzroy Valley perceive different types of disabilities in various ways; (5) good awareness of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in the Fitzroy Valley, but more education is wanted; (6) focus on functional needs and supports for disability; (7) barriers to disability services and (8) decolonise disability services. Community co-designed recommendations focus on centring the Aboriginal worldviews of disability in the Fitzroy Valley.

conclusionsDecolonising disability services is needed to improve access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. This should involve adapting the current Western medical model of services to enable strengths-based diagnostic and support services that align with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kinship systems, cultures and ways of being. Community leadership must play a central role in this shift.

Indexed as

Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander PeoplesColonialismHealth Services AccessibilityHealth Services, IndigenousPersons with DisabilitiesAdultCommunity-Based Participatory ResearchFemaleHumansInterviews as TopicMaleMiddle AgedQualitative ResearchWestern AustraliaAustralian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander PeoplesDisabled PersonsHealth Services

Identifiers

PMID40889977
PMCPMC12406916

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.