Culturally Safe Mental Health Screening for Aboriginal Mothers: An exploration of the value of Baby Coming You Ready program in child health settings.

Bridgette Kelly

Background: Existing perinatal mental health tools and resources for Aboriginal women in postnatal settings lack cultural sensitivity, often leading to inaccurate responses, fears of judgment, and neglect of individual circumstances, impacting health outcomes for children in the first 2000 days. Disparities in culturally safe child health service delivery between metropolitan and remote areas increase the gap in access to care. Research Questions: The research question for this thesis is twofold: 1) What contributes to strong trusting relationships between child health nurses, Aboriginal clients and their families? 2) Which features of the BCYR program impact this relationship and how? Hypothesis: The Baby Coming You Ready program will promote stronger relationships between Aboriginal women and community health nurses whilst offering more culturally safe appointments and enhanced engagement within child health settings. Methodology: The study combines qualitative and quantitative research methods and data analysis utilising Indigenous methodologies. This includes clinical yarning, semi-structured interviews, and stakeholder consultation. Ethical considerations such as Indigenous NHMRC values, privacy, confidentiality, and informed consent in Aboriginal contexts are maintained. Anticipated Outcomes: Findings of this study will provide strong evidence and recommendations for a child health adaptation of Baby Coming You Ready that support the needs of mothers with infants, child health nurses and community health services in Western Australia. Recommendations include co-design of Bubba Here What Now, image and language adaptations to improve postnatal usability and a research pilot to be undertaken across Aboriginal health services offering child health services. Conclusion: This research will address the urgent need for culturally sensitive mental health screening tools for Aboriginal mothers in postnatal care settings. By analysing women’s experiences using Baby Coming You Ready compared to current standard practices, the study contributes to the knowledge base regarding effective child health community services and provides recommendations to improve mental health screening and care. If adopted these recommendations could ultimately reduce healthcare disparities among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children.

Culturally Safe Mental Health Screening for Aboriginal Mothers: An exploration of the value of Baby Coming You Ready program in child health settings.

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