Caroline Nilson

I am the lead chief investigator on the Deadly Koolinga Chef Program (DKCP), which is a translational nutrition health promotion research initiative being conducted under the umbrella of the Murdoch University Ngangk Yira Research Institute for Change.

Th DKCP is an Aboriginal child and adolescent cooking and nutrition research project aimed at improving health outcomes by developing knowledge and skills in food literacy (Vidgen, 2016). The nutrition and cooking classes and workshops are delivered during the school terms at each of the participating schools in Mandurah and Pinjarra for children (6 – 12 years), and adolescents (13 – 17 years). Each class/workshop caters for 10 participants and by incorporating STEM skills into the DKCP, the children and adolescents learn about food and kitchen safety, meal planning and budgeting, preparing, cooking and food storage. Each participant takes home a family meal for 4-6 people after each class/workshop to contribute to the family food work. To encourage an inclusive approach to family food work Aboriginal parents/carer helpers are encouraged to assist in the delivery of the classes/workshops. As a matter of equity, the DKCP has catered for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children through the primary school partnerships, and to date approximately 1200 participants have attended the classes/workshops with at least 25% of those being Aboriginal. However, participation at the senior high schools is for Aboriginal students only.

The research project has been developed using a multi-sectoral approach, and partnerships have been secured with the following organisations in the Peel region (Bindjareb Nyungar region) of WA.

• Nidjalla Waangan Mia Aboriginal Health Service, Peel Region
• Murray Districts Aboriginal Association – Pinjarra
• Winjan Aboriginal Corporation – Mandurah
• Coodanup College – Clontarf Program (Aboriginal adolescent girls and boys)
• Pinjarra Senior High School (Aboriginal adolescent girls and boys)
• Primary Schools in Mandurah – Aboriginal children 6 -12 years:
• Mandurah Primary School
• Greenfields Primary School
• Dudley Park Primary School

The aims and objectives of the proposed DKCP are to:

1. Assist the participants and by association their families to develop food and nutrition literacy, which is to develop the necessary knowledge, skills, attitudes and values to make choices that facilitate an overall healthy relationship with food, and for individuals, families and communities to be healthy (Vidgen, 2016).
2. Up-skill and train Aboriginal workforce members working in the health sector, schools and other partner organisations, and identified Aboriginal community members in topic areas of nutrition, cooking class facilitation, research processes and other project related topic areas. Capacity building will support the sustainability of the DKCP as an ongoing health promotion and health education initiative collaboratively managed by communities in sustainable partnerships.

The DKCP is a two-year long research initiative with three phases:

Phase One: The first phase of the DKCP health promotion research initiative will be to deliver the nutrition and cooking program with the partner organisations. Funding has been secured from the Australian Health Department for 2 years (2022 - 2023) for the development of the DKCP website, the class/workshop equipment “set up”, the consumables for the cooking classes, and the cooking class ingredients at the partner sites listed above.

Phase Two: Phase two of the project is the research component, and up-skilling and training component that will run concurrently alongside of the cooking and nutrition component:

• Upskilling

Funding for the upskilling of the research team and the selected Aboriginal members of the participating sites, in research processes and program evaluation has been secured from the Australian Health Department (2022 - 2023).

Twenty Certificate IV in Nutrition (10763NAT) courses have been secured from funding from the Ian Potter Foundation. The positions have been offered to Aboriginal workforce member across WA. On successful completion the candidates become nationally recognised nutritionist through the Nutrition Council Australia.

• Research

The research component will be conducted at the partner sites using Community Based Participatory Action Research and Realist Evaluation to evaluate the program. Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected and through the findings of the research the development of a WA specific Aboriginal nutrition promotion framework will inform the DKCP translation.

Phase Three: It is proposed that the dissemination phase will commence in June 2023 and will include dissemination activities such as: reports/executive summary sheets, community newsletters on the DKCP website, relevant national conference abstract/paper presentations, article publications in peer reviewed national and international journals, and targeted WA and national health sector and education presentations. The DKCP website with data dashboards as well as all the cooking class resources will be available to all partner organisations to support the delivery of the program. A photo story library and DKCP video reports will be available on the website.

Ethics and Clinical Trail approvals have been received from:

• West Australian Aboriginal Health Ethics Committee: 2021/HREC1080
• Murdoch University Human Research Ethics Committee: 2021/HREC140
• WA Education Department Ethics Committee approval: Pending
• Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR): ACTRN12621001418864

The development, processes, structure, facilitation, and governance, together with the aims and objectives of the DKCP align directly with the following frameworks and strategic plans:

• Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia Strategic Plan 2018-2020,
• Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia Strategic Aboriginal Workforce Engagement & Development Strategy 2018 -2020,
• National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013–2023,
• WA Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Framework 2015-2030,
• WA Health Promotion Strategic Framework 2017-2021:
• Increasing healthy childhood and adolescent nutrition knowledge and eating habits and addressing risk factors;
• Cultural security and culturally appropriate Aboriginal health promotion research;
• Translation of research to policy and practice;
• Aboriginal community control and engagement;
• Partnerships and accountability;
• Equity and inclusion; and
• Building community capacity and Aboriginal workforce development.

Funding for the current processes of the DKCP have been secured from:

• Australian Department of Health - The Public Health and Chronic Disease Grant Program ($185,000)
• Ian Potter Foundation ($200,000)