Catherine Fetherston

This article describes an art narrative project that encouraged the participants of the Bindjareb Yorgas Health Program (BYHP), in the South West of Western Australia, to share their personal experiences of involvement. The aims of the BYHP are: to foster a more supportive health environment amongst the Bindjareb community's women and their families through participation, communication, and relationship building; the development of personal skills in achieving and maintaining wellness; and strengthening community actions by facilitating individual and group self-determination. As Aboriginal art is used to convey different kinds of storytelling this has aided in the expression of the community's collective identity and has enabled the telling and re-telling of their stories across varying cultures, and to a range of audiences. The expression of personal and group narratives through art will also ensure that positive stories promoting family health and wellbeing can be told many times over with different groups of Aboriginal people resulting in the potential for on-going change. Moreover, the innovative approach taken here will also lead to embedded stories in the local cultural group, around the processes and outcomes of the project and its impact on their health. This article discusses the processes involved in the production of the art and the 'meaning making' that resulted from the project guided by frameworks of communication and behavioural change.

The presentation will highlight the holistic framework, the health promotion focus and the research agenda of the Bindjareb Yorgas Health Program [Program], which has been structured to be socially embedded to capitalise on the capacity of its community members. The Program has been developed in collaboration between researchers from Murdoch University School of Nursing and Midwifery and the Bindjareb women Elders and Leader of the Murray District Aboriginal Association in Pinjarra, Western Australia. The framework is considerate to the Aboriginal social determinants of health and was developed with a focus on the three major principles for guiding health promotion activity, advocacy, meditation and enablement, and the three action areas for undertaking health promotion, creating supportive environments to encourage equitable access; strengthening community actions to enable empowerment; and the development of personal skills in achieving and maintaining wellness. The four components of the Program reflect the concerns of the community regarding the issues that are compromising their health. By developing health literacy in nutrition and chronic disease management, improved physical activity and a reduction in addictive behaviours the community can begin to tackle the high prevalence of chronic disease, obesity and addiction using preventative steps and solutions they themselves have engineered. A pilot project funded by the Australian Government through the Swap It Don't Stop It Campaign, is being conducted from September to December 2012, to ensure that the research processes for the yearlong intervention, commencing in February 2013, are suitable. An advisory group has been convened to assess, counsel and validate the Program processes, content and quality. In addition, the Bindjareb woman leader has been appointed as the research associate. This intervention aims to extend knowledge surrounding existing health promotion initiatives previously designed in Aboriginal communities by implementing a program that ensures community ownership and continued delivery program.