The Gaawaadhi Gadudha logo artwork is by Laurance Magick Dennis. It represents the meeting of fresh (Yuwaalaraay and Gamilaraay) and salt (Yuin-Djirringanj) water. The horseshoe-like shapes are people sitting around a fire. The oval image at the centre is a coolamon (traditional carrying vessel). The dots around the image are ancestors looking on.

While we use the word ‘Aboriginal’ to explain the terminology of ‘the health gap’ in current research and policy, we would like to acknowledge it as a colonised term. We advocate for shifting to the use of cultural group names as identifiers. Where this is not possible, we use ‘Indigenous’.

Publications

Yashadhana, A, Zwi, AB, Brady, B, De Leeuw, E, Kingsley, J, O'leary, M, Raven, M, Serova N, Topp, SM, Fields, T, Foster, W, Jopson, W, Biles, B 2023, 'Gaawaadhi Gadudha: understanding how cultural camps impact health, well-being and resilience among Aboriginal adults in New South Wales, Australia – a collaborative study protocol’, BMJ Open, 13, pp. e073551, http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-073551

Yashadhana, A, Fields, T, Liu, E, Serova, N, O’Leary, M, Kenning, G, Kuchelmeister, V, Lockhart, J, de Leeuw, E 2023, ‘Therapeutic aspects of Connection to Country and cultural landscapes among Aboriginal peoples from the Stolen Generations living in urban NSW, Australia’, Public Health Research & Practice, vol. 33, 4, e3342332, https://doi.org/10.17061/phrp3342332

Thorpe, A, Yashadhana, A, Biles, BJ, Munro-Harrison, E & Kingsley, J 2023, ‘Indigenous health and connection to Country’, Global Public Health, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Global Public Health, 31 January, https://oxfordre.com/publichealth/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190632366.001.0001/acrefore-9780190632366-e-436

Fields, T, Foster, W, Biles, BJ & Yashadhana, Y 2024, ‘Redefining the gap in Aboriginal health: from deficit to cultural connection’, The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, vol. 52, 101176, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2024.101176

Biles, BJ, Serova, N, Stanbrook, G, Brady, B, Kingsley, J, Topp, SM & Yashadhana, A 2024, ‘What is Indigenous cultural health and wellbeing? A narrative review’, The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, vol. 52, 101220, 10.1016/j.lanwpc.2024.101220

Brady, B, Zwi, AB, Kingsley, J, O’Leary, M, Serova, N, Topp, SM, Biles, BJ, Fields, T, Foster, W & Yashadhana, Y 2024, ‘Measuring the health and wellbeing impacts of cultural camps among Aboriginal adults: preliminary evidence from the Gaawaadhi Gadudha Research Collaborative’, The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, vol. 52, 101200, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2024.101200

Yashadhana, A, Biles, BJ, Serova, N, Topp, SM, Kingsley, J, Zwi, AZ, Fields, T, Foster, W, O’Leary, M, Brady, B, De Leeuw, E & Raven, M 2024, ‘Gaawaadhi Gadudha: exploring how cultural camps support health and wellbeing among Aboriginal adults in New South Wales Australia, a qualitative study’, The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, vol. 52, 101208, 10.1016/j.lanwpc.2024.101208

Image: Dharriwaa on Yuwaalaraay Country (photo by Brooke Brady)