QAIHC and Central Queensland University will lead a first-of-its-kind healthcare pilot aimed at improving access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to clinical genetics services.

Led by QAIHC Principal Research Advisor, Greg Pratt, a proud Quandamooka man, the three-year project will implement an integrated healthcare model and referral pathway for better access to genetic health services for patients of Aboriginal community controlled health organisations (ACCHOs).

The healthcare model will be introduced in five communities in Queensland in consultation with the ACCHO sector and two communities in Western Australia.

Work is underway on the project, funded by the Medical Research Future Fund and Genomic Health Futures Mission.

Mr Pratt said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had the right to equitable access to quality health services.

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience significant health inequality and a greater burden of disease compared with non-Indigenous Australians, and this is reflected in the difference in the median age of death compared with non-Indigenous Australians,” he said.

“Efforts to integrate genomic research into clinical services must be prioritised to ensure the gap in life expectancy does not widen through inequitable implementation of genomics.

The pilot program is based on a healthcare model developed in the report, Integrated Genetic Health Care: Improving Access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People to Clinical Genetics through Partnership and Primary Health Leadership.

“Genetic health can deliver improved diagnostics, precise prescription, informed disease prevention, sensitive and dynamic healthcare, and an improved understanding of the risk of illness.

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have the right to access quality genetic health care services that are culturally appropriate and sensitive to their needs.”

Mr Pratt said the pilot program is based on a healthcare model identified and developed in the report, Integrated Genetic Health Care: Improving Access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People to Clinical Genetics through Partnership and Primary Health Leadership.

The project will involve three stages:

  • Stakeholder consultation with ACCHO communities in Queensland and WA to determine appetite, capacity and capability for the delivery of the pilot program.
  • Co-design of the healthcare model, focusing on three implementation principles – health promotion, coordinated healthcare and workforce development.
  • Implementation of the healthcare model in ACCHO communities.

“What’s exciting is that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples will have the opportunity to co-design the model and delivery of this pilot program, enabling them to increase control over their health and the health needs of their families and communities,” Mr Pratt said.

“This pilot program will also make a significant contribution to understanding integrated care, and enablers and barriers to sensitive, quality genetic health care. It will also inform health service, policy, and research practice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”

The project partnership includes: the Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia, Queensland Health, Genetic Services WA, Australian National University, Department of Health WA, Australian Genomics and North Metropolitan Health Service in WA.

Mr Pratt’s work in genomics has also included the development of a suite of genomic health literacy resources for First Nations peoples of Queensland in 2019, and the development of GenetiQs, a set of guidelines for genomic research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in 2018.