Alcohol and the social determinants of health: An equity lens on interventions

August 2020

NCETA’s Dr Jane Fischer was invited by the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet’s AOD Knowledge Centre to present a webinar examining:

  • Patterns of alcohol use among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
  • The relationship between alcohol, inequity, and the social determinants of health
  • Why alcohol use is associated with a disproportionate amount of harm and burden of disease among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
  • The effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm
  • The impact of inequity on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander AOD workers and ways to support them to address it.

The webinar proved to be extremely popular with more than 130 people in attendance. These included representatives from Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Organisations, non-government organisations, universities and Primary Health Networks. Feedback from the AOD Knowledge Centre indicates that this webinar had the highest turnout and retention of participants for an Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet webinar.

Following Jane’s presentation, participants were encouraged to participate in a question and answers session. Examples of some of the questions included:

  • What improvements could be made to data collection systems to enhance the capacity to monitor the impacts of policy and interventions on social groups?
  • What are some strategies for building the capacity and number of Aboriginal workers in the AOD sector?
  • Do you have any research and what are your thoughts on the inclusion of holistic health interventions including spirituality and cultural interventions to address health inequities?

The recording of the webinar is available from the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet AOD Knowledge Centre website Webinar Link.