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Monash expert: Improving bone health in First Nations communities

Monash University

As NAIDOC Week continues, a Monash University study published in the MJA  has found that increasing bone health awareness across Indigenous communities by a Community-led, co-created education program was valued as it would be beneficial for Indigenous people across the life course.

“To be effective, incorporating traditional Indigenous ways and knowledge along with present‐day health evidence is required,” the researchers found.


Available to comment:


Dr Troy Walker, who did this work with the Monash School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Department of Medicine
Contact: +61 3 9903 4840 or [email protected]

  • Musculoskeletal health, strength and conditioning, Aboriginal health

  • Diet, nutrition, lifestyle medicine

  • Clinical pain management, social and emotional wellbeing, neuromusculoskeletal rehabilitation

Comments attributable to Dr Walker:

“There is a higher prevalence of bone‐related conditions among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared with non‐Indigenous Australians. Despite the impact of falls on First Nations health, current policy lacks focus on bone conditions, and pain is often a pertinent finding to establish underlying fracture and disease.


“Understanding perspectives and beliefs about bone health in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population is essential for designing effective, culturally safe programs and services. We explored the perspectives, beliefs and knowledge on bone health among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults in Victoria, and topics considered essential to increase Community health literacy by co‐creating an educational program for Community members.


“Our key findings show that participants were aware of the importance of exercise for bone health, specifically high intensity and loading exercises were beneficial for bone health. Holistic health, including connection to Country, preventive screening and raising awareness, and other lifestyle factors and their relationship to musculoskeletal health were highlighted.


“Increasing musculoskeletal health literacy by incorporating co‐created Community education, embedded in principles of health promotion, was valued by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the life course. To be effective, incorporating traditional Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Doing and Being with present‐day health evidence is required.

“With the information gathered, we have now co-created an educational program on musculoskeletal health and have worked with and learned from our Aboriginal healthcare workers to deliver the program across the various Aboriginal health services that we have consulted with in Victoria. We envision to widen the reach and impact by rolling this out nationwide in the next few years.”

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