Culturally appropriate programs

Cerebral palsy is the most common childhood physical impairment, with one in every 500 Australians living with the condition.

Were that not alarming enough, the rates of cerebral palsy caused by post-natal stress are five times more likely in Indigenous Australians. Indigenous children with the condition are 50 per cent more likely to have epilepsy, more than twice as likely to have visual impairment, and more likely to have poorer motor function and condition.

As families living in remote locations often do not receive diagnosis or intervention until after the child has turned two years old, a significant window for early intervention and corrective activities is lost, another factor that counts heavily against Indigenous people.

Our researchers have implemented a home-based service, which is conducted through a cultural sensitive peer-to-peer model in the best effort to address this issue, one example of a tailored program specific for cultural needs.