Trauma & injury 

SMART-PH (MRFF NCRI): Digitising Information for Practice in Public Health (SMART-PH) will be a first in establishing a comprehensive public health data analytics platform underpinned by AI capabilities in South Australia.

Through leveraging a pre-existing clinical digital analytics platform, SMART-PH will create a public health data lake which integrates public health data across relevant agencies (i.e. local jurisdictions/councils, non-government organisations) to generate public health decision support tools derived from AI technologies and evaluate the effectiveness of public health interventions, whilst generating new public health knowledge, data visualisation and automated reporting capabilities.

The project will facilitate accessibility across a wide range of organisations that work to enhance population health as well as accessibility to the public and community organisations. SMART-PH will be co-designed, co-developed, co-evaluated and implemented with a range of stakeholders including public health practitioners, digital health and data scientists, statisticians, epidemiologists, behavioural scientists,  organisations and communities.

• Principle Investigator: Associate Professor Courtney Ryder
• Research Fellow: Dr Lavender Otieno
• Research Officer: Pip Henderson

Out-of-Pocket Healthcare Expenditure (OOPHE) are additional expenses (i.e. travel, medication, equipment, time off work) not covered by Medicare or Private Health Insurance. 

This project aims to build and implement a social prescribing digital platform for OOPHE, underpinned by citizen science approaches to harness the wealth of knowledge amongst consumers in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities with lived experience and passion for creating and determining solutions.

The Web App will bring together: co-created OOPHE health knowledge through videos; a co-created culturally and psychometrically assessed OOPHE tool; promotion of OOPHE self-efficacy; and a mechanism for connecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander citizens with culturally safe community and health services.

• Principle Investigator: Associate Professor Courtney Ryder
• Project Officer: Georga Sallows

Publications:

Experiences and impacts of out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure on remote Aboriginal families: Ryder, C., D'Angelo, S., Sharpe, P., Mackean, T., Cominos, N., Coombes, J., Bennett-Brook, K., Cameron, D., Gloede, E., Ullah, S. & Stephens, J., 26 Apr 2024, In: Rural and Remote Health. 24, 1, 9 p., 8328.

Administration of Burns First Aid Treatment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in community settings: Coombes, J., Möeller, H., Fraser, S., Williams, H., Hunter, K., Ivers, R., Holland, A. J., Mackean, T., Sharpe, P. & Ryder, C., Dec 2024, In: Burns. 50, 9, 7 p., 107219.

Nra:gi Ya:yun (MRFF): Diabetes is a chronic health condition contributing to 11% of all deaths and costing the Australian healthcare system $2.7M annually.

In Aboriginal communities diabetes is lethal, with greater diagnoses rates (3 times) and mortality 5 times greater than non-Indigenous Australians. During the formative phase of this study we employed two novel methodologies in Strengths-Based Approaches and Knowledge Interface to integrate the strengths of Aboriginal dietary knowledge with the strengths of recent scientific evidence on the impact of ketogenic diets on diabetes and metabolic syndrome in our co-design of Nra:gi Ya:yun.

This initiative will be the first of its kind to evaluate a co-designed diabetes and metabolic remission program - Nra:gi Ya:yun - with Aboriginal people, bringing together Indigenous knowledges and research methods from Ngarrindjeri knowledge holders (Elders, senior community representatives and leaders), Aboriginal researchers, clinicians and health professionals, with Western knowledges and research methods from experienced clinicians, dieticians, public health researchers, Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) and metabolic diseases. This 28-week non-randomised stepped wedge pilot tests the metabolic impacts and feasibility of a co-designed nutritional intervention for Aboriginal adults aged over 18, with Type 2 Diabetes or metabolic syndrome living on Ngarrindjeri Country. Participants will be supported to adopt a low sugar, low carbohydrate diet.

• Principle Investigator: Associate Professor Courtney Ryder
• Project Officer: Shanti Omodei-James

Publications:

Exploration of barriers and enablers to diabetes care for Aboriginal people on rural Ngarrindjeri Country: Omodei-James, S., Wilson, A., Kropinyeri, R., Cameron, D., Wingard, S., Kerrigan, C., Scriven, T., Wilson, S., Mendham, A. E., Spaeth, B., Stranks, S., Kaambwa, B., Ullah, S., Worley, P. & Ryder, C., 28 Aug 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Health Promotion Journal of Australia. 12 p.

Knowledge interface co-design of a diabetes and metabolic syndrome initiative with and for Aboriginal people living on Ngarrindjeri country: Cameron, D., Wilson, A., Mendham, A. E., Wingard, S., Kropinyeri, R., Scriven, T., Kerrigan, C., Spaeth, B., Stranks, S., Kaambwa, B., Ullah, S., Worley, P. & Ryder, C., Jun 2024, In: Public Health in Practice. 7, 5 p., 100496.

Community co-design to target diabetes and metabolic syndrome in Australian Indigenous peoples: Ryder, C., Wingard, S., Cameron, D., Kerrigan, C., Worley, P., Spaeth, B., Stranks, S., Kaambwa, B., Ullah, S., Wang, J. & Wilson, A., Feb 2023, In: Nature Medicine. 29, 2, p. 292–293 2 p.

Transforming Injury (NHMRC Investigator): Child injury is a national priority yet is an under resourced area which is particularly critical for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who endure the greatest burden. Ryder’s investigator grant is a call to action on this burden, through targeted community intervention and prevention programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in South Australia.

Principle Investigator: Associate Professor Courtney Ryder

IMPACT (MRFF): Trauma care systems in Australia are based on Western biomedical concepts that, while effective for the dominant population, fail to meet the unique needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, perpetuating health inequities.

Current frameworks lack culturally inclusive quality indicators and integrated care models aligned with Indigenous knowledge. For example, critical cultural practices like Ngangkari healing or Aboriginal Health Workers' contributions are unacknowledged in standard clinical classifications. Furthermore, trauma repositories fail to collect and represent Indigenous data comprehensively, undermining Indigenous data sovereignty and perpetuating marginalisation.

The IMPACT project addresses these gaps by co-designing culturally responsive trauma systems with Aboriginal communities, clinical teams, and health networks. It will develop integrated care models, culturally appropriate patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), and relational quality indicators to reflect Indigenous health and wellbeing. IMPACT aims to close the gap in trauma outcomes, improve health system accountability, and enable the translation of Indigenous-inclusive approaches across other clinical domains, enhancing outcomes for First Nations peoples nationally.

• Principle Investigator: Associate Professor Courtney Ryder
• Project Officer: Georga Sallows

Road Traffic (LSA): Road safety remains a critical policy concern in Australia, with road trauma imposing significant financial and social burdens, particularly on remote, lower socioeconomic, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Transport injuries disproportionately affect these populations, yet research often lacks Indigenous perspectives and underutilises linked data to address inequities. This study examines the extent, costs, and causes of serious road traffic injuries in South Australia and New South Wales and identify enablers and barriers to compensation schemes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients. Guided by an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Governance Group, it applies Knowledge Interface Methodology and Indigenous research principles to ensure data sovereignty and informed perspectives. Using a mixed-methods approach, including big data analysis and patient journey mapping, the study is contributing to targeted injury prevention strategies and equitable policies to improve road safety and healthcare outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Principle Investigator: Associate Professor Courtney Ryder

Publications:

Characterising the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patient journey after a serious road traffic injury and barriers to access to compensation: a protocol: Hossain, S., Moeller, H., Sharpe, P., Campbell, M., Kimlin, R., Porykali, B., Shannon, B., Gray, J., Afzali, H., Harrison, J. E., Ivers, R. Q. & Ryder, C., Feb 2024, In: Injury Prevention. 30, 1, p. 75-80 6 p.

Police and hospital data linkage for traffic injury surveillance: A systematic review: Soltani, A., Harrison, J. E., Ryder, C., Flavel, J. & Watson, A., Mar 2024, In: Accident Analysis and Prevention. 197, 21 p., 107426.