High quality intervention research is needed to inform evidence-based practice and policy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We searched for studies published from 2008–2020 in the PubMed database. A narrative review of intervention literature was conducted, where we identified researcher reported strengths and limitations of their research practice. A total of 240 studies met inclusion criteria which were categorised as evaluations, trials, pilot interventions or implementation studies. Reported strengths included community engagement and partnerships; sample qualities; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander involvement in research; culturally appropriate and safe research practice; capacity building efforts; providing resources or reducing costs for services and communities; understanding local culture and context; and appropriate timelines for completion. Reported limitations included difficulties achieving the target sample size; inadequate time; insufficient funding and resources; limited capacity of health workers and services; and inadequate community involvement and communication issues. This review highlights that community consultation and leadership coupled with appropriate time and funding, enables Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health intervention research to be conducted. These factors can enable effective intervention research, and consequently can help improve health and wellbeing outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Introduction: Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Aims and Methods: The Koori Quit Pack study aimed to assess the feasibility of a multi-component mailout smoking cessation intervention to reduce smoking among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. A non-randomized, single-group feasibility study was conducted among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who reported current smoking. The intervention package included information pamphlets and resources on quitting, referral offer to Aboriginal Quitline and optional free Nicotine Replacement Therapies (NRT). Follow-up was conducted at 2-week, 6-week, 10-week, and 6-month post-recruitment. Feasibility outcomes were recruitment and retention rates, uptake of intervention components, and smoking abstinence at 6-week follow-up (primary endpoint). Cessation outcomes were analyzed using both a complete case analysis and intention-to-treat approach. Results: 165 participants were recruited, 111 (67.3%), 79 (47.9%), 59 (35.8%), and 94 (57%) participants completed the 2-week, 6-week, 10-week, and 6-month follow-up. At 10-week follow-up, 40.7% of participants used pamphlets and booklets, 13.6% used Quitline and > 90% used NRT. At 6-week follow-up, 87.3% reported a quit attempt and 46.8% sustained quitting. 46.8% were continuously smoke-free at the 6-week timepoint. The complete case analysis and the intention-to-treat analysis at 6 months show a 7-day self-reported point prevalence abstinence of 34% and 19.4% respectively. Conclusions: The Koori Quit Pack mailout smoking cessation program was feasible to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The intervention resulted in a high smoking cessation rate and should be upscaled, implemented, and evaluated nationally. Implications: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are disproportionately impacted by tobacco-related harms; however, the majority want to quit or wish they never took up smoking. Mailout cessation support is feasible, overcomes access barriers to evidence-based support and increases quitting success. We recommend a national mailout smoking cessation program is implemented for, and by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to accelerate declines in smoking prevalence to eliminate tobacco-related death and disease.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people want to quit smoking. There is global evidence of combination nicotine replacement therapy (c-NRT) alongside behavioral support as a best practice approach to smoking cessation care. However, there is limited adherence and acceptability research regarding NRT and behavioral supports for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Similarly, there is limited research on what is considered culturally appropriate and safe support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to quit smoking. This Aboriginal-led qualitative study explored the acceptability of the Koori Quit Pack. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants shared their experiences of quitting with the mailout c-NRT program and behavioral cessation support through Yarning. Collaborative Yarning and reflexive thematic analysis was used to develop themes. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are motivated to quit smoking and have accessed cessation supports from health professionals. However, the support(s) received are not always appropriate or culturally safe. The Koori Quit Pack was deemed acceptable and useful for smoking cessation. Having access to smoking cessation care and knowledge of c-NRT helped people quit smoking and support others to quit too. A combination of NRT products alongside culturally responsive behavioral support(s), delivered through a mailout package was a beneficial strategy to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people quit smoking. National implementation of such a package could assist to accelerate reductions in tobacco use, helping meet national smoking reduction targets and improve health outcomes. Cessation supports offered to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are not always culturally safe or effectively delivered. The Koori Quit Pack provided Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with culturally safe smoking cessation support delivered for and by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, demonstrating mailout smoking cessation supports as acceptable and highly valued. Mailout support eliminates accessibility barriers to cessation care while providing tools and knowledge to quit can lead to smoke-free behaviors among individuals and communities. Country-wide availability of this program can accelerate reductions in tobacco use, helping meet national targets and improve health outcomes consistent with the National Tobacco Strategy and the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

The launch of the Australian Football League Women’s (AFLW) combined with the introduction of grassroots women’s Australian football across the country have challenged the landscape of Australian sport and sport media in recent years. Many young women and gender diverse people have had the opportunity to participate in contact sports such as Australian football for the first time. With this, has come exposure to off-field spaces and cultures that they have previously been excluded from, such as post-sport pub culture and locker rooms. Through qualitative interviews with grassroots players in the Hunter Region, this paper explores how spaces can encourage and provide the opportunity for women to challenge binary expectations through comradery and acceptance of masculine bodily displays in conjunction with the normalization of non-heterosexuality. We conceptualize the ‘sport-sexuality-assemblage’ as a way of accounting for the relations of desire for women and gender diverse people in a range of sport spaces.

Aim: Multidisciplinary team meetings (MDMs) are a critical element of quality care for people diagnosed with cancer. The MDM Chairperson plays a significant role in facilitating these meetings, which are often time-poor environments for clinical decision making. This study examines the perceptions of MDM Chairpersons including their role and the factors that determine the quality of a Chair, as well as the Chairperson’s perception of the value of personally attending meetings. Methods: This qualitative study used telephone interviews to explore the experiences of MDM Chairpersons from metropolitan and regional New South Wales, Australia. Using a state-wide register, 43 clinicians who chaired lung, genitourinary, gastrointestinal, and breast cancer meetings were approached to participate. Thematic data analysis was used to develop and organise themes. Results: Themes from the 16 interviews identified the perceived need for an expert and efficient MDM Chairperson with emphasis on personal rather than technical skills. The remaining themes related to the benefits of meetings to ensure quality and consistency of care; improve inter-professional relationships; and provide communication with and reassurance for patients. Conclusion: The role of the MDM Chairperson requires expert management and leadership skills to ensure meetings support quality patient-centred care. MDMs are perceived to provide multiple benefits to both clinicians and patients. Efforts to train Chairs and to maximise clinician and patient benefits may be warranted given the costly and time-consuming nature of MDMs.

Introduction: Reducing the prevalence of smoking is a national priority; however, there is limited evidence on what smoking cessation supports are utilized, accessible, and effective among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This paper describes a cohort profile of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who smoke and want to quit to inform tailored smoking cessation interventions. Aims and Methods: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people residing in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and Victoria, who were smokers wanting to quit, were recruited through health services and online advertisements from May to October 2022. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to summarize participant characteristics and explore factors associated with previous use and adherence to Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and intention to use Quitline services. Results: One hundred and sixty-five participants were recruited. Almost all (93.9%) had made at least one previous quit attempt, and 40.6% had used behavioral support. The majority believed NRT was safe (80.6%), effective (70.3%), and tried NRT previously (89%). Preferred forms of NRT for current quit attempts were nicotine patches (85.5%) and inhalers (69.7%). Intention to use Quitline was found to be higher among participants aged 31–45 years compared to participants under 30 years (AOR = 3.12, 95% CI: 1.01 to 9.76). Conclusions: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are highly motivated to be smoke-free. However, efforts to enhance access and adherence to cessation supports are needed. The rapid recruitment and interest in the mailout cessation support should be scaled up to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to quit. Implications: The Australian Government has recently launched a national tobacco strategy which includes targets for reducing smoking prevalence to less than 27% among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In order to meet these targets Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who smoke and want to quit should have access to culturally safe and responsive support. We found that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have made quit attempts, accessed evidence-based smoking cessation care, and have positive attitudes towards NRT. However, acknowledging relapse, further evidence is required to understand the factors associated with sustained quitting.