Research to improve the health and wellbeing of older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people received funding of $2.5 million from the National Health and Medical Research Council Centres of Research Excellence (NHMRC).
Professor Dawn Bessarab from UWA’s Centre for Aboriginal Medical and Dental Health and her team will lead the Centre for Research Excellence on the Good Spirit Good Life: Better health and wellbeing for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
This Centre is the first in Australia to explore Indigenous ageing. They will develop their research with and from the perspective of Aboriginal people, to better understand ageing well in older Aboriginal people and to inform culturally secure and effective service provision.
UWA Vice-Chancellor Professor Amit Chakma congratulated Professor Bessarab and the researchers, who are working on projects critical to improving health and wellbeing in the community. “Research such as this is vital to keeping us at the forefront of discovering health and medical solutions for those with serious health conditions,” Professor Chakma said.
“Many people will live better and longer lives, and we will know and understand more. That knowledge and understanding can lead in many directions. This is important and exciting work.”
NHMRC funding from the Federal Government aims to support research that will improve health outcomes and benefit communities in Australia and around the world.