A pilot project to teach dental care practices to Aboriginal children in language has been shown to improve oral health speech and literacy skills.
The project was successfully designed for Aboriginal children in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) region in remote north-west South Australia.
Teaching dental care practices in the Yankunytjatjara language and engaging the children in fun learning activities has improved oral health speech and literacy skills and expanded the use of the Yankunytjatjara language to a new area of oral health. The activities were carried out in partnership with the Indulkana and Mimili communities and involved more than 180 people.
“The children were fully engaged in these workshops and activities. This project was designed for Anangu children, using their wangka (language), within their tjanampa ngura (community), and implemented by their walytja tjuṯa (families),” said Karina Lester, Senior Aboriginal Language Worker at Yankunytjatjara and a member of the project team.
The use of language in community health interactions is directly linked to improved health outcomes, while also strengthening language proficiency. For this project, using language resulted in increased community engagement and reach, and improved retention of oral health principles.
Strong relationships and collaboration between the community, project organizers, and all partners were key to the project’s success.
When organizers returned to Indulkana for the final workshop after a 3-month absence, participants remembered the project team as “Katiku Ninti Tjuta” (“Tooth People”).
The project was featured in the recently released Closing the Gap 2024 Annual Report. It supports Reform Priority One and Goal 16 of Closing the Gap: Formal partnerships and shared decision-making; Cultures and languages are strong, supported and flourishing.
The pilot project was delivered by the University of Adelaide’s Mobile Languages team in partnership with the Australian Dental Hygienists Association and Nganampa Health Board. The project was funded by our Indigenous Languages and Arts (ILA) program.
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