Background: Aboriginal young people are resilient, drawing strength from historical protective practices. However, systemic policies and inequalities have impacted their social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB). SEWB is holistic, integrating mind, body, spirit, and community, in contrast to individualistic models. The factors that enable Aboriginal youth to thrive and maintain strong SEWB are underexplored. Understanding these determinants is crucial for developing public health policies and practices that effectively enhance the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal youth.

Methods: Guided by the National Strategic Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ Mental Health and Social and Emotional Wellbeing, and supported by Preventive Health SA, a systematic review was conducted to identify SEWB determinants for Aboriginal children and adolescents aged 8 to 17 years. Data were analysed thematically, combining both inductive and deductive approaches.

Findings: Seven complex, intersecting themes emerged as key determinants of SEWB for Aboriginal youth. These include connection to the: (i) Body, (ii) Mind and Emotions, (iii) Family and Kinship, (iv) Community, (v) Culture, (vi) Country and land (place/space), and (vii) Ancestry and Spirituality. The review also identified barriers and enablers of programs aimed at youth flourishing and provided recommendations for policy and program implementation. This evidence is currently informing SA Health policies to improve Aboriginal youth flourishing in South Australia.

Conclusions: To enhance SEWB in Aboriginal youth, a holistic approach is needed, supported by diverse programs, services, and policies. These should be age-appropriate, community-driven, and involve strong Indigenous representation on advisory committees. Local youth involvement and culturally sensitive practices are crucial for the success of these initiatives.


Aboriginal Blurb: The Aboriginal Health Council of SA contributed information on their policies and programs aimed at supporting youth flourishing. The First Nations Advisor at Torrens University was also involved to ensure the project’s processes and reporting were culturally appropriate.

Title: Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Aboriginal child and adolescents in South Australia.
Author: Chrystal Sumner, Preventive Health SA, Government of South Australia, PO Box 287, Rundle Mall, Adelaide, SA, 5000
Background: Before colonisation, Aboriginal peoples thrived with strong cultural connections to land and sea, supported by kinship systems that promoted the health and wellbeing of entire families. However, colonisation, along with systemic and institutionalised racism, including policies of child removal, forced assimilation, and cultural suppression, disrupted and sought to eradicate these protective factors. Today, the legacy of colonisation continues to impact the social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) of Aboriginal peoples.
Despite various programs and investments, the SEWB of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and adolescents in South Australia still reflects the ongoing effects of historical injustices. This disparity is not due to inherent differences, but to the enduring legacy of colonisation. The study underscores the need to restore Aboriginal knowledge, systems, and cultural practices to drive systems change, ultimately strengthening protective factors and improving the SEWB of Aboriginal children and adolescents in South Australia.
Methods: In collaboration with Preventive Health SA, Torrens University Australia conducted a systematic review to identify the social and emotional wellbeing determinants for Aboriginal children and adolescents aged 8 to 17 years, using both inductive and deductive approaches to analyse the data thematically. The South Australian Aboriginal Education and Training Consultative Council facilitated community consultations across South Australia, employing yarning and other qualitative methods to gather insights from Aboriginal communities. Preventive Health SA then analysed the data from both the literature review and community consultations thematically, integrating inductive and deductive approaches with yarning to capture qualitative perspectives.
Findings: This project identified key risk and protective factors influencing Aboriginal child and adolescent SEWB.
Conclusions: A whole-of-government coordinated approach with long term investment, is required to address SEWB of Aboriginal youth in South Australia, imbedding systems change through collaboration and meaningful community engagement.
Key words: Social and emotional wellbeing, mental health, Aboriginal youth, health equity
Word count: 286

Problem
Public health problems are complex. Taking a systems lens, there are many levers to activate solutions. However, is the public health workforce generating similar questions and therefore generating similar, conventional solutions that may not be appropriate or effective for current and future preventive health problems? Innovation and person-centered approaches to problem-defining and solution-finding are needed to create positive social change in preventive health, especially with respect to working with First Nations communities in Australia. To develop novel solutions, the workforce needs to strengthen their creative problem-solving and problem-defining skills, whilst moving beyond focusing on generic questions.

What you did
To help public health professionals ask different questions about preventive health problems, they were immersed in design thinking on the topic of preventing type 2 diabetes among First Nations communities. Design thinking is a problem/solution process using a framework of phases with creative activities and mindsets. Specifically, 5 Why’s and User Persona activities helped them to identify the questions to solve, whether accentuating facilitators or overcoming barriers, and identify root causes, whilst seeking to better understand community needs. They were also guided through How Might We, Brainstorming with Constraints, Prototyping and Testing activities to ideate and develop testable solutions and elicit feedback from end-users to inform further ideation.

Results
This presentation will showcase the activities performed and what the results were. Briefly, a root cause identified and addressed concerning high rates of diabetes in the Piplyantjara community was that remoteness increases the cost and reduces the quality of healthy food. Accounting for community’s needs, the proposed question to solve was “how might we manage future freight and storage issues for food going into remote Aboriginal Communities?”. Proposed solutions involved flying food into communities, creating supervised “camp kitchens”, and introducing healthy food scanners in stores.

Lessons
This methodology helped public health professionals use divergent and convergent thinking to frame and pinpoint the root causes of a preventive health problem with intention, encourage experimentation through collaboration, and identify potential workable solutions. Design thinking frameworks and activities can be utilised by industry and academia to develop more innovative solutions to preventive health challenges.

Background
The transition to parenthood is a life-changing experience and a high-risk period for parents’ mental health and wellbeing. To reduce risk factors and support first-time South Australian caregivers in their own self-care, mental health, and wellbeing, we identified the need for an ongoing partnership and program of work to implement and sustain a prevention program: Caring for Caregivers.

Aim and Methods
Flinders University Caring Futures Institute, Preventive Health SA, and Child and Family Health Service (CaFHS) have partnered since 2022 to co-design and implement an evidence-informed program to support caregiver mental health and wellbeing. Informed by an Integrated-Knowledge Translation approach the Caring for Caregivers Program was co-designed using intervention mapping and mixed methods. The Program comprises 1-2 hours of evidence-informed psychoeducation targeting caregivers mental health, wellbeing, self-care, and social supports. Two feasibility trials were conducted to determine whether implementing this program into routine services is acceptable, feasible, and improves the wellbeing of caregivers. One was delivered as week 3 of the 4-week CaFHS Early Parenting Groups and the second was as a standalone antenatal class delivered by CaFHS at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Surveys were used to collect clinical and acceptability outcomes and focus groups collected acceptability and feasibility outcomes. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data was analysed using content analysis.

Results
Between July and October 2024, a total of 16 Caring for Caregiver Early Parenting Groups with 147 caregivers were conducted at CaFHS and a total of 4 Caring for Caregiver classes with 25 caregivers were conducted at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Preliminary data analysis shows caregivers found the Program acceptable, were satisfied with the early parenting group and antenatal class and were likely to return or recommend CaFHS to others.

Conclusion
The Caring for Caregivers program is acceptable, feasible, and demonstrates capacity to improve the wellbeing of caregivers. The program will now be implemented at scale across CaFHS. Undertaking long-term co-design partnerships to developing a prevention program is necessary to implement and sustain prevention.

Background: Prevention initiatives targeted at children and young people have been shown to reduce costs associated with mental ill-health. In addition to the mental health risk and protective factors indicated for the wider Australian population, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds have additional cultural factors that need to be considered. In Australia, there is a gap in mental health research and data, particularly in relation to what works to improve mental wellbeing and prevent mental ill-health among culturally and linguistically diverse young people. This project sought to work with organisations trusted among CALD communities to co-design and test strategies to promote mental wellbeing and prevent mental ill-health among CALD young people.

Methods: Using the Ottawa Charter and mental health promotion and prevention frameworks, Preventive Health SA (SA Government Agency) supported four organisations to implement a range of youth and family tailored primary prevention initiatives to improve the social, emotional, and psychological wellbeing of CALD youth. Youth aged between 12 and 25 years old were engaged to co-design initiatives. Data on reach, acceptability, barriers, and enablers were collected for each activity and tools including the Most Significant Change were used to evaluate mental wellbeing outcomes.

Findings: Over 40 activities were implemented by the four organisations over a 12-month period. These predominantly focused on capacity building and creating safe, supportive spaces for young people to connect. As a result, young people reported improvements in mental health literacy and stronger relationships with peers and family members.

Conclusions: Co-designing initiatives with CALD young people was effective in improving mental wellbeing in the short term, however there is a need to further investigate the sustainable impact of initiatives.
Key word: Sociocultural determinants, mental health, CALD youth, health equity

Promoting social-emotional competence can serve as a foundation for both preventing and treating mental health disorders. In school settings, empirical evidence has shown that social-emotional competence is critical for healthy development and can help counteract the negative impacts of mental health risks. Drawing from this evidence, SEW-Arts harnesses the arts natural capacity to foster wellbeing, supporting arts organisations to provide an intentional approach to build protective factors for good mental health.
Methods – Guided by insights from adolescents involved in the arts and feedback from arts personnel, we developed a framework to intentionally promote social and emotional wellbeing. Using a social-ecological lens, the framework targets three key areas. Central to its design are Wellbeing Factors each with their own key messages for young people and teaching artists. Through online and face-to-face sessions, alongside a train-the-trainer approach, we trained arts personnel to apply the framework.
Results – Approximately 40 arts organisations, spanning metropolitan, regional and remote areas, have integrated wellbeing factors in their programs or established supportive structures within their organisations. Preliminary findings indicate that arts organisations value a shared language for discussing social and emotional wellbeing and for recognising what they innately do. These organisations are currently collecting data to assess young people’s capacity to enhance their own social and emotional wellbeing and determine the frameworks impact on teaching artists’ ability to intentionally build social and emotional competencies.
Conclusion - The SEW-Arts framework provides a structure enabling arts organisations to intentionally promote the social and emotional wellbeing of young people, aiming to prevent mental health issues. The frameworks key messages may be adapted for use in other settings, supporting a broader, preventative approach to mental health promotion and balancing the current focus on treating mental health issues.