The Impact of Household Infrastructure Improvements on Child Health in Remote Aboriginal Communities

生活环境对健康的影响在过去150年中已有大量文献记载，人们普遍承认，工业国家生活、工作和社会条件的改善导致健康状况的显著改善。在澳大利亚，不健康的环境与土著居民健康状况不佳之间的密切关系已得到明确承认。1993- 1994年，联邦政府制定了基础设施项目，作为执行国家土著人健康战略的一个组成部分。根据需要选择社区供资，北领地吸引的资金支持与其总人口不成比例，但与需要水平相符。虽然人们广泛接受家庭环境与健康状况之间的关系，并有证据支持这种一般关系，但需要在国际和地方一级进行研究，为具体的社会政策决定提供信息。拟议研究的目的是确定家庭基础设施的改善对生活在偏远土著社区的儿童健康的影响，以便为基础设施项目的发展提供信息。这一项目的成果将大大促进对家庭环境与健康状况之间关系的理解，以及对通过改善家庭基础设施可以改善健康状况的理解。据我们所知，家庭基础设施的具体组成部分与进行各种健康生活方式的能力之间的关系将首次得到界定。在北领地有一个独特的机会在这一领域进行世界级的研究。新的信息将对澳大利亚各地偏远土著社区以及国际上类似环境中的基础设施项目规划具有价值

The impact of the living environment on health has been well documented in the last 150 years and it is widely acknowledged that improvements in the living, working and social conditions of industrial countries have resulted in dramatic improvements in health. In Australia the close correlation between an unhealthy environment and the poor health of the Indigenous population has been clearly recognised. In 1993-94 the Federal Government established infrastructure projects as a component in the implementation of the National Aboriginal Health Strategy. The selection of communities for funding has been based on need, and the Northern Territory has attracted funding support disproportionate to its total population, but consistent with the level of need. While there is wide acceptance of the relationship between the household environment and health status, and evidence to support this general relationship, there is a need at an international and local level for research that informs specific social policy decisions. The aim of the proposed study is to determine the impact of improvements in household infrastructure on the health of children living in remote Aboriginal communities with a view to informing the development of infrastructure projects. The outcomes of this project will be a significant advance in the understanding of the relationship between the household environment and health status, and of the improvements in health that can be achieved through improvement in household infrastructure. The relationship between specific components of household infrastructure and the ability to conduct each of a number of healthy living practices will be defined, to our knowledge, for the first time. There is a unique opportunity in the Northern Territory to conduct world class research in this area. The new information will be of value in the planning of infrastructure projects in remote Indigenous communities across Australia and in similar settings internationally