Inclusivity in the Early Years

To achieve the full development potential of South Australia's children and adolescents.HDA is an independent non-partisan organisation that encourages the use of evidence-based policy along with universal, targeted and clinical interventions designed to maximise the developmental potential of infants, children, adolescents and families in South Australia.HDA is funded and supported by the Channel 7 Children's Research Foundation, University of Adelaide (Robinson Research Institute), University of South Australia, Flinders University, the Department for Education, the Women’s and Children’s Health Network, the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (Women and Kids), Department of Human Services, Department for Child Protection, and Novita.

Healthy Development Adelaide (HDA)

Please join us for the Healthy Development Adelaide (HDA) and Flinders Caring Futures Institute forum.

Napier G04 lecture theatre, ground floor, Napier building, North Terrace, University of Adelaide

A healthy start to life is something we all take for granted. Healthy pregnancies, healthy mums and babies, connected families, strong development, engaged learners are all valued. But it is not always the case. Despite our best efforts some children do not get the best start to life. They face challenges due to disability, social determinants of health, gaps in the network of adults around them, or lack of support for the tough job of parenting. The Flinders Caring Futures Institute brings together over 200 researchers to tackle the complex care challenges that limit health and wellbeing in our communities. The multi-layer barriers that are embedded in our health, education and social care systems are the focus of our interdisciplinary teams that utilize innovative research methods, theoretically-informed knowledge translation, health and social care economics and digital technologies to ensure all South Australians have the supports in place to thrive.OUR SPEAKERSProfessor Joanne Arciuli, Lead: Communication, Cognition, and Wellbeing Research Group, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders UniversitySelf-reported School Satisfaction and DisabilitySchool satisfaction is an important aspect of children’s wellbeing. There is relatively little known about school satisfaction among children with developmental disabilities with studies to date producing mixed findings. I will present our data on school satisfaction among autistic children and results of secondary data analyses of nationally representative datasets.Professor Arciuli researches cognition, communication, and wellbeing. For many years she has been supporting the literacy skills of children with developmental disabilities. She has also been examining wellbeing in the form of children’s self report of school satisfaction and is particularly interested in the intersection of age, gender, and disability. She served a three year term as Dean of Research in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Flinders University (2020-2023). She has published over 100 journal articles and, among other funding support, has been continuously funded by the Australian Research Council since 2007, including a 4-year Future Fellowship. Dr Nina Sivertsen, Senior Lecturer, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders UniversityCultural continuity in health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in mainstream healthThis talk builds on research focused on social inclusion and healthcare access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, exploring the Pepi-Pod® program's cultural acceptance and implementation as a safe sleep space alternative in South Australia. Despite a general approval, participants desired culturally consistent health sleep safety messages. The other study highlights the discontinuity in mainstream healthcare services for these families, identifying systemic and cultural barriers, and advocates for strategies to improve continuity and culturally safe care for Aboriginal families and infants in their first 1000 days.Dr Nina Sivertsen is an Arctic Indigenous Sámi woman living and working on Kaurna Country in Adelaide. She is a Senior Nursing Lecturer at Flinders University, and works closely with the Arctic University of Norway. Her work focuses on community and health systems research in partnership with First Peoples and contributes to restorative policy and practice. Her work builds capacity for culturally responsive care and validates and centres First Nations knowledge and experiences. Nina’s work at the nexus of Indigenous women’s health, culture, and education was awarded the 2021 Women in Innovation Award and the 2022 Flinders Reconciliation Award.Dr Brittany Johnson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Caring Futures Institute, Flinders UniversityTOPCHILD: Using tailored evidence in policy and practice Setting up positive health behaviours in early life can help prevent childhood obesity and later health. The TOPCHILD research program aims to speed up gathering and using evidence about child health behaviours. I will present our living evidence base that is tailored to different families, and how we are developing tools to support decision making in policy and practice contexts. Dr Brittany Johnson is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Flinders Caring Futures Institute. Her research interests include applying behaviour change theory to make it easier for parents and caregivers to promote healthy habits and behaviours for young children, through access to evidence-informed policies and practices. In 2023, she was awarded an Early-Mid Career Fellowship from The Hospital Research Foundation Group. She is deputy chair of the TOPCHILD Collaboration (www.topchildcollaboration.org)—a project that is bringing together researchers from around the world to transform early childhood obesity prevention, by unpacking past interventions using novel methods to understand how they work, and for whom.Dr Sarah Hunter, Research Fellow, Caring Futures Institute, Flinders UniversityCaring for Caregivers: Navigating the Early Years SystemTo optimise the health, development and social outcomes of children, their caregivers and families, the Early Years System needs to be accessible and equitable. I will present our research that explored how South Australian family’s access and engage with the System, highlighting how it is overwhelming and difficult, often misses those who need it most, and we need more support for caregivers’ own needs within existing services.Dr Sarah Hunter is a research fellow in the Healthy Start to Life team within the Caring Futures Institute. She completed a PhD in Psychology in 2018 and has developed strong programs of implementation science and family and caregiver research. Specifically, her research focuses on the complex and diverse ways in which parents and caregivers enact child rearing, the challenges they face, and the support they need to overcome them. Since 2022, Sarah leads research that supports a Public Health Partner Authority agreement between Wellbeing SA and the Caring Futures Institute to shape an evidence-informed Early Years System in South Australia that engages and supports parents and caregivers for improved child health, development, and wellbeing.OUR CHAIRProfessor Rebecca Golley, Matthew Flinders Professor, Deputy Director of the Flinders Caring Futures InstituteProfessor Rebecca Golley leads a program of public health nutrition research with a strong focus on supporting children and families. Professor Rebecca Golley is an internationally recognized expert in child obesity prevention and nutrition promotion interventions and dietary assessment. She has a strong track record in nutritional epidemiology, behavioral nutrition, food parenting, intervention development and evaluation as well as research translation. In her role within the Flinders Caring Futures Institute, she leads a strategic platform on building research areas of focus and team-based research capacity building. Other event information:Open to the public, everyone is welcome. Networking and light refreshments will follow the session and panel discussion from 7.30pm.

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