Language Breathes Life -Barngarla Community Perspectives on the Wellbeing Impacts of Reclaiming a Dormant Australian Aboriginal Language

Traditional languages are a key element of Indigenous peoples\u27 identity, cultural expression, autonomy, spiritual and intellectual sovereignty, and wellbeing. While the links between Indigenous language loss and poor mental health have been demonstrated in several settings, little research has sought to identify the potential psychological benefits that may derive from language reclamation. The revival of the Barngarla language on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, offers a unique opportunity to examine whether improvements in mental health and social and emotional wellbeing can occur during and following the language reclamation process. This paper presents findings from 16 semi-structured interviews conducted with Barngarla community members describing their own experienced or observed mental health and wellbeing impacts of language reclamation activities. Aligning with a social and emotional wellbeing framework from an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspective, key themes included connection to spirituality and ancestors; connection to Country; connection to culture; connection to community; connection to family and kinship; connection to mind and emotions; and impacts upon identity and cultural pride at an individual level. These themes will form the foundation of assessment of the impacts of language reclamation in future stages of the project

Developing the Indigenous Language and Wellbeing Survey: approaches to integrating qualitative findings into a survey instrument

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages can be seen as an integral aspect of cultural health. While colonisation has had devastating effects upon Indigenous languages, communities are increasingly reclaiming their languages, as a means to cultural preservation, community wellbeing and healing. Currently, there are no tools that specifically measure the potential positive impacts of language revival on the wellbeing of Indigenous peoples. This article brings together two broad constructs, social and emotional wellbeing and language reclamation, and describes an approach to developing a survey instrument to measure the relationship between Indigenous languages and wellbeing. With an emphasis on decolonising approaches to research, it steps out the key activities undertaken to develop the Indigenous Language and Wellbeing Survey. This article highlights the importance of addressing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research priorities. It also shows how qualitative material can guide the development of a quantitative survey in mixed-methods research

Health and well-being needs of Indigenous adolescents : a protocol for a scoping review of qualitative studies

Introduction: Improving the health of Indigenous adolescents is central to addressing the health inequities faced by Indigenous peoples. To achieve this, it is critical to understand what is needed from the perspectives of Indigenous adolescents themselves. There have been many qualitative studies that capture the perspectives of Indigenous young people, but synthesis of these has been limited to date. Methods and analysis: This scoping review seeks to understand the specific health needs and priorities of Indigenous adolescents aged 10-24 years captured via qualitative studies conducted across Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada, the USA, Greenland and Sami populations (Norway and Sweden). A team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers from these nations will systematically search PubMed (including the MEDLINE, PubMed Central and Bookshelf databases), CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, the Informit Indigenous and Health Collections, Google Scholar, Arctic Health, the Circumpolar Health Bibliographic Database, Native Health Database, iPortal and NZresearch.org, as well as specific websites and clearinghouses within each nation for qualitative studies. We will limit our search to articles published in any language during the preceding 5 years given that needs may have changed significantly over time. Two independent reviewers will identify relevant articles using a two-step process, with disagreements resolved by a third reviewer and the wider research group. Data will then be extracted from included articles using a standardised form, with descriptive synthesis focussing on key needs and priorities. This scoping review will be conducted and reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines. Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval was not required for this review. Findings will be disseminated via a peer-reviewed journal article and will inform a broader international collaboration for Indigenous adolescent health to develop evidence-based actions and solutions

Diversification Decisions in Family-Controlled Firms

This study examines diversification decisions of family firms and suggests that on average family firms diversify less both domestically and internationally than non-family firms. When they do diversify, family firms tend to opt for domestic rather than international diversification, and those that go the latter route prefer to choose regions that are 'culturally close'. Lastly, we find that family firms are more willing to diversify as business risk increases. The hypotheses are tested using a sample of 360 firms, 160 of them being family-controlled and the rest (200) non-family-controlled. Copyright (c) 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation (c) 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies.