Principles of practice in mental health assessment with Aboriginal Australians

In this chapter, concepts and history of assessment and testing in the context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing and mental health are discussed. Importantly, recently revised diagnostic guidelines and the National Practice Standards for the Mental Health Workforce 20131 and their appropriateness for meeting the distinctive needs of Aboriginal people are reviewed. Various assessment tools and measures that have been validated or proved appropriate for use with particular Aboriginal populations, i.e. youth, women and older people, are described. We conclude that practitioners need to be critically reflective in their role in assessment, and position themselves to play an important transformative role in conducting assessment. This extends to acknowledging and enacting culturally responsive principles, procedures and practices to ensure that Aboriginal people have access to effective, culturally secure mental health care

Indigenous psychology in Australia

Experiences of colonial oppression have had a profound and enduring effect on the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and communities throughout Australia and other indigenous nations globally. On almost every headline, indicator statistics show that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people fare worse than their non-Indigenous counterparts. Australian psychology has been implicated in the marginalisation and disenfranchisement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people since colonisation. In spite of this, a distinctive Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous psychology has emerged in recent decades as a point of resistance to the dominant discourses in Australian psychology. The principles and practices of Australian Indigenous psychology will be described with particular reference to the establishment in 2008 of the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association (AIPA). AIPA has provided a rallying point for advocacy and capacity building for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychologists. In addition, a number of key theoretical and methodological frameworks have emerged to guide decolonising practice in the intercultural space. The chapter concludes with the Australian Psychological Society’s 2016 apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities, an excerpt of which is quoted above

Violence risk assessment in Australian Aboriginal offender populations: a review of the literature

The utilization of violence risk instruments in forensic populations is increasing and a plethora of empirical investigations support their ability to predict recidivistic outcomes. However, the generalizability of these findings to culturally diverse populations is problematic given dissimilarities in cultural traditions, norms, and experiences. The present study explored this subject in relation to Aboriginal Australians. First, a concert of violence risk markers that are more prevalent among Aboriginal Australian offenders compared with non-Aboriginal offenders were examined in light of their social and historical context. Next, studies employing violence risk instruments on cohorts of Aboriginal Australian offenders were reviewed. Findings demonstrated moderate predictive accuracy for violence and commensurate utility with non-Aboriginal offenders although results should be treated with caution due to the paucity of available studies for consideration. Implications for clinical practice and culturally appropriate assessment models are discussed

Boolean logic in synthetic biology and biomaterials: Towards living materials in mammalian cell therapeutics

Abstract Background: The intersection of synthetic biology and biomaterials promises to enhance safety and efficacy in novel therapeutics. Both fields increasingly employ Boolean logic, which allows for specific therapeutic outputs (e.g., drug release, peptide synthesis) in response to inputs such as disease markers or bio‐orthogonal stimuli. Examples include stimuli‐responsive drug delivery devices and logic‐gated chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells. In this review, we explore recent manuscripts highlighting the potential of synthetic biology and biomaterials with Boolean logic to create novel and efficacious living therapeutics. Main body: Collaborations in synthetic biology and biomaterials have led to significant advancements in drug delivery and cell therapy. Borrowing from synthetic biology, researchers have created Boolean‐responsive biomaterials sensitive to multiple inputs including pH, light, enzymes and more to produce functional outputs such as degradation, gel‐sol transition and conformational change. Biomaterials also enhance synthetic biology, particularly CAR T and adoptive T cell therapy, by modulating therapeutic immune cells in vivo. Nanoparticles and hydrogels also enable in situ generation of CAR T cells, which promises to drive down production costs and expand access to these therapies to a larger population. Biomaterials are also used to interface with logic‐gated CAR T cell therapies, creating controllable cellular therapies that enhance safety and efficacy. Finally, designer cells acting as living therapeutic factories benefit from biomaterials that improve biocompatibility and stability in vivo. Conclusion: By using Boolean logic in both cellular therapy and drug delivery devices, researchers have achieved better safety and efficacy outcomes. While early projects show incredible promise, coordination between these fields is ongoing and growing. We expect that these collaborations will continue to grow and realize the next generation of living biomaterial therapeutics