Challenges and lessons learnt implementing longitudinal studies of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people: A qualitative study

Purpose

Scant attention has been paid to the experiences of researchers engaged in cohort studies of minority populations such as Indigenous children and their families. This qualitative study aimed to explore the practical challenges, strategies and solutions used by researchers representing 10 prospective cohort studies of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people.

Methods

Eighteen researchers, 44.5% of whom identified as Aboriginal, were interviewed. Reflexive thematic analysis was conducted.

Main findings

Four overarching themes were generated from the dataset: (1) getting things just right; (2) build and nurture connections with community and staff; (3) ‘sit and yarn with them’: approaches to recruitment and retention; and (4) great responsibility. These themes underline the importance of developing early community partnerships to guide the scope and direction of the research, building a solid team of local Aboriginal researchers with community connections, and prioritising two-way learning and feedback loops from the beginning.

Principal conclusions

It is imperative to take a flexible and pragmatic approach to longitudinal studies involving Aboriginal children and their families that minimises participant burden while respecting local needs and priorities. Lessons learnt will be useful to new researchers undertaking, or planning to undertake, longitudinal research with First Nations populations.