A community-based sports massage course for Aboriginal health workers

Vindigni, D., Parkinson, L., Walker, B., Rivett, D.A., Blunden, S. and Perkins, J. (2005) A community-based sports massage course for Aboriginal health workers. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 13 (2). pp. 111-115.

Abstract

Objective: To pilot a community-based and owned sports massage course for Aboriginal health workers (AHWs).

Design: Descriptive, pilot educational intervention study.

Setting: Rural, Indigenous Australian community.

Subjects: AHWs working in a rural community.

Main outcome measures: Cultural and logistical acceptability of the program to AHWs.

Results: The course was delivered within a culturally acceptable framework with applicability for the evaluation of sports massage skills and knowledge changes in a larger sample.

Conclusion: The sports massage course demonstrated its applicability in this rural Aboriginal community and it has the potential to be adapted and adopted in other similar settings.