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A mix of ancient sand-drawing techniques using fencing wire and modern projection technology will be used to educate Aboriginal people about preventing kidney disease.

The Western Desert Kidney Health Project - launched in Kalgoorlie today - will involve a multidisciplinary team of Aboriginal health, medical and community development workers and artists aiming to reduce disease and diabetes by 20 per cent over three years in 10 Indigenous communities representing six language groups.

The project will cover an area about the size of Victoria and populated by almost 8,000 people whose expected life-span is 17 years less than that of non-Aboriginal people.  Contributing factors in this reduced life expectancy are kidney disease and diabetes.

The project's Chief Investigator is respected senior Wongutha woman Annette Stokes of The University of Western Australia's Kalgoorlie-based Rural Clinical School.

"One of the communities the project workers will visit is 700 km out in the desert and is one of the Australia's most isolated communities," Ms Stokes said.  "More than anything people want to understand what is happening to their bodies so they can make real choices.  As hunters, they understand anatomy and physiology - they just have to hear the message.

"A pilot study in 2007 in Leonora, Laverton and Mt Margaret helped 25% of overweight community-members to lose weight - and keep it off, as well as improving cholesterol levels, blood pressure and the other risk factors for early death."

Two three-tonne ‘healthy lifestyle' trucks will be used in the project.  One will be a mobile clinic for early detection of disease and chronic disease management, health promotion and evaluation.  The other will transport artists and healthy lifestyle workers who will educate the communities about kidney health.

Three distinct areas will be the focus each year and the trucks will spend from six to 12 weeks on each ‘run': Salt Lake, Clay Pan and Spinifex.

Sand-drawing was traditionally done by women using a story stick - and more recently, wire - to tell narratives.  In this project, the drawing will be animated and project workers will use the images to describe how an improvement in diet, an increase in exercise, and stress-management would provide better health outcomes.

The communities involved are: Karrawang, Coolgardie, Norseman, Menzies/Morapoi, Leonora, Laverton, Mt Margaret, Mulga Queen, Tjuntjunjarra and Coonana.

BHP Billiton Nickel West is the founding corporate partner of the project.

"We recognise that preventing kidney disease is critical to the future of the communities of the Western Desert," said Nickel West President Wayne Isaacs.

"It is our hope that this project grows and delivers healthier futures, and most importantly longer lives for our communities, as people in the Western Desert form their own answers to preventing kidney disease.  We are proud to be working with four local organisations to make a real contribution towards improving Aboriginal health in the region."

UWA, the Rural Clinical School, the University of Notre Dame, Bega Garnbirringu Health Services, the Goldfields Esperance GP Network and Wongutha Birni Aboriginal Corporation are the main contributors and the main corporate partner is BHP Billiton Nickel West.

Photo: Poppy Van Oorde-Grainger
Left to right:  Associate Professor Christine Jeffries Stokes,  Mark Stokes, Annette Stokes.
(Annette and Christine are Chief Investigators of the Western Desert Kidney Health Project.)

Media references

Annette Stokes (Rural Clinical School)  (+61 8)  9091 0664
Associate Professor Christine Jeffries-Stokes (Rural Clinical School)  (+61 4) 07 387 602
Sally-Ann Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 7975  /  (+61 4) 20 790 098