Public Health & Tropical Medicine

Lynsey Brown

Adjunct Senior Lecturer
lynsey.brown@jcu.edu.au

Ali Isin

Adjunct Senior Research Fellow
ali.isin@jcu.edu.au

Kerrianne Watt

Adjunct Professor
kerrianne.watt@jcu.edu.au

David Plummer

Adjunct Professor
david.plummer@jcu.edu.au

Karla Canuto

Professor, Indigenous Health Promotion
karla.canuto@jcu.edu.au

Andreas Neumayr

Adjunct Professor
andreas.neumayr@jcu.edu.au

Gary Jones

Adjunct Senior Lecturer
gary.jones1@my.jcu.edu.au

Oyelola Adegboye

Adjunct Associate Professor
oyelola.adegboye@jcu.edu.au

Faith Alele

Adjunct Senior Lecturer
faith.alele@my.jcu.edu.au

Community-led Health Promotion in the Torres Strait

Karla Canuto - Public Health & Tropical Medicine

01 Jan 2026 - 31 Dec 2030

Throughout the isolated communities of the Torres Strait (Zenadh) the rates of chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and chronic renal failure are skyrocketing. During invited community visits in 2023, we confirmed that health restoration is an urgent priority for Maluilgal (the tribal people of the Maluilgau region – Badu, Mabuiag and Moa Islands). Tribal leads have initiated a movement called Kikirriu dan Walmai (KDW), which means “our health is resurrected”. KDW will be led by a team chosen by the Tribal leads and who will honour and respect the cultural governance and protection required to meet the KDW objectives. As a Torres Strait Islander researcher and recognised national leader in Indigenous health promotion and building Indigenous research capacity, I have been endorsed by Tribal leads of KDW to work with stakeholders and Maluilgal to lead a program of work to restore wellness. My Investigator research program will reduce chronic disease risk factors through community-led evidence-based health restoration initiatives in the extremely remote and under resourced communities. This will be achieved by identifying health promoting priorities for each community, building the capacity of local community-based researchers, collaborative co-design health promoting initiatives, implement and evaluate the initiatives and the translation of knowledge. The evaluation of restorative health initiatives will include anthropometric and metabolic risk markers, such as weight, blood pressure and cholesterol and measures of social, cultural and emotional wellbeing. These initiatives will provide evidence to support the upscaling and transfer of the processes to other communities of Zenadh and beyond. Anticipated outcomes will be the research activity training and upskilling of local Maluilgal community members and the implementation and evaluation of sustainable effective health initiatives that will restore well-being to their communities.