Integration of decolonising methods within a scoping review to provide culturally relevant understandings of programs addressing the social determinants of health.

The ongoing effects of colonisation including the continuing social and political oppression and dispossession of Indigenous communities have contributed to significant health and social inequities, with the social determinants of health contributing to 34% of the health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Indigenous concepts of health recognise the interconnection of cultural, social, economic and political factors on health and wellbeing and there is a need to better understand how these are addressed by health services. A Scoping Review method was integrated with Indigenous knowledge using decolonising methods to identify the extent that the social determinants of health were addressed within services that intervened on a health need of Indigenous communities.

An Advisory Group consisting of Indigenous knowledge actively informed the review question, synthesis and knowledge translation of findings. Following guidelines from Levac et al, this mixed-method review was informed by the health, social and cultural indicators identified in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework to extract evidence of intervention features which are effective at improving health and wellbeing. Each program was assessed from an Indigenous perspective for cultural relevance and responsiveness using a culturally developed appraisal tool.

This is the first comprehensive review to show the extent that health care programs address the social determinants of health. Knowledges were integrated from Indigenous and non-Indigenous paradigms, privileging Indigenous knowledge and lived experiences. Through Advisory Group engagement and the cultural appraisal of evidence, this review generated innovative and culturally relevant understandings of the social determinants of health.