Dr Vicki Kerrigan
Postdoctoral researcher
Qualifications:
PhD, Charles Darwin University, 2022; Master of International and Community Development, Deakin University 2016; Bachelor of Arts (Communications), Charles Sturt University, 1994
Location:
Darwin – Royal Darwin Hospital
Biography:
Vicki believes stories have the power to inspire positive change. She is a multidisciplinary qualitative researcher and workshop facilitator with two decades of experience at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as a broadcaster and multimedia producer. Vicki’s doctoral thesis: Batji-gum dilba (Good talk medicine): Improving culturally safe communication between doctors and Aboriginal patients in the Northern Territory of Australia explores the barriers and enablers to effective and culturally safe communication between patients and doctors at Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH). The thesis was named by Larrakia Elder Aunty Bilawara Lee who is working to revive the Larrakia language.
Vicki collaborates with First Nations leaders, the NT Health service, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health services and the NT Aboriginal Interpreter Service to conduct Participatory Action Research projects. She produced the multi-award-winning cultural education podcast Ask the Specialist: Larrakia, Tiwi and Yolŋu stories to inspire better healthcare which challenges racism in healthcare. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vicki collaborated with health and community leaders to develop 22 videos about COVID vaccines in Aboriginal languages: Tiwi, Yolŋu Matha, Kunwinjku, Kriol, Ngangi’kurunggurr, Murrinh-patha, Burarra, Warlpiri, Arrernte and English. She has also worked on research projects relating to rheumatic heart disease and social media and tobacco control.
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MEDIA RELEASE | “If they help us, we can help them” – Solutions to enhance cultural safety in hospital care
A new study led by the Communicate Study Partnership from Menzies School of Health Research has uncovered key priorities to improve the delivery of culturally safe care
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The Voice to Parliament "creates an opportunity to codesign a healthy future"
Four people working in the NT’s Top End share perspectives on the potential impact of the Voice to Parliament on health outcomes for First Nations peoples.
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MEDIA RELEASE | Codesign and communication supports a healthier future
The importance of codesigning First Nations healthcare and health research has been highlighted through insights by 4 researchers from Menzies School of Health Research (Menzies).
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ABC Radio | How doctors communicate with Indigenous patients
Vicki Kerrigan chats with the ABC Radio Health Report about the podcast ‘Ask the Specialist: Larrakia, Tiwi and Yolngu stories to inspire better healthcare’. This podcast is helping to improve patient-provider communication across the NT.
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MEDIA RELEASE | $1.5 million to improve patient-provider communication in NT hospitals
The Communicate Study, led by Menzies, was today awarded a five-year major investment of $1.5 million from the National Health and Medical Research Council to improve patient-provider communication at Royal Darwin, Gove and Katherine District Hospitals.
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NT News | Communication to be better after boost
Menzies School of Health Research has been awarded $1.5m to develop health communications in language for NT Aboriginal peoples.
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ANZCA Award
Congratulations to Vicki Kerrigan, winner of ANZCA's 2021 Grant Noble Award for best postgraduate abstract.
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COVID-19 vaccination video in Kunwinjku
Jeanette Burrunali from the Bininj Kunwok Regional Language Centre recently asked Dr Jane Davies lots of questions about the vaccine, questions that people want to know the answers to.
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Stay Strong: Aboriginal leaders deliver COVID-19 health messages
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Young Australian of the Year finalists committed to helping those in need
The NT's Young Australian of the Year also helped produce the Ask the Specialist podcast with Menzies School of Health Research.
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2020 CSL Florey Next Generation Award
Vicki Kerrigan, announced as a finalist – for improving Aboriginal health outcomes in the Northern Territory by reimagining how the cultural education can be delivered for healthcare providers.
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NT podcast recognised on national stage
A Northern Territory podcast designed to inspire better healthcare has picked up a silver medal for Smartest Podcast at the Australian Podcast Awards.
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Podcast delivers specialist cultural advice on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healthcare
A new Australian made podcast that reveals the reality of the hospital experience for Aboriginal patients in the Top End of the Northern Territory is receiving plaudits for its approach to cultural education in healthcare.
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Oz Podcast Winners Revealed
The winners of the Australian Podcast Awards for 2020 were announced last night (21/11), celebrating the best Australian podcasts across 24 different categories.
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Interpreters for Aboriginal people in hospital
On Health Report with Dr Norman Swan - Prof Anna Ralph - Menzies School of Health Research and Infectious Diseases Physician, RDH
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More Aboriginal interpreters result in less self-discharges from hospitals, new research finds
The Communicate study, led by Professor Anna Ralph, has found that employing Aboriginal interpreters in hospitals can impact the rate of patients leaving treatment early.
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Podcasts for Top End Doctors go global
A Northern Territory podcast to inspire better healthcare has gone global with listeners on nearly every continent since its launch in Darwin five weeks ago.
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Interpreter boost reduces patient self-discharge
A study conducted at RDH has found that increased use of Aboriginal interpreters was associated with a decrease in patients leaving treatment early.
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ABC Radio Darwin | Ask the Specialist's podcast experts address health racism at Royal Darwin Hospital
Racism and cultural insensitivity are the norm at the Northern Territory's biggest hospital, according to a panel of experts.
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Media Release| Ask the Specialist: Larrakia, Tiwi and Yolŋu stories to inspire better healthcare
A new podcast released today, Ask the Specialist, reveals the reality of the hospital experience for Aboriginal patients in the Top End of the Northern Territory and offers ideas to improve the delivery of culturally respectful care.
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Tongans use social media to fight lifestyle diseases
The training comes as new research from the Menzies School of Health looking at Australia's indigenous community has shown that using Facebook to deliver health messages can be effective.
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The ‘Communicate’ Study : Poster
A poster presentation on a study of patient-provider intercultural communication at Royal Darwin Hospital and consequently Aboriginal patient health outcomes, measured using quantitative and qualitative data.
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NT News | Sharing health message on FB
NT News | Sharing health message on FB
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Media release | Feel-good social media posts more likely to encourage healthy behaviour
Positive health-related social media posts that provide new information are more likely to be shared by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to encourage healthy behaviours, a study has found.
- Kerrigan, V., McGrath, S. Y., Herdman, R. M., Puruntatameri, P., Lee, B., Cass, A., Ralph, A. P., & Hefler, M. (2022). Evaluation of “Ask the Specialist": a cultural education podcast to inspire improved healthcare for Aboriginal peoples in Northern Australia. Health Sociology Review.(‘Yuwinbir’, a special issue of Health Sociology Review on Indigenous and sociological knowledges: Meeting points for health equity). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/14461242.2022.2055484
- Kerrigan, V., McGrath, S. Y., Majoni, S. W., Walker, M., Ahmat, M., Lee, B., Cass, A., Hefler, M., & Ralph, A. P. (2021). “The talking bit of medicine, that’s the most important bit”: Doctors and Aboriginal interpreters collaborate to transform culturally competent hospital care. International Journal for Equity in Health, 20(1), 170. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-021-01507-1
- Kerrigan, V., McGrath, S.Y., Majoni, S.W., Walker, M., Ahmat, M., Lee, B., Cass, A., Hefler, M. and Ralph, A. (2021). From “stuck” to satisfied: Aboriginal people’s experience of culturally safe care with interpreters in a Northern Territory hospital. BMC Health Services Research, 21(1): 548.
- Kerrigan, V., Lewis, N., Cass, A., Hefler, M. and Ralph, A. (2020). “How can I do more?” Cultural awareness training for hospital-based healthcare providers working with high Aboriginal caseload. BMC Medical Education, 20(173). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-02086-5
- Kerrigan, V., Lee, A.M., Ralph, A.P., Lawton, P.D. (2020). Stay Strong: Aboriginal leaders deliver COVID-19 health messages. Health Promotion Journal of Australia. https://doi.org/10.1002/hpja.364
- Kerrigan, V, Herdman R.M., Thomas D.P. and Hefler, M. (2019). ‘I still remember your post about buying smokes’: a case study of a remote Aboriginal community-controlled health service using Facebook for tobacco control. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 25(5), 443-448. doi: 10.1071/PY19008
- Hefler, M., Kerrigan, V., Henryks, J., Freeman. B,, Boot, G. and Thomas, D.P. (2019). Using Facebook to reduce smoking among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: a participatory grounded action study. BMC Public Health, 19. doi: 10.1186/s12889-019-6918-7
- Hughes, J., Dembski, L., Kerrigan, V., Majoni, S.W., Lawton, P.D. and Cass, A. (2018). Gathering Perspectives - Finding Solutions for Chronic and End Stage Kidney Disease. Indigenous Patient Voices - 2017 Symposium Report. Asia Pacific Society of Nephrology, 23(S1), 1-13.
- Hefler, M., Kerrigan, V., Henryks, J., Freeman, B., and Thomas, D.P. (2018). Social media and health information sharing among Australian Indigenous people. Health Promotion International, 34(4), 706–715. doi: 10.1093/heapro/day018
- Kerrigan, V. (December, 2017). Whitefella Broadcasting: Why non Indigenous journalists struggle to tell Aboriginal stories in Australia. Paper presented at the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia annual conference, Newcastle.