Cultural, sociopolitical, environmental and built assets supporting health and well-being in Torres Strait Island communities: protocol for a scoping review

Abstract

Risks to an individual's health should be considered alongside the environmental, sociocultural and sociopolitical context(s) in which they live. Environmental mapping is an approach to identifying enablers and barriers to health within a community. The Indigenous Indicator Classification System (IICS) framework has been used to map the environment in Australian Indigenous communities. The IICS is a four-level nested hierarchical framework with subject groups including culture, sociopolitical and built at the top of the hierarchy and indicators at the bottom. The objective of this scoping review is to map the cultural, sociopolitical, environmental and built assets that support health and well-being that exist in each Torres Strait Island community. This review will be conducted according the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) method for scoping reviews. It will include sources that identify cultural, sociopolitical, environmental and built assets that support health and well-being that exist in each Torres Strait Island community. Databases to be searched include: Informit; Scopus; Web of Science; HealthInfoNet, BioOne Complete and Green File. Sources of unpublished and grey literature will be located using Google and Google Scholar. Searches will be limited to the English language and literature published since January 2018 to ensure that the assets mapped reflect current conditions on each island. Data that answers the research question will be extracted from sources and recorded in an adaptation of the IICS. Quantitative analysis of the data will include summing each asset for individual islands and their associated clusters. Data will be presented graphically, diagrammatically, or in tabular form depending on what approach best conveys its meaning. The Far North Queensland Human Research Ethics Committee (reference HREC/2022/QCH/88 155-1624) has approved this study. Dissemination of the review's findings will be led by Torres Strait Islander members of the research team through conferences and peer-reviewed publications.