Injuries and alcohol management plans in remote Indigenous communities: a two-community comparison
To curb high rates of alcohol-related violence and injury in Indigenous communities, alcohol management plans (AMPs) were implemented in 2002–2003 and tightened in 2008. This project compares injury presentations and alcohol involvement from two Indigenous Cape York communities, one that entered full prohibition and one that did not. Aclinical file audit was performed for the period 2006–2011, capturing changes in alcohol availability. Medical files were searched for injury presentation documenting type of injury, cause of injury (including alcohol), date of injury and outcomes of all presenting injuries for the time period 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2011, capturing the major changes of the 2008 AMP restrictions. Findings indicated injury presentation rates were higher in both communities before prohibition than afterwards andreduction was more pronounced in community 2 (prohibition). Ongoing research is imperative, as this area is characterised by a near-absence of evidence.
This article is the second of two parts. The first one was published in the issue no 2 of this same journal. The preseni study uses the dependency index and the youth ratio to describe the aging process both at regional and municipal levels. Our data show a yet moderate aging process in (he region. with an uneven distribution throughout the different municipalities.