Keywords

Indigenous Australian, Digital Health Technologies, Collaborative Relationship, Diabetes Management

Abstract

Indigenous populations worldwide face significant health challenges, especially in chronic disease management (CDM), driven by socioeconomic, cultural, and historical factors, necessitating a patient-centred and collaborative approach to care. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital health technologies (DHTs) among Indigenous patients and their providers. The effectiveness of these DHTs largely depends on their shared use, which fosters the patient-provider collaborative relationship as a critical intermediary mechanism. However, there remains limited understanding of how this collaborative relationship can be facilitated through the shared use of DHTs. Drawing on the working alliance concept from psychology and agency theory, this research conceptualises DHT as a change mediator that facilitates both task-oriented and socio-emotional dimensions of the patient-provider collaborative relationship. The study takes a qualitative and interpretive approach to explore how Indigenous diabetic patients and their care providers, including clinicians, health coaches and support workers, use the Virtual Health Services (VHS) System implemented by Goondir Health, an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service provider in Queensland, Australia. Initial findings reveal the critical role of Indigenous health coaches and support workers, who act as additional mediators, serving as advocates for patients and informants for providers. They facilitate the use of the VHS system and help establish indigenous principles in the collaborative relationship. The findings are expected to contribute to theoretical advancements in the shared use of DHT in CDM and provide actionable insights for improving patient-provider collaboration in Indigenous healthcare contexts.

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