Thanks to the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (Congress) for sharing resources designed to target a cohort at increased risk of foot wounds: Aboriginal Australians.

The 'Looking After Feet Ingke Arntarnte-areme' resources can be found at woundaware.org, the home of our Be Wound Aware campaign to educate the nation about chronic wounds.

Diabetic foot wounds are a common wound type, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are between three and six times more likely to experience them compared to non-Indigenous Australians.1 Congress developed these culturally sensitive resources, which use community-informed language and imagery tailored to First Nations communities, in the hopes of supporting this at-risk group. 

They include Conversation Cards designed to guide health professionals in helping their patients check and protect their feet.

Thank you to Congress

Wounds Australia CEO Jeff Antcliff met with representatives from Congress on a recent trip to Alice Springs as part of a professional learning series in the region.

In a fruitful and collaborative discussion, Congress granted permission to use the resources in the Be Wound Aware campaign. We thank them for their generosity and continued support. 

The resources can also be found - along with many more high quality, evidence-based resources - on the Congress's website, and on their Foot Health App, which is designed to support clinicians on-country. 

We encourage you to explore the resources, along with factsheets in multiple languages and other great material offered through Be Wound Aware, and share them with your patients and colleagues to help prevent avoidable foot wounds. 

Reference: (1) West, M., Chuter, V., Munteanu, S. et al. Defining the gap: a systematic review of the difference in rates of diabetes-related foot complications in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and non-Indigenous Australians. J Foot Ankle Res 10, 48 (2017).