Research with an Aboriginal health service: Building an effective partnership, step by step

Principles to guide new researchers working in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health have been defined to ensure that relevant, effective and culturally respectful research relationships are formed [1]. This paper describes how a PhD candidate applied these principles in practice to establish a research partnership with an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS). A series of steps outline the development of the research partnership. The research explored how organisational capacity could be strengthened to deliver health promotion using a participatory action research approach. Data was gathered from staff and through analysis of organisational systems.