Dr Vicki Kerrigan

Postdoctoral researcher

Qualifications:

PhD, Charles Darwin University, 2022; Master of International and Community Development, Deakin University 2016; Bachelor of Arts (Communications), Charles Sturt University, 1994

Location:

Darwin – Royal Darwin Hospital

Biography:

Vicki believes stories have the power to inspire positive change. She is a multidisciplinary qualitative researcher and workshop facilitator with two decades of experience at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as a broadcaster and multimedia producer. Vicki’s doctoral thesis: Batji-gum dilba (Good talk medicine): Improving culturally safe communication between doctors and Aboriginal patients in the Northern Territory of Australia explores the barriers and enablers to effective and culturally safe communication between patients and doctors at Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH). The thesis was named by Larrakia Elder Aunty Bilawara Lee who is working to revive the Larrakia language.  
Vicki collaborates with First Nations leaders, the NT Health service, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health services and the NT Aboriginal Interpreter Service to conduct Participatory Action Research projects. She produced the multi-award-winning cultural education podcast Ask the Specialist: Larrakia, Tiwi and Yolŋu stories to inspire better healthcare which challenges racism in healthcare. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vicki collaborated with health and community leaders to develop 22 videos about COVID vaccines in Aboriginal languages: Tiwi, Yolŋu Matha, Kunwinjku, Kriol, Ngangi’kurunggurr, Murrinh-patha, Burarra, Warlpiri, Arrernte and English. She has also worked on research projects relating to rheumatic heart disease and social media and tobacco control.

Dr Vicki Kerrigan
Email
Research Themes
  1. MEDIA RELEASE | Learning from Aboriginal Leaders: New podcast episodes put Central Australian knowledge at the heart of culturally safe healthcare
  2. MEDIA RELEASE | “If they help us, we can help them” – Solutions to enhance cultural safety in hospital care
  3. The Voice to Parliament "creates an opportunity to codesign a healthy future"
  4. MEDIA RELEASE | Codesign and communication supports a healthier future
  5. ABC Radio | How doctors communicate with Indigenous patients
  6. MEDIA RELEASE | $1.5 million to improve patient-provider communication in NT hospitals
  7. NT News | Communication to be better after boost
  8. ANZCA Award
  9. COVID-19 vaccination video in Kunwinjku
  10. Stay Strong: Aboriginal leaders deliver COVID-19 health messages
  11. Young Australian of the Year finalists committed to helping those in need
  12. 2020 CSL Florey Next Generation Award
  13. NT podcast recognised on national stage
  14. Podcast delivers specialist cultural advice on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healthcare
  15. Oz Podcast Winners Revealed
  16. Interpreters for Aboriginal people in hospital
  17. More Aboriginal interpreters result in less self-discharges from hospitals, new research finds
  18. Podcasts for Top End Doctors go global
  19. Interpreter boost reduces patient self-discharge
  20. ABC Radio Darwin | Ask the Specialist's podcast experts address health racism at Royal Darwin Hospital
  21. Media Release| Ask the Specialist: Larrakia, Tiwi and Yolŋu stories to inspire better healthcare
  22. Tongans use social media to fight lifestyle diseases
  23. The ‘Communicate’ Study : Poster
  24. NT News | Sharing health message on FB
  25. Media release | Feel-good social media posts more likely to encourage healthy behaviour
  1. Kerrigan, V., McGrath, S. Y., Herdman, R. M., Puruntatameri, P., Lee, B., Cass, A., Ralph, A. P., & Hefler, M. (2022). Evaluation of “Ask the Specialist": a cultural education podcast to inspire improved healthcare for Aboriginal peoples in Northern Australia. Health Sociology Review.(‘Yuwinbir’, a special issue of Health Sociology Review on Indigenous and sociological knowledges: Meeting points for health equity). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/14461242.2022.2055484
  2. Kerrigan, V., McGrath, S. Y., Majoni, S. W., Walker, M., Ahmat, M., Lee, B., Cass, A., Hefler, M., & Ralph, A. P. (2021). “The talking bit of medicine, that’s the most important bit”: Doctors and Aboriginal interpreters collaborate to transform culturally competent hospital care. International Journal for Equity in Health, 20(1), 170. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-021-01507-1
  3. Kerrigan, V., McGrath, S.Y., Majoni, S.W., Walker, M., Ahmat, M., Lee, B., Cass, A., Hefler, M. and Ralph, A. (2021). From “stuck” to satisfied: Aboriginal people’s experience of culturally safe care with interpreters in a Northern Territory hospital. BMC Health Services Research, 21(1): 548.
  4. Kerrigan, V., Lewis, N., Cass, A., Hefler, M. and Ralph, A. (2020). “How can I do more?” Cultural awareness training for hospital-based healthcare providers working with high Aboriginal caseload. BMC Medical Education, 20(173). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-02086-5
  5. Kerrigan, V., Lee, A.M., Ralph, A.P., Lawton, P.D. (2020). Stay Strong: Aboriginal leaders deliver COVID-19 health messages. Health Promotion Journal of Australia.  https://doi.org/10.1002/hpja.364
  6. Kerrigan, V, Herdman R.M., Thomas D.P. and Hefler, M. (2019). ‘I still remember your post about buying smokes’: a case study of a remote Aboriginal community-controlled health service using Facebook for tobacco control. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 25(5), 443-448. doi: 10.1071/PY19008
  7. Hefler, M., Kerrigan, V., Henryks, J., Freeman. B,, Boot, G. and Thomas, D.P. (2019). Using Facebook to reduce smoking among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: a participatory grounded action study. BMC Public Health, 19. doi: 10.1186/s12889-019-6918-7 
  8. Hughes, J., Dembski, L., Kerrigan, V., Majoni, S.W., Lawton, P.D. and Cass, A. (2018). Gathering Perspectives - Finding Solutions for Chronic and End Stage Kidney Disease. Indigenous Patient Voices - 2017 Symposium Report. Asia Pacific Society of Nephrology, 23(S1), 1-13. 
  9. Hefler, M., Kerrigan, V., Henryks, J., Freeman, B., and Thomas, D.P. (2018). Social media and health information sharing among Australian Indigenous people. Health Promotion International, 34(4), 706–715. doi: 10.1093/heapro/day018 
  10. Kerrigan, V. (December, 2017). Whitefella Broadcasting: Why non Indigenous journalists struggle to tell Aboriginal stories in Australia. Paper presented at the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia annual conference, Newcastle.