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.

  1. The Voice to Parliament "creates an opportunity to codesign a healthy future"

    The Voice to Parliament "creates an opportunity to codesign a healthy future"

    Date

    Four people working in the NT’s Top End share perspectives on the potential impact of the Voice to Parliament on health outcomes for First Nations peoples.

  2. MEDIA RELEASE | Codesign and communication supports a healthier future

    MEDIA RELEASE | Codesign and communication supports a healthier future

    Date

    The importance of codesigning First Nations healthcare and health research has been highlighted through insights by 4 researchers from Menzies School of Health Research (Menzies).

  3. ABC Radio | How doctors communicate with Indigenous patients

    ABC Radio | How doctors communicate with Indigenous patients

    Date

    Vicki Kerrigan chats with the ABC Radio Health Report about the podcast ‘Ask the Specialist: Larrakia, Tiwi and Yolngu stories to inspire better healthcare’. This podcast is helping to improve patient-provider communication across the NT.

  4. MEDIA RELEASE | $1.5 million to improve patient-provider communication in NT hospitals

    MEDIA RELEASE | $1.5 million to improve patient-provider communication in NT hospitals

    Date

    The Communicate Study, led by Menzies, was today awarded a five-year major investment of $1.5 million from the National Health and Medical Research Council to improve patient-provider communication at Royal Darwin, Gove and Katherine District Hospitals.

  5. NT News | Communication to be better after boost

    NT News | Communication to be better after boost

    Date

    Menzies School of Health Research has been awarded $1.5m to develop health communications in language for NT Aboriginal peoples.

  6. ANZCA Award

    ANZCA Award

    Date

    Congratulations to Vicki Kerrigan, winner of ANZCA's 2021 Grant Noble Award for best postgraduate abstract.

  7. COVID-19 vaccination video in Kunwinjku

    COVID-19 vaccination video in Kunwinjku

    Date

    Jeanette Burrunali from the Bininj Kunwok Regional Language Centre recently asked Dr Jane Davies lots of questions about the vaccine, questions that people want to know the answers to.

  8. Stay Strong: Aboriginal leaders deliver COVID-19 health messages

    Stay Strong: Aboriginal leaders deliver COVID-19 health messages

    Date

  9. Young Australian of the Year finalists committed to helping those in need

    Young Australian of the Year finalists committed to helping those in need

    Date

    The NT's Young Australian of the Year also helped produce the Ask the Specialist podcast with Menzies School of Health Research.

  10. 2020 CSL Florey Next Generation Award

    2020 CSL Florey Next Generation Award

    Date

    Vicki Kerrigan, announced as a finalist – for improving Aboriginal health outcomes in the Northern Territory by reimagining how the cultural education can be delivered for healthcare providers.

  11. NT podcast recognised on national stage

    NT podcast recognised on national stage

    Date

    A Northern Territory podcast designed to inspire better healthcare has picked up a silver medal for Smartest Podcast at the Australian Podcast Awards.

  12. Podcast delivers specialist cultural advice on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healthcare

    Podcast delivers specialist cultural advice on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healthcare

    Date

    A new Australian made podcast that reveals the reality of the hospital experience for Aboriginal patients in the Top End of the Northern Territory is receiving plaudits for its approach to cultural education in healthcare.

  13. Oz Podcast Winners Revealed

    Oz Podcast Winners Revealed

    Date

    The winners of the Australian Podcast Awards for 2020 were announced last night (21/11), celebrating the best Australian podcasts across 24 different categories.

  14. Interpreters for Aboriginal people in hospital

    Interpreters for Aboriginal people in hospital

    Date

    On Health Report with Dr Norman Swan - Prof Anna Ralph - Menzies School of Health Research and Infectious Diseases Physician, RDH

  15. More Aboriginal interpreters result in less self-discharges from hospitals, new research finds

    More Aboriginal interpreters result in less self-discharges from hospitals, new research finds

    Date

    The Communicate study, led by Professor Anna Ralph, has found that employing Aboriginal interpreters in hospitals can impact the rate of patients leaving treatment early.

  16. Podcasts for Top End Doctors go global

    Podcasts for Top End Doctors go global

    Date

    A Northern Territory podcast to inspire better healthcare has gone global with listeners on nearly every continent since its launch in Darwin five weeks ago.

  17. Interpreter boost reduces patient self-discharge

    Interpreter boost reduces patient self-discharge

    Date

    A study conducted at RDH has found that increased use of Aboriginal interpreters was associated with a decrease in patients leaving treatment early.

  18. ABC Radio Darwin | Ask the Specialist's podcast experts address health racism at Royal Darwin Hospital

    ABC Radio Darwin | Ask the Specialist's podcast experts address health racism at Royal Darwin Hospital

    Date

    Racism and cultural insensitivity are the norm at the Northern Territory's biggest hospital, according to a panel of experts.

  19. Media Release| Ask the Specialist: Larrakia, Tiwi and Yolŋu stories to inspire better healthcare

    Media Release| Ask the Specialist: Larrakia, Tiwi and Yolŋu stories to inspire better healthcare

    Date

    A new podcast released today, Ask the Specialist, reveals the reality of the hospital experience for Aboriginal patients in the Top End of the Northern Territory and offers ideas to improve the delivery of culturally respectful care.

  20. Tongans use social media to fight lifestyle diseases

    Tongans use social media to fight lifestyle diseases

    Date

    The training comes as new research from the Menzies School of Health looking at Australia's indigenous community has shown that using Facebook to deliver health messages can be effective.

  21. The ‘Communicate’ Study : Poster

    The ‘Communicate’ Study : Poster

    Date

    A poster presentation on a study of patient-provider intercultural communication at Royal Darwin Hospital and consequently Aboriginal patient health outcomes, measured using quantitative and qualitative data.

  22. NT News | Sharing health message on FB

    NT News | Sharing health message on FB

    Date

    NT News | Sharing health message on FB

  23. Media release | Feel-good social media posts more likely to encourage healthy behaviour

    Media release | Feel-good social media posts more likely to encourage healthy behaviour

    Date

    Positive health-related social media posts that provide new information are more likely to be shared by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to encourage healthy behaviours, a study has found.

  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.