Here and Now Aboriginal Assessment: Background, Development and Preliminary Evaluation of a Culturally Appropriate Screening Tool

Objective: Assessment of Aboriginal social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) is a complex and challenging task, in part due to a lack of suitable assessment tools. This paper reports the development and evaluation of a culturally appropriate screening tool called the Here and Now Aboriginal Assessment (HANAA).

Method: The initial phase included development of a glossary of Aboriginal terms and concepts relating to SEWB. The glossary was used to identify 10 key HANAA domains, which included physical health, sleep, mood, suicide risk and self harm, substance use, memory, unusual experiences, functioning, life stressors and resilience. Evaluation of the HANAA included exploration of its cultural applicability, feasibility, reliability and validity.

Results: The HANAA was well accepted by study participants and easily implemented by assessors. Reliability was good, with inter-rater agreements between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal assessors measured by Kappa statistics ranging from 0.5 to 1.0. There was also a good agreement between assessors and treating clinicians in identifying the main presenting problem and recommended course of action.

Conclusion: The HANAA is a culturally appropriate and useful tool for the screening of SEWB among Aboriginal adults. It can also be used for teaching and training purposes of mental health and other professionals working with Aboriginal people.