Picking up the loose thread: How do Indigenous women experience the mental health inpatient unit?

The paper describes the progress of a research project to explore the mental health journey of Indigenous women admitted to an acute inpa-tient unit. There is little in the literature relating to Indigenous women’s experience of inpatient mental health care in Australia; Their story is largely unheard. This project will produce a comprehensive review of existing literature and identify opportunities for future research. The study will use the women’s stories to examine factors which infl uence the experience of Indigenous women in the acute unit, including culture and gender issues, access to services, and mental health beliefs. It will also attempt to identify inpatient experiences, which are seen by indig-enous women as culturally secure. This project will produce a compre-hensive review of existing literature, and will attempt to identify appropriate methods for undertaking research with Indigenous women and future directions for research. This is a mixed methods study, which combines qualitative and quantitative approaches within the different stages of the research process. Analysis of results will offer insight into future directions for culturally secure, gender safe inpatient interven-tions. It will provide a basis for policy and program development and will contribute to educational development for non-Indigenous staff. Tangible feedback will be provided to participants. The project is at a very early stage. This paper will present progress to date, including formation, membership and function of an Indigenous Reference Group, and a consideration of ethical issues inherent in the position of non-Indigenous researcher working with Indigenous women.