“We Are Not Stray Leaves Blowing About In The Wind”: Summing Up The Impact of Family Wellbeing Empowerment Research, 1998-2021

Abstract Background: An Aboriginal-developed empowerment and social and emotional wellbeing program, known as Family Wellbeing (FWB), has been found to strengthen the protective factors that help Indigenous Australians to deal with the devastating legacy of colonisation and intergenerational trauma. This article reviews the research that has accompanied the implementation of FWB over a 23 year period to assess the long-term impact of FWB research and the strengths and limitations of the impact data. This will inform more comprehensive monitoring of research impact.Methods: The study took a theory of change approach, following the steps of a research program logic, to assess impact. A mixed methods evaluation of publicly available research outputs was conducted. We analysed FWB participation data and research funding using descriptive statistics. We conducted systematic scoping reviews of: 1) nine evaluative studies to show reported social and emotional wellbeing benefits of FWB; and 2) seven FWB research translation-related resources to show impact of research outputs on further reach and uptake. Results: The investment of $2.3 million in research-related activities over 23 years resulted in a range of research outputs that evidenced social and emotional wellbeing benefits arising from participation in FWB. This evidence, in part, facilitated more demand for FWB. Overall the FWB program, and accompanying research, had a direct positive impact on the social and emotional wellbeing of approximately 7,500 participants.Conclusions: The study raised a range of issues relevant to demonstrating research impact in the context of Indigenous health research including the value of a logic model that is informed by Indigenous research principles; the need to take a longer-term incremental approach to building evidence when dealing with complex or messy social health interventions; and the importance of collecting evidence, especially from the point of view of end users, about the extent to which research influenced their decisions and actions regarding the program. This lesson, and the impact logic, highlight that researchers need to create appropriate databases from the beginning and collect data well beyond the life of the project, even though we acknowledge that such endeavours are rarely funded.