| Summary: | As part of strategies to improve dog and community
health in rural and remote Indigenous communities, this
study investigated preferences and impacts of dog health
education programs. Semistructured interviews with 63
residents from five communities explored learning
preferences. Though each community differed, on average
yarning was preferred by most (68.4%) respondents, followed
by visual (65.0%) and practical learning (46.9%).
Text-based and computer/screen-based learning were
important to 16.2% and 14.6% of respondents respectively.
With paper-based visual and text resources, respondents
reported a preference for locally made (28/36 or 78%) over
mainstream resources. Twenty eight residents involved in
the creation of locally made resources reported
satisfaction, knowledge exchange, and displayed enthusiasm
for the process. Colour resources were more successful than
black and white resources or word of mouth in terms of
program advertising, alerting 67% (10/15) of respondents
compared to 6% to 24% for programs using word of mouth. Dog
health programs that incorporated education programs based
on these identified preferences achieved significantly
better results in terms of improvements in mange prevalence
and average condition score, partly through increased
community understanding and engagement with the program.
Thus, culturally appropriate and locally relevant education
programs can significantly improve the success of dog
health programs.
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