Research Paper An ‘equity’ domain could strengthen the utility of a framework for assessing care coordination for Australian Aboriginal families Catherine R Chamberlain 1,2 , Sarah MacLean 1,3 , Glenda Bawden 4 , Margaret Kelaher 1 , Emily Munro-Harrison 1 , Jacqueline Boyle 5 and Kate Freeman 6 Abstract Improving the health of Aboriginal people is a national priority and improving coordination of services for Aboriginal families is critical to achieving this goal. A care coordination framework has been developed from a limited range of clinical settings. We reflect on the utility of this framework for assessing service coordination for Aboriginal families in Australia. We conducted stakeholder consultation, service mapping and in-depth interviews with service providers and an Aboriginal mother, using a tool based on the framework domains. A fragmented range of services support Aboriginal families with complex and changing needs, highlighting the importance of care coordination. Relationships underpinned care coordination; however, we identified few opportunities for developing relationships and several factors that under- mined relationships, including unclear accountability mechanisms, resource constraints, anxiety about follow-up and transfer of information to child protection. The Care Coordination Framework enabled a ‘systems-perspective’ of the main care coordination domains for Aboriginal families from individual experiences. However, there were some limitations in capturing subtle historical and cultural dimensions affecting care coordination in this context where health care practice in large institutions is framed by the dominant culture. An additional ‘equity’ domain would capture these dimensions, address a growing international policy challenge and strengthen the framework. Keywords Care coordination, service coordination, aboriginal, indigenous, family Introduction Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Aboriginal) chil- dren experience markedly poorer health and wellbeing when compared to other Australians, 1 and disparities in life expectancy between Indigenous and non- Indigenous people in Australia are frequently cited as the worst among comparable high-income countries. 2 Addressing these inequities are a national priority in Australia. 3 Growing evidence demonstrates how early experiences impact on health and wellbeing in later life, indicating that investments in early childhood offer sig- nificant opportunities to address inequities. 4 Hence, supporting families and children is a key priority for improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal people. 5 It is important to understand the complex historical and societal context of Aboriginal people when assess- ing how services work together to support Aboriginal families and how families engage with them. 1 University of Melbourne, Australia 2 Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Australia 3 La Trobe University, Australia 4 Aboriginal Health Services, Australia 5 Monash University, Australia 6 The Royal Women’s Hospital, Australia Corresponding author: Catherine R Chamberlain, Indigenous Health Equity Unit, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Room 421, Level 4, 207 Bouverie Street, Carlton, VIC 3010, Australia. Email: catherine.chamberlain@bakeridi.edu.au International Journal of Care Coordination 2016, Vol. 19(1–2) 42–46 ! The Author(s) 2016 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/2053434516657497 icp.sagepub.com