Falling on deaf ears? Listening to Indigenous voices regarding ear disease ('otitis media') and hearing loss

Middle-ear disease ('otitis media'), and resultant hearing loss, is one of the most significant health issues facing Indigenous peoples worldwide, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia - who purportedly have the highest rates of otitis media and hearing loss in the world, and have for several decades now. The voices of (mostly non-Indigenous) clinical experts are most prominent when it comes to defining the 'problem' and formulating solutions. Despite 60+ years of research and interventions, it is well recognised that the approach to-date to defining and addressing otitis media and hearing loss has had limited success. There is a pressing need for a new approach, and this is the fundamental contention of this Ph.D. research. This thesis draws on discourse theory, post-colonial theory and (Indigenous) standpoint theory to illustrate that there are other ways of knowing, being, seeing and doing besides the classic medical and colonial narratives which have long retained a position of hegemony. This research endeavours to critically analyse and move away from these dominant narratives, and amplify the counter-narratives on ears, hearing, the body, health and healing which tend to have been ignored or silenced. In particular, the voices and discourses of Indigenous community members are noticeably absent in the framing of ear and hearing issues, and this is the main gap this Ph.D. aims to fill. To achieve this, 8 months was spent (from February to September 2017) undertaking fieldwork in the Aboriginal community of Yarrabah in Far North Queensland. The use of a reflexive ethnographic methodology, and decolonising research methods - from interviews and yarns, to photovoice, to critical analysis of discourses such as archives and policy documents - has enabled a range of stories and suggestions on ear and hearing issues to finally be heard.