Article Abstract
Despite considerable investment, health outcomes for First Nations people are well below those of the rest of the population in several countries, including Canada, the United States, and Australia. In this article, the authors draw on actor-network theory and the case of Birthing on Country, a successful policy initiative led by First Nations Australians, to explore the decolonization of health services. Using publicly available archival data and the theoretical guidance of actor-network theory, the analysis offers insight into how marketing techniques and technologies can be deployed to achieve improved health outcomes and implement decolonized approaches. The insights provided have theoretical implications for marketing scholarship, social implications for understanding and implementing an agenda of decolonization, and practical implications for health care marketing.
Journal of Marketing, October 2023
About the researcher
Michelle Evans is inaugural Director of Dilin Duwa Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership. Michelle Evans holds an Associate Professorship of Leadership at the Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) and the Melbourne Business School (MBS). Michelle is the Associate Dean (Indigenous) at FBE/MBS and is co-Founder of Australia’s number one Indigenous Business Master Class program, MURRA, based at Melbourne Business School, founder of the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development at the Faculty of Victorian College of the Arts and Music, and founder of WALAN MAYINYGU Charles Sturt University’s Indigenous entrepreneurship Pop Up innovation hub program. Michelle, a Fulbright scholar, has a unique combination of professional experience in management, community engagement and facilitation coupled with her excellent track record in research. Michelle has attracted five highly competitive Australian Research Council grants, most recently to conduct a program evaluation for Indigenous preferential procurement programs. Michelle has personally taught and mentored over 325 Australian Indigenous business people through various Indigenous business programs and serves on a number of committees nationally and internationally that focus on Indigenous advancement and rewarding excellence in engagement.