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Reflection paper on indigenous health
Reflection paper on indigenous health
Discuss why indigenous peoples globally experience health disparities
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The health status of indigenous people of Australia is certainly the worst as compared to Non-indigenous people of Australia (Gwynne & Cairnduff, 2017). Health inequalities faced by indigenous Australians are under scrutinized by different health organizations of the world (O'Faircheallaigh, 2012). Australia’s indigenous people have encountered disparities in all levels of their livelihood such as inadequate access to health care services, nutritious food, and lack of education opportunities (Gwynne & Cairnduff, 2017). According to a study, life expectancy for the indigenous Australian is estimated to be ten years lower than that of the non-indigenous Australian population in males and around nine years lower in females (Sushames, van Uffelen, …show more content…
It has been observed from the history that indigenous people of the world no matter from where they belong have been facing discrimination from their government in all field of their lives (Shepherd, Jianghong, Cooper, Hopkins, & Farrant, 2017). Since the colonization of Australia in the year, 1788 different governments have initiated steps and laws against the indigenous population (Short, 2016). For instance, removing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their parents, strategically dispossession of land through forced displacement, not including indigenous people in the census until 1967 (Short, 2016). All this inequality towards indigenous people has damaged Australian image of being a civilized country. Subsequently, the Australian government is now trying to improve the overall condition of indigenous people by placing strategies and implementing laws favoring Indigenous people. On February 13th, 2008 the Australian Prime Minister offered an apology to all Indigenous individuals who have been mistreated in the past (Dominello, 2014). Also, the Australian government has initiated a long-term plan increase life expectancies and quality of health among Indigenous people of Australia by the year 2030 (Dominello, 2014). The plan is called Closing the Gap, which specifically targets rates of infant mortality and overall indigenous life expectancy (Dominello, 2014). This program also focuses on social determinants of health such as employment and education (Mitrou et al., 2014). The two social determinants which will be discussed in the paper are education and
There have been many unanswered questions in Australia about Aboriginal history. One of these is which government policy towards indigenous people has had the largest impact on Indigenous Australians? Through research the Assimilation Policy had the largest impact upon Indigenous Australians and the three supporting arguments to prove this are the Aborigines losing their rights to freedom, Aboriginal children being removed from their families, and finally the loss of aboriginality.
“Indigenous Australian peoples are people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, who are accepted as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person in the community in which they live, or have lived” (Queensland Government, Australia, n.d). Indigenous Australians have made considerable contributions in the field of arts, media, sport, education, politics/government, and history. One of the famous Indigenous person is Evonne Fay Goolagong-Cawley, who has gained name and fame for Australia in the field of tennis on world level. Evonne Goolagong-Cowley’s life, opportunities, achievements and contributions and the ability to rise out of the cultural barriers gave her a unique place in Australian society.
There are significant health disparities that exist between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians. Being an Indigenous Australian means the person is and identifies as an Indigenous Australian, acknowledges their Indigenous heritage and is accepted as such in the community they live in (Daly, Speedy, & Jackson, 2010). Compared with Non-Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people die at much younger ages, have more disability and experience a reduced quality of life because of ill health. This difference in health status is why Indigenous Australians health is often described as “Third World health in a First World nation” (Carson, Dunbar, Chenhall, & Bailie, 2007, p.xxi). Aboriginal health care in the present and future should encompass a holistic approach which includes social, emotional, spiritual and cultural wellbeing in order to be culturally suitable to improve Indigenous Health. There are three dimensions of health- physical, social and mental- that all interrelate to determine an individual’s overall health. If one of these dimensions is compromised, it affects how the other two dimensions function, and overall affects an individual’s health status. The social determinants of health are conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age which includes education, economics, social gradient, stress, early life, social inclusion, employment, transport, food, and social supports (Gruis, 2014). The social determinants that are specifically negatively impacting on Indigenous Australians health include poverty, social class, racism, education, employment, country/land and housing (Isaacs, 2014). If these social determinants inequalities are remedied, Indigenous Australians will have the same opportunities as Non-Ind...
Topic 3: "Outline the social determinants of health in Australia and provide a critical analysis of these determinants. Discuss the current health status comparisons between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and interventions to remedy these inequalities.”
Aboriginal spirituality originally derives from the stories of the dreaming. The dreaming is the knowledge and a sense of belonging that the Aboriginals had of the beginning of life and the relationship to the land and sea (Australian Museum, 2011). The dreaming stories are passed on from one generation to the next orally. These stories teach the following generations how to behave towards the land and other people. The dreaming stories give them a sense of duty to protect the land and appreciate it because the dreamtime stories indicate that the spirits have not died but are still alive in different forms as animals or humans, therefore the ancestor’s power is still felt through the landforms (Clark, 1963), (Australian Governement, 2008)
Australian indigenous culture is the world’s oldest surviving culture, dating back sixty-thousand years. Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders have been represented in a myriad of ways through various channels such as poetry, articles, and images, in both fiction and non-fiction. Over the years, they have been portrayed as inferior, oppressed, isolated, principled and admirable. Three such texts that portray them in these ways are poems Circles and Squares and Grade One Primary by Ali Cobby Eckermann, James Packer slams booing; joins three cheers for footballer and the accompanying visual text and Heywire article Family is the most important thing to an islander by Richard Barba. Even though the texts are different as ….. is/are …., while
Indigenous communities suffer the worst health in Australia and are most at risk to many illness’s compared to other Australian’s. “The poor health experienced by Indigenous people reflects the disadvantage they experience, as many Indigenous communities do not have access to quality health care and to clean water.” (Reconciliaction Network, p.1) The specific health concerns for Indigenous Australian’s are the higher rate of diabetes, higher mortality rate with cancers, cardiovascular disease is more common, eye conditions, higher risk of smoking which contributes to other health impacts, ear disease w...
The purpose of this paper is to articulate an Indigenous health and wellness concern such as youth education and how to affects Indigenous populations. Youth education has been a prominent social determinant of health with many people who are from Indigenous backgrounds. Children are moulded into their own beings at a young age and having an influential education from the start is key to a successful person and living a fulfilled life. The reason I have chosen this topic is because it became of great interest to me how Indigenous education is not prominently looked upon.
Since colonialism after the invasion, Australia indigenous peoples have experienced a great deal of loss of identity, loss, disempowerment, cultural alienation, grief. Many indigenous people's mental and physical health impaired. Suicide, family violence, drug abuse and unemployment rates is higher than the Australian average(Berry et al. 2012). That is complicated to contributing to develop and support sustainable mental health and social wellbeing for Australian aboriginals staying in rural areas ,related to much diversity involved in and between individuals and communities (Guerin & Guerin 2012).
Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.
0.8% of the overall Federal health expenditure in 2009 which was spent on Aboriginal health. The overall wellbeing of an individual is more than just being free from disease. It is about their social, emotional, spiritual, physiological as well as the physical prosperity. Indigenous health issues are all around us, but we don’t recognise because it doesn’t affect us, but this issue is a concern to Indigenous Australia and also to modern day Catholics in Australia The statistics relating to Indigenous health is inexcusable, life expectancy is at an all time low, higher hospilatisation for avoidable diseases, alerting rates of deaths from diabetes and kidney disease. This issue is bigger than we all think, for example 13% of Indigenous homes
In conclusion the colonisation of Australia and the adoption of discriminatory policies eroded Aboriginal culture and tradition affecting their sense of well-being and thus deteriorated their health. Today these policies are reflected in the social determinants of health as socio-economic disadvantages. They continue to impact contemporary Aboriginal people. In order to improve Aboriginal health outcomes; the impacts of these policies need to be overturned. This can be done by assisting them with improving their socio-economic status in the light of their needs and traditions.
For the first two weeks of my class, I had no idea where I was headed in terms of my learning experience but I soon found out. During the first week we had to define “indigenous identity” which by the way was a foreign language to me. After I determined the meaning of it (because there were so many choices) I settled on the meaning “that what connects a person or people by their culture, race, beliefs and way of life”. I never considered or included myself a part of that definition because I thought it only pertained to people of other nations or countries. Eventually my thoughts and understanding changed. As I stated before my reading “Thinking Like an Anthropologist” Chapter Five, “What was This Practice or Idea Like in the past - The Temporal Question (2008, Omohundro, J.T. ), will be an excellent and informative guide for my research (in which it was). Also having to use Syncretism as a tool allowed me the opportunity to not only research the past but present rituals, beliefs, etc. of African Americans and how much they have changed over the years. Looking through this research as a critic allowed me to broaden my horizons not only about my culture but other cultures that are included in this identity. We were first introduced to two articles: The “Gebusi” and “Body Ritual of the Nacerima”. And I thought their rituals and beliefs were somewhat extreme, but then I realized if they looked at our society and our practices, they could consider the same thing about us. Having said that I decided that as an African-American woman, I was prepared to take that journey into the unknown, to investigate my culture, our accomplishments, and therefore have the ability to share my findings and observations with others. Week after week we w...
This is one of the cruel and most hurtful examples of the racism taken part in Australia, post colonisation. According to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, there has been little progress in aboriginal demographics. Despite Australia having one of the ‘best’ healthcare and welfare schemes in the world, these are not evident in aboriginal education and health outcomes. The indigenous population has a relatively young age structure. In 2006, the median age was 21 years, compared
Poor living conditions are a major health determinant throughout the indigenous population. Most Indigenous Australians are known to live in rural parts of Australia which are commonly not close to major cities and services. People living in these areas generally have poorer health than others living in the cities and other parts of Australia. These individuals do not have as much access to health services and good quality housing. In 2006 roughly 14% of indigenous households in Australia were overcrowded unlike 5% of other households (AIHW, 2009a). Overcrowded and poor quality houses are commonly associated with poor physical and mental health between the people living in them. The indigenous are n...