How Colonisation Affects Indigenous Australians’ Health and Wellbeing
According to the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organization (2018), health is defined as not just a person’s physical wellbeing but the cultural emotional as well as the social wellbeing of an entire society whereby every person is able to fully attain their capability as a human being, thus, creating the whole wellbeing of their society. Enhancing the health status of the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander people has been considered as a longstanding problem affecting Australian government yet is it one of the fundamental rights of the people. Even though there have been steadfast improvements and development registered in certain areas since the 1960s, overall the development has been viewed as inconsistent as well as slow. The gap of inequality between other people of Australia and the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander people has remained wide and has not been bridged (DeSilva-Ranasinghe, 2014). Unless bold and sustainable steps are taken by the government of the country, there is real and actual prospect the of the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander medical health status may worsen in the years to come.
This paper will discuss in depth how the cultural safety, self-determination and the collaboration are key to ensuring the health of the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander peoples. The paper will address how colonization has and continues to affect medical and wellbeing of the indigenous Australian, how in my own cultural and Social location including attitudes, beliefs and values, may influence my future health care practice with the Aboriginal parents, their families and Aboriginal health workers. Lastly, the paper will discuss how as a future health provider I will come up with advocacy strategies for health service delivery which will contribute to the bridging the gap for the indigenous people.
1. The current crisis in indigenous health is because of the generations of neglect, inadequate cohesive and unifying public policy as well as the failure to offer adequate resources and ensure that such resources reach individual in Australia. The major problems affecting the delivery of health services to the indigenous people is due to colonization policies like economic and social exclusion, poor sanitation and housing, lack of sufficient nutrition, low income, unemployment and poor education. Historically, the Aboriginal and Strait Islander people have had very little influence and power to these challenging factors and the decisions in public policy which affect their health as well as lives. Due to Australian colonization, racism was rife (Dwyer et al, 2016). The indigenous people were compelled to reside on reserves as well as on missions where their freedom to live their normal lives were highly limited. Assimilation as well as segregation policies were established coupled with geographical and institutionalization limitations.
According to Fedele (2018), moreover, the indigenous people were not allowed to speak their native language, practicing their traditions and educating their children on their cultures and history. These limitations resulted to loss of life and liberty and irreparably changed the indigenous people’s social as well as cultural behavior. Historical atrocities as well as the continued segregation have established a longstanding psychological and physical impacts on the indigenous people which are usually transgenerational. This is normally mirrored in several psychological situations which show that racism and segregation towards indigenous people still impacts their lives. For instance, rates of unemployment indicate a disparity with about 18% unemployment for the indigenous people as compared to the 6% for the non-indigenous people (Davy et al, 2016). These disparities and the discrimination have affected the indigenous people access to adequate and sufficient health services that they highly require. It should be noted that the disparities between the indigenous people and non-indigenous people have been recorded by the World Health Organization as the highest in the world (Thomas et al, 2017). The current government assimilation and discrimination policies have ensured that the indigenous people do not adequately access healthcare services.
Personal Beliefs, Values, and Attitudes and Their Influence on Future Health Care Practice
2. As a non-indigenous individual in Australia practicing health care, my beliefs, attitudes and values towards the indigenous people will be to equitably and professionally provide them with the necessary healthcare services. the location of the indigenous people has always been in the remote areas where access to healthcare services are limited and restricted, however, as a professional health care provider, I will strive ant attempt to reach every part of the country especially the areas that are neglected by the government. This will ensure that the indigenous people receive equal health care services just like their indigenous people. As a professional healthcare provider in the country, I will relate professionally with the health care providers from the indigenous people. Families of the patients as well as their relatives will also be treated equally and their lived experiences in managing and treating certain diseases will be taken into consideration. It should be noted that there has been discrimination and bias in involving the lived experiences of the indigenous people in the management of health care practice in the country. I will, therefore, ensure that I practice patient-centred care in which the patient and their families are incorporated into the treatment process (Wilson, Ewen & Mazel, 2018).
3. Over the last decades the health of the people of Australia has improved steadily due to the main advantages in health care and the developing prosperity. However, the indigenous people have not enjoyed the same benefits in health services. The neglect by the government to the indigenous people is not a normal state of affairs and should be condemned by all and sundry. The major problem facing indigenous people is the relatively inadequate access basic healthcare. As a professional health care provider, I will ensure that a partnership is created with the indigenous people as well as their representatives (Campbell et al, 2018). I will also ensure that I support the Aboriginal community-controlled healthcare services. Thus, I will make sure that a considerable number of health care professionals particularly the indigenous people, are trained so as to deliver basic health care and other medical care services to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I will also champion through establishment or implementation of the existing policies on the housing, water and waste systems so as to support the enhancement of health equality (Clifford, Shakeshaft & Deans, 2013). I will also ensure training in cultural safety with the aim of enhancing the health care sector’s capacity to develop design in policy programs and the delivery of culturally adequate and safe services to the indigenous people. I will also ensure that the discriminatory policies that affect the lives of the indigenous people and which prevent them from accessing adequate healthcare are abolished.
I will also ensure that person-centred medical home care model is improved so as to integrate the lived experiences of the aboriginal people.
Conclusion
There has been disparity between the indigenous and the nonindigenous people in terms of accessing vital basic services including healthcare services. The indigenous people have been neglected by the institutional and longstanding policies which have contributed to the discrimination of the indigenous people. In order to ensure equality and equity in the provision of healthcare services in Australia, every healthcare provider must ensure that they advocate for the rights of the indigenous people.
References
Campbell, MA, Hunt, J, Scrimgeour, DJ, Davey, M & Jones, V 2018, ‘Contribution of Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Services to improving Aboriginal health: an evidence review’, Australian Health Review, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 218–226,
Clifford, A, Shakeshaft, A & Deans, C 2013, ‘Training and tailored outreach support to improve alcohol screening and brief intervention in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services’, Drug & Alcohol Review, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 72–79,
Davy, C, Cass, A, Brady, J, DeVries, J, Fewquandie, B, Ingram, S, Mentha, R, Simon, P, Rickards, B, Togni, S, Liu, H, Peiris, D, Askew, D, Kite, E, Sivak, L, Hackett, M, Lavoie, J & Brown, A 2016, ‘Facilitating engagement through strong relationships between primary healthcare and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’, Australian & New Zealand Journal of Public Health, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 535–541,
DeSilva-Ranasinghe, S 2014, ‘Indigenous Nation Building: The Army Aboriginal Community Assistance Program’, Policy, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 29–35,
Dwyer, J, O’Donnell, K, Willis, E & Kelly, J 2016, ‘Equitable Care for Indigenous People: every health service can do it’, Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 11–17,
Fedele, R 2018, ‘END OF AN ERA: AN INSPIRING ABORIGINAL LEADER. (Cover story)’, Australian Nursing & Midwifery Journal, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 10–12,
Markwick, A., Ansari, Z., Sullivan, M., Parsons, L. and McNeil, J 2014, Inequalities in the social determinants of health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: a cross-sectional population-based study in the Australian state of Victoria. International Journal for Equity in HealthThe official journal of the International Society for Equity in Health201413:91. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-014-0091-5
NACCHO, 2018, Aboriginal health, https://www.naccho.org.au/about/aboriginal-health/
Thomas, DP, Panaretto, KS, Davey, M, Briggs, V & Borland, R 2017, ‘The social determinants and starting and sustaining quit attempts in a national sample of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers’, Australian & New Zealand Journal of Public Health, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 230–236,
Wilson, N, Ewen, S & Mazel, O 2018, ‘Medical students in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services: identifying the factors involved in successful placements for staff and students’, Australian Medical Student Journal, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 26–29,
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