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A Brief Note On Deborah And The United States Essay

Decent Essays

Introduction Deborah is a 65-year-old First Nations woman living in northern Ontario, and who has type-II diabetes. After leaving high school in grade 11 and eventually working a 35-year career as a secretary at an elementary school in a poor neighbourhood in Toronto while raising her three children, Deborah retired nine years ago and moved back to her home community, where she is an active member on the Council and is a regular volunteer. As a child, Deborah’s parents worked long hours in manual labour jobs on their reserve to provide for their five children; Deborah is the youngest of her family, and two of her siblings also have type-II diabetes. While working, Deborah earned slightly less than $30,000/year, and she has since lived off of her small pension and government assistance. Deborah’s income and lack of full education have contributed to her generally low socioeconomic status. This, partnered with her Aboriginal status, put Deborah at a significantly higher risk than the general Canadian population to develop type-II diabetes. This essay will examine how these social determinants have increased Deborah’s risk for type-II diabetes, and how Deborah’s situation fits within the context of overall Aboriginal health in Canada.
Type-II Diabetes Mellitus Type-II diabetes mellitus (also referred to as simply type-II diabetes or T2DM) is a chronic disease in which individuals are unable to produce adequate amounts of insulin from the pancreas, or who are unable to use any

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