Health Concerns Among The Indigenous Community

As a people, our rate of chronic disease is still 2.5 times higher than that of other Australians, and Indigenous people in this country die 15 to 20 years younger than those in mainstream Australia. More than half of

Aboriginal health standards are so low today that all most half aboriginal men and a third of the women die before they are 45. Aboriginal people can expect to live 20 years less than non-indigenous Australians. Aboriginals generally suffer from more health problem and are more likely to suffer from diabetes, liver disease and glaucoma. The causes of their poor health and low life expectancy are poverty, poor nutrition, poor housing, dispossession of their traditional land, low education level, high unemployment, drug and substance use, unsafe sex, limited health care and diseases.

“The status of Indigenous health in contemporary Australia is a result of historic factors as well as contemporary socio-economic issues” (Hampton & Toombs, 2013, p. 1).

As health professionals, we must look beyond individual attributes of Indigenous Australians to gain a greater understanding and a possible explanation of why there are such high rates of ill health issues such as alcoholism, depression, abuse, shorter life expectancy and higher prevalence of diseases including diabetes, heart disease and obesity in our indigenous population. Looking at just the individual aspects and the biomedical health model, we don’t get the context of Aboriginal health. This is why we need to explore in further detail what events could have created such inequities in Aboriginal health. Other details that we should consider are the historical and cultural factors such as, ‘terra nullius’, dispossession and social

The inequalities in today’s indigenous communities are still strongly evident. Heard, Khoo & Birrell (2009), argued that while there has been an attempt in narrowing the gap between Indigenous and non Indigenous Australians, a barrier still exists in appropriate health care reaching indigenous people. The Indigenous people believe, health is more than the individual, it is

There are several factors responsible for this health disparity. Lack of screening test, and not follow up for disease. Living in the remote area is major barrier that prevent them getting access to the primary health care. There may be possibility that aboriginals can be neglected because of their race. Following culture is anther barrier that prevents the access of health. Lack of knowledge, superstation are very prevalent in the aboriginals. These all factors impact the

Improvement of health and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia remains a big challenge for the Australian Government. There is a wide gap between the health status of indigenous and non-indigenous Australians and it is even seen as a human rights issue by the United Nations Committee (Calma and Dick 2007). The social determinants theory argues that health and well-being is governed by a number of social factors. Situations in which people grow, live and work are responsible for inequities in health. Studies suggest that between one-third and one-half of the health gap between indigenous and non-indigenous communities is because of differences and inequalities in socio-economic status such as education, employment

The right to live healthy and Improving the health status of the indigenous people is the most challenging aspect of Governments. The gap between the indigenous and non-indigenous people in its peak. Moreover, it has been recognized by both international human rights organizations and Australian authorities. There are some definite factors, which the cause for indigenous health inequality in Australia are mainly such as improper healthcare system and poor health substructure among indigenous people in food, healthy housing & cleanliness etc. One of the other reasons for ineffectiveness of the government policies is that the policies are formed by non-indigenous people rather than including enough people from the concerned community.

Poverty plays a huge role on why there is a large percent difference in perception of health. Due to the poverty gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, it becomes obvious why Aboriginals tend to suffer from higher amounts of chronic diseases and health-risk behaviours. In terms of income, Statistics

When compared to non-indigenous Australians, they have a higher burden of disease and higher mortality rates (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2013). There are numerous poorer health outcomes experienced including, but not limited to, diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease, vision problems, respiratory diseases, arthritis, ear problems and premature death (ABS, 2011; Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), 2016). These poor health outcomes have huge implications on the social, economical and environmental impacts for the Indigenous population (Anderson, Baum, & Bentley, 2007), and need to be addressed through the help of health professionals. Furthermore the social determinants of health have a direct impact on the health outcomes of the Australian Indigenous

Although a lack of high-quality data limits an accurate assessment of the health disparities between indigenous and nonindigenous populations in many countries, the disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians ' health status and care has been widely documented6. The causes of the health status inequalities are multi-factorial; with the major contributors related to social and environmental determinants of indigenous health7.

As health professionals, we must look beyond individual attributes of Indigenous Australians to gain a greater understanding and a possible explanation of why there are such high rates of ill health issues such as alcoholism, depression, abuse, shorter life expectancy and higher prevalence of diseases including diabetes, heart disease and obesity in our indigenous population. Looking at just the individual aspects and the biomedical health model, we don’t get the context of Aboriginal health. This is why we need to explore in further detail what events could have created such inequities in Aboriginal health. Other details that we should consider are the historical and cultural factors such as, ‘terra nullius’, dispossession and social

“There is an indisputable relationship between the enduring impact of colonisation and current health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people” (Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet, 2016). The society of Indigenous peoples have been affected by the British colonisation in 1788; highlighted through all aspects of Aboriginal lifestyle, culture and beliefs being changed by the ‘settlers’. (E. Bourke & Bourke, 1995) Over many years it has been an ongoing task to improve the health status of Indigenous peoples in Australia, as there is a large difference in the health status of Indigenous Australians compared to non-Indigenous Australians. (reference) The three key elements which are believed to contribute to the current health

There is a clear relationship between the social disadvantages experienced by Indigenous people and their current health status. These social disadvantages lead to a number of critical health issues. In Australia 2.5 per cent of the population is made up of Indigenous people. Within this population only 3% are 65 years of age or older, whereas 16.3% of the Australian population is over 65. (Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2012).

Aboriginal Indigenous people are the true owner of this country before the British colonisation, but they also experienced large scale of death and different kinds of sickness like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and some cancers in contrast to non-Indigenous people. As according to (Stewart, J. M et. al, 2012) these disease are generally from smoking, excessive drinking of alcohol, high blood pressure, over weight and cholesterol. Because of this they created an exclusive health centre that focuses on their concerns about their cultural rights and practices.