Improving Health Of The Aboriginal Case Study

The health of Aboriginal people in Canada is both a tragedy and a crisis (Aboriginal Affairs and North Development Canada, 2010). Aboriginals have a higher rate of death among aboriginal babies, twice the national average, higher rate of Infectious diseases example gastrointestinal infections to tuberculosis, and chronic and degenerative diseases such as cancer and heart disease are affecting more aboriginal people than they once did (AANDC, 2010). Availability of important medical facility is not enough to accommodate the growing medical needs of Aboriginals. A socioeconomic and cultural issue also hinders the access of aboriginals to access health care in the community.

Cooperating with organisations and governments within both the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal community on health and wellbeing guidelines and planning difficulties.

Culture shock is a term used to describe an individual whom experience stress, anxiety, or discomfort when they are placed in an unfamiliar cultural environment (9). There are many cases of student that travelled to foreign countries for studies, but for my experience when I came to Australia, I wasn’t really shock by the culture. When I arrive in this country, I could say that I was an open book, which I am still. As a future professional health practitioner learning and adapting to proper methods in healthcare, especially in Indigenous Aboriginal health centred care wouldn’t be a big challenge; and I would use what I’ve learn to help my patients effectively.

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 health status of aboriginals in Ontario is very poor. There are a lot of health care needs for aboriginals that live in Northwest Ontario, also because the population is so high. The first nations population is the largest (958,000) Followed by the Metis (266,000) and the Inuit (51,000). Every year the

This paper will focus on the Central West LHIN because the LHIN provides services according to the regions in Ontario. The Central West LHIN’s mandate is to “plan, integrate, fund and monitor the local health care system for the regions of Brampton, Caledon, Dufferin, Malton, North Etobicoke and Woodbridge with over 840,000 local residence” (Together, making …, 2014, para. 1). The Central West region is a very diverse community with people from different cultural background.

There has been some major improvement in the health and wellbeing of Indigenous people in the past years, there is still some health issues that remain a problem in the indigenous community which still increase the percentage of mortality and morbidity among the group. As of June 30, 2011, there was an estimated 669,900 Indigenous people across Australia which represent the 3% of total Australian population, where the majority of indigenous Australian live in metropolitan or regional and 8% lives in remote areas of Australia according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (2013). The death rates for indigenous population are much higher compare to non-indigenous population across all age group and largest contributory cause of death are circulatory diseases (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011).

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

For most indigenous people, health disadvantages begin at birth, and this inequity is appalling. Something must be done to close the gap by 2030.

The health plan has six key priority areas addressing the main issues concerning health in Aboriginal Victorians (Victorian

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

Since the 1970’s, many Indigenous communities have established their own independent, community-controlled health services (ACCHs) and an over-arching representatives advocacy body, the National Aboriginal Controlled Community Health Organisation (NACCHO previously NAIHO) was formed in 1975.

This process involves one that is “committee-based and bring[s] together stakeholders in Aboriginal health such as Aboriginal organizations and federal and provincial government departments” ("Looking for Aboriginal Health," 2011, p. 31). Ontario and British Columbia are the leaders in this work (Lavoie, 2013). Ontario developed the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Strategy in 1994, which is managed by a joint committee consisting of representatives from the eight umbrella Aboriginal organizations in Ontario as well as members of several government ministries and departments ("Looking for Aboriginal Health," 2011). Intended to provide a new governance structure for First Nations health services, British Columbia has developed the Tripartite First Nations policy framework that is made up of the Transformative Change Accord and the First Nations Health Plan (Lavoie, 2013; ("Looking for Aboriginal Health," 2011). Other provinces, particularly in northern regions, have developed inter-tribal authorities that are federally and provincially funded. These models of First Nations healthcare are a step in the right direction, but they also add additional complexities causing “jurisdictional boundaries [to] continue to shift and blur over time” (Lavoie & Gervais,

Health is known as a state where an individual is socially, mentally and emotionally stable without the presence of any illness, disease or infirmity (Carson, 2007). Jenny, an indigenous woman is 34 weeks pregnant, she has been complaining about her abdominal pains and after seeing the flying doctor, she was asked to fly back with him as she might be in an early labour. Jenny is concerned about her family; she wonders how they will manage without her. Her mother-in-law lives with her sister-in-law and she wonders if she will be able to come and help as her mother has a diabetic leg ulcer and needs treatment so cannot travel. This essay will discuss about the health issues before colonization and after colonization, Jenny’s

Access to the communities is provided year round by Wasaya Airline and airstrips that are maintained by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. Of course, each Aboriginal community is unique with its own set of traditions and ways of healing but my observation after working within the communities for over ten years is that they all suffer from improperished conditions and substandard housing. The local economies are primarily based upon government services (Indian and Northern Affairs) (INAC) and small business. Most of the reserves have six hundred people or less, and each community has a nursing station. The nursing stations are well-maintained functional buildings built in or about the early 1960’s and are maintained by Health Canada. First Nations and Inuit Health (FNIH) maintains responsibility for primary care services in the majority of the northwest Ontario reserve communities. In the north, nurses are the primary care givers working in an extended scope of practice, and client care is centrally coordinated by nurses working within interdisciplinary teams. The majority of the nursing and medical staff working for FNIH in the Sioux Lookout zone are Caucasian and do not come from local communities. This could outwardly appear as a reinforcement of power relations in the racial identities. There is only very limited cultural training given to employees when they are employed by FNIH. Medical advice and