Mental Health Community Development

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.

Another social determinant of the aboriginal health is the poor compatibility linking the core values of their customary health beliefs and the modern health system. The westernized medical system is mostly interested in the detection and treatment of diseases and illnesses. On the other hand, the traditional aboriginal medication seeks to offer a meaningful justification for illnesses and reacts to the family, personal, and community issues related to the illness (Broome, 2002). This explains why

This essay will discuss the first people’s health as a consequential issue to the Australian community and followed by the discussion of various policies that been introduced by the Australian government to fill up health gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. This essay will first analyze the impact of history and colonization on first peoples ' health and then it demonstrates the how different policy eras has affected to creating first peoples health is important, in turn highlighting how health practitioners can help to build a strong relationship within first peoples on a different basis. This essay will close with the important strategies that may improve the health care system of the first peoples in Australia. The history and colonization had a greater impacts on First people’s health in Australia.

How we define health differs to how Indigenous Australians define health. The World Health Organisation defines health as “not only the absence of infirmity and disease but also a state of physical, mental and social well-being” (WHO, 1946) However, the National Aboriginal Health Strategy Working Party (1989)

“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).

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 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.

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

Aboriginals view healing as a journey which a person embarks on to help them reconnect or feed their soul and spirits. Their spiritual and strong connection to their surrounding lands is a key part of their healing journey (Douglas, 2013). In Canada, when an individual is sick we prescribe them with antibiotics or medication to fight the illness. This is our current way of “healing”. Today, we are seeing a push from many Aboriginals to combine traditional and modern medicine into their healing process (Douglas, 2013). To my surprise, some of our current medical practices today steam from our Indigenous roots, such as acupuncture, herbal medicines and naturopathy. Presently, there are more Indigenous communities in Canada who participate in combining traditional healing practices into their healing journey. This

When addressing the first standard of practice, nurses work towards promoting health (CHNC, 2011). As CHNs attempt to work with the available assets to improve the health and wellness of Aboriginals with diabetes mellitus (Taylor, Usher, & McDermott, 2013), they utilize a wide variety of treatment and prevention options that relate to numerous health-promoting aspects based on primary healthcare (Smith, Van Herk, & Rahaman, 2012). For this demographic, moving primary healthcare forward is crucial and could involve the implementation of culturally appropriate initiatives that allow CHNs to invoke various methods to promote the physical health of impoverished communities (Health Canada, 2013b). These health promoting methods may utilize the ADI for funding in order to provide nutritious food, fitness equipment such as ski poles for walking and burning more calories (Gormley, 2012), and various diabetes-based screening and testing tools (Health Canada,

The ultimate issues of Government social assistance in relation to Indigenous communities, is the fact that Provincial social assistance programs are temporary, promotes quick reintegration into the labour market, and persons who is receiving assistance must participate in employment programs in order to gain skills, education and experience needed reenter the labour market (cite). In remote Indigenous communities this is simply not a reality, 80% of Indigenous persons have been dependent on social assistance (cite). These issues occur since social service agencies are located off reserves, resulting in the lack the understanding of issues and social barriers faced by Fist Nation communities when interacting with service providers (cite).

Trying to help indigenous tribes could be more harmful than helpful. It could have the opposite effect of what they are trying to do. These tribes are not used to the illnesses that we have and when they come into contact with

1.- Mental well-been: Erica hesitated to attend a scheduled appointment but decided to attend (the writer congratulated Erica for making a healthy choice). Erica informed the writer that she had not been emotional well for almost a week, and proceeded to describe her thoughts and feelings. Erica disengage from family and friend and did not answer phone messages, not eating healthy and has had sleepless nights thinking about her misfortune. Erica was closed to own a beautiful house, but she lost it due to her husband bad choices. At present suffers financial difficulties and she was fearful that one day

A) Campbell, Wunungmurra and Nyomba (2005) describe community development as an ongoing participatory process in which local people use their own knowledge to identify, develop and enact sustainable and locally appropriate strategies to enable social change. Moreover, it is a useful strategy that can increase self-reliance and create empowerment for communities, individuals and small groups alike (Campbell, Wunungmurra & Nyomba 2005). The authors discuss these aspects in the context of Indigenous health issues, identifying this form of community development as a method to improve health outcomes in a way that is supported by local Aboriginal leaders (Campbell, Wunungmurra & Nyomba 2005).