The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation

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

The Assimilation policy (1961) has impacted on Indigenous Australians within their physical and mental state and identity present in today’s society. Australia is commonly considered to be free and fair in their culturally diverse societies, but when the Indigenous population is closer looked into, it is clear that from a social and economical view their health needs are disadvantaged compared to non-Indigenous equals. In relation to this, the present Indigenous health is being impacted by disadvantages of education, employment, income and health status. Even urban Indigenous residents are being affected just as much as those residing in remote and rural areas of Australia.

Sherwood & Edwards (2006) cite that the worldview of health is in direct conflict with the Indigenous worldview and the way health and wellbeing are considered by Aboriginal people. Aboriginal health, care and wellbeing is not just the physical well-being of the individual but includes the social, emotional and cultural wellbeing of the individual and community (Sherwood & Edwards, 2006). Rather than focusing on isolating the specific cause of illness, health initiatives for Aboriginal communities look beyond the traditional biomedical model and adopt a model that incorporates the broader social determinants of health, which focus on Aboriginal societal structures and psychosocial factors (Dudgeon, 2014). Hence Aboriginal people view health differently, their concerns for health issues are diverse requiring a holistic and informed response.

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 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

“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).

This paper will examine the healthcare of Indigenous Australian peoples compared to non-indigenous Australians. The life expectancy gaps between the two are a cause for alarm when statistics show Indigenous Australian peoples die on average 17 years earlier than non-indigenous Australians (Dick 2017). This paper will examine the social determinants of health to explore these factors and what interventions are in place to improve health status and life expectancy gaps for equality. The Federal Government has seen the implementation of the Northern Territory Intervention and the Closing the Gap Initiative. This essay will examine these two strategies and discuss the effectiveness of both policies. It will explain the differences, similarities and look at the success so far to

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

Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) acts as the representative of all the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organizations in Victoria (Australia) where it provides guidance on the Aboriginal Health policies. Furthermore, the organization supports local initiatives, but it does not contain any health services. The organization is involved in numerous programs that aimed at promoting member organizations in providing excellent healthcare which may include sexual health, chronic care, maternity and mental health. This article gives an overview of the policies that are made and have an impact on the Aboriginal people’s health and also the impact it has on other people’s health (Fletcher, 2011). Furthermore,

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.

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.

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

A national strategy was developed and the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation replaced the National Aboriginal and Islander Health Organisation in 1992.[33] In 1995, responsibility for most aspects of Indigenous health services was transitioned from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission to the Commonwealth Department of