The Social Determinants Of Health

Another U.S. study found that low availability of emotional support and low social participation were associated with all-cause mortality.

Particularly, the long-term emotional trauma caused to the Indigenous community is traced back through the dark history of many

The continuous trauma that they endured has negatively affected the mental health and physical health of the population. Native Americans are at higher risk for depression, physical/sexual abuse, domestic violence, substance abuse, and mental health issues (McLeigh, 2010). Native American youth are three times more likely to commit suicide than the average population. Native Americans in general are twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression and five times more likely to have alcoholism. Colonization not damaged natives mentally, but also brought harm to their physical health as Europeans brought diseases (measles, chicken pox, smallpox, etc) to America (McLeigh, 2010). In order for this population to be served to treat their many medical and mental health issues brought on by years of trauma, policies must be implemented to help Native Americans specifically. However, the reality is that natives mental health needs are often ignored (Gone, 2004). There have been policies that have attempted to meet the needs, but much more is needed. In the most recent action towards improving mental health services for natives, the Affordable Care Act of 2010 permanently gave authorization to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (Ross, Garfield, Brown, & Raghavan, 2015). This policy will be discussed and analyzed to examine further needs for services in this

Through callous developmentalism, European colonists brought about multiple forms of violence which had not existed previously in Aboriginal communities. In post-genocidal settings, talk of trauma is ubiquitous. (Citation 2 Genocide). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is present in nearly all residential school survivors; the number of First Nations people who suffer from PTSD is far higher than the widely publicized PTSD rates in the Canadian military. The Journal of Aboriginal Health published research in 2009 which showed a study on British Columbia residential school survivors with 64% of survivors having PTSD. Many believe these rates are far higher in some First Nation communities. A high contrast is seen through studies that compare the Canadian military PTSD rates with PTSD rates in Aboriginal communities. While between 2% and 10% of Canadian soldiers suffer from this disorder, it is believed that up to 90% of Aboriginal people are afflicted with PTSD (Citation 3 Vancouver Sun). Aboriginal people who experience PTSD experience it because of the horrible way in which they were treated. The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council has done a vast study based on the effects that residential schools have on their people. From a total of 96 people surveyed, the council found that 30% to 83% of people indicate that they were victims of abuse, and over half specified that they maintain some

“Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people have a greater amount of disadvantage and significantly more health problems than the non-Aboriginal & Torres strait Islander population in Australia”

When discussing the Aboriginal quality of life within Canada there are several issues that come to mind, such as health, education, housing and our Canadian-Indigenous relationship (First Ministers And National Aboriginal Leaders, 2005, p. 1). However, many times Canadians neglect to distinguish the root of the issue. While residential schools may be addressed and looked upon historically, the traumas and effects are still particularly palpable for many Indigenous communities. For this reason, it is significant for Canadians to be empathetic towards the underlying issues, for obstacles like Indigenous health to be properly handled. Within this essay, I create an awareness of the impacts of assimilation tactics to Aboriginal communities;

Imagine having your identity and culture stripped away from you. This is what has happened to many Indigenous people throughout history in Canada. This has been done through the process of colonization. There are many devastating impacts of colonization that has affected Indigenous people all over Canada including racism and stereotyping as well as the downfall of the health of Indigenous people. Racism against Indigenous people has been a major impact of colonialism throughout the years. The racism and institutionalized racism has grown over the years and has made it complicated for many Indigenous people to practice their spirituality and culture. There are also many health consequences of colonization including starvation, disease, mental illness and addiction. There are many impacts of colonization that have affected Indigenous people throughout history and continue to impact them today.

On October 15th 2013 the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, released a statement upon the conclusion of his visit to Canada. In his statement, Anaya reveals that “from all I have learned, I can only conclude that Canada faces a crisis when it comes to the situation of indigenous peoples of the country” (2013:8). Even though Canada was one of the first countries to extend constitutional protection to the rights of indigenous people, Canadian aboriginals experience a well-being gap. Aboriginal teens are more likely to commit suicide; Aboriginal women are

Aboriginal peoples of Canada have suffered exponentially throughout the entirety of history and proceed to do so in modern society. Much of the continued suffrage of aboriginal peoples is as a result of the Sixties Scoop and the Residential School System, as well as the lack of resources available to them. This has wreaked extensive havoc on the mental health of Aboriginal peoples, and has left excessive amounts of stigma and racism attached to Aboriginal Peoples, explicitly seen in the cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

In this article, Professor King says loss of culture, land and language all play a part in poor health. Having an identity, he says, is especially important for mental health. As for example, many native children in Canada were taken from their families and sent to live at the residential schools. They were educated in the european system, they never had a normal chance to develop a cultural identity. The schools’ so-called purpose was to provide education for native children. But the real purpose was to eliminate native culture from Canada. As Reverend A.E. Caldwell of his school in 1938 said “The problem with the Indians is one of morality and religion. They lack the basic fundamentals of civilized thought and spirit, which explains their childlike nature and behavior. At our school we strive to turn them into mature Christians who will learn how to behave in the world and surrender their barbaric way of life and their treaty rights, which keep them trapped on their land and in a primitive existence. Only then will the Indian problem in our country be solved.” Caldwell view of aboriginal culture and how they should be assimilated to the european culture is how most ministers of the schools thought about native culture. Students were forbidden to speak their language or practice their culture, and were often punished for doing so. All these awful acts at residential schools made natives suffer loss

Historical trauma has had an impact on the mental health of members of Native Americans/First Nations communities. There is a prevalence of suicide, substance abuse, and depression, and the internalization of oppressive beliefs about their own community (Grayshield, et al., 2013). As a result, there is a mistrust of the majority culture (Sue and Sue, 2013). In turn, a Native Americans/First Nations client may unwillingly choose to open up about personal problems to a counselor in the

Thesis: Although their were contributions in improving the lifestyles for the native Canadians by the Canadian government the prejudice they faced does not nearly way out of how they were treated through deficient access to health care, poor living conditions, and lack of education.

Social determinants of health are social, economic and physical factors that affect the health of individuals in any given population. There are fourteen social determinants of health but Income is perhaps the most important of these because it shapes living conditions, influences health related behaviors, and determines food security. In Canada, people with lower incomes are more susceptible to disease/ conditions, higher mortality rate, decreased life expectancy and poorer perceived health than people with high incomes. In numerous Canadian studies and reports, there has been more emphasis on health being based on an individual’s characteristics, choices and behaviours, rather than the role that income plays as a social determinant of health. Although Canada has one of the highest income economies in the world and is comprised of a free health care system, many low income families are a burden on the system because of the physical and mental health issues influenced by income insecurity. Low income individuals are heavier users of health care services because they have lower levels of health and more health problems than do people with higher incomes. This essay will address income as a social determinant of health in three key sections: what is known on the issue, why the issue is important and how can health and public policies address the issue. The main theme that runs through the essay is the income related health inequalities among low income groups compared to

For over 200 years Aborigines have endured a long history of suffering due to the unpropitious effects of internationalism and western colonization; in Europeans attempt for cultural assimilation and taking their land to which has caused catastrophic consequences within individuals and the community as a whole by

Within a North American context, the narrative of the dysfunctional Aboriginal family is widespread. This image has been produced and reproduced by a variety of structures and institutions. However, what is almost always left out is the appropriate context behind why many Aboriginal families experience certain social conditions that cause them to be framed in this perpetually negative manner. This consideration would factor in a long and impactful legacy of colonialism. Essentially, when European settlers arrived in Canada, they brought along with them a system of beliefs and practices that were foreign to those Indigenous communities within Canada. These practices and values were not only opposite to Indigenous beliefs, but were also extremely disruptive and threatening to the lifestyle Aboriginal families had lived for centuries. Thus, I will explore the ways in which European colonialism marked a community along with the manner in which these effects were able to be sustained until present day. Specifically, I will argue that the Canadian legacy of colonialism is the root cause of the development of toxic familial structures within Aboriginal families, namely those that are patriarchal. Therefore, this paper will the discuss the following sub-issues-the introduction of patriarchy into indigenous society and its intersections with other colonial consequences, such as substance abuse and poverty.