Social Determinants of Health and Impact on Aboriginal Australians - Essay Example

Choose THREE relevant social determinants of health and discuss how they may impact on the health of Aboriginal Australians (alcohol misuse) Name> 9th May 2010 Content Page Topic Page Number 1 Introduction 3 2 Socioeconomic Status 3-5 3 Discrimination and racism 5 4 Colonization 5-7 5 Conclusion 7 6 References 8-9 There are a few social determinants of health that can be looked at and the impact of these determinants can be analyzed to judge the health of aboriginal Australians. One important point to note is that there is a significant difference in health patterns among aboriginals and non aboriginals, with the former facing much worse health conditions than the latter, as Briggs (2003) explores how alcohol misuse is prevalent amongst Australian aboriginals but not amongst non-aboriginals. In the course of the essay, we will see that factors such as socioeconomic status, poverty, perception of control of financial status that people have as well as underlying factors such as colonialism and its impact on land holdings and control as well as more subtle factors such as racism and discrimination all fit in together to form reasons contributing to the current heath status of Australian aboriginals and hence leading to alcohol misuse. These factors will now be looked at in more detail. One of these determinants of health care is the socio economic status. Dick (2007) discusses how there is a very strong link between the poverty faced by an individual or society and its correlation with poor health care, which in turn leads to social habits such as unhealthy amounts of alcohol consumption. Socioeconomic status that one has contributes in many ways to the health status of an individual; thus, poverty means low literacy rates and this in turn affects the ability of people to use health information to their advantage. Furthermore, poverty obviously leads to a lower accessibility to healthcare services and facilities. Socioeconomic status impacts the kind of accommodation in which one is residing; hence poverty leads to one living in overcrowded houses that leads to greater chances for diseases spreading. Williams (2007) argues that the present healthcare is too expensive and can not be afforded by a majority of the Australian Aboriginals; thus poverty plays a major role in the kind of health status of aboriginals. Apart from affecting the physical health, low economic status also results in affecting a person’s psychological state of mind. This is because poverty means that a person has no or very little control over his financial situation, hence leading to anxiety and stress. In the National Aboriginal Health Strategy (1989), Australian Aboriginals said that the control that they had over their physical environment was very much linked to their health status; while it is true that basic health facilities are a very important part of healthcare, the perceived control one has over his financial situation and environment is also really important. Thus, it was found that the way these indigenous people perceive their lack of control over their environment has a direct correlation with stress levels that they feel, leading to mental pressure, acts of violence and developments of habits such as smoking and drinking heavily. Considering this fact, it was seen that an increase in the control that the indigenous population had over their health services, actually had a beneficial impact on their health. Thus, being able to control the health services provided to its community had an overall positive impact in terms of health on the overall community. Another very important social determinant of health care, if we are looking at it from the perspective of Aboriginal Australians is the amount of control that they have over their lands. A strong correlation has been found between control of land and impact on health care. Thus, an example that can be used is of The Kuka Kanyini project, being implemented in remote areas of Australia such as Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands. Kuka Kanyani is based on traditional methods of land management and it is based on the idea that indigenous population will manage their land themselves, taking ownership for it and applying the knowledge that they have regarding land management. It has had the impact that it is closing the gap that is present between indigenous and non indigenous population in terms of the disadvantage faced by the former, improving their health, lifestyle and quality of life. Discrimination and racism too can be considered a social determinant of the health of aboriginals in terms of alcohol misuse. Looking back at history it can be seen that Australian aboriginals faced very discriminatory policies and behaviors that negatively impacted on health and well being. An example is the usurpation of land; for the aboriginals, land was a very essential part of their being and the fact that it was taken away from them had a major negative impact on their sense of being. Land usurpation was not the only way in which they were discriminated. Aboriginal’s lives became hugely regulated; children belonged to the state and could be taken away from them at any time and financial freedom was also curbed. According to Parker (2009), mental illness was prevalent amongst Australian aboriginals even before colonization. However, it was before a rare occurrence, but after the discriminatory policies implemented by the colonizers, such mental diseases started to increase, hence leading to risky levels of alcohol consumption. Thus, in order to address such health concerns, he argues that it is essential that the way of life of Aboriginals be first and foremost recognized and respected. We can now look at another very important social determinant of health which is very much related to the point above. This is associated with colonization and the kind of impact it had on aboriginals due to the way in which land ownership was taken away from them; this in turn is used to explain the problem of alcohol misuse that is prevalent amongst Australian Aboriginals. Edwards & Juanita (2006) explore how the healthcare system has been dominated by a Western approach, and how such an approach is counterproductive. What is needed instead is an approach to healthcare in which the aboriginals themselves are in control, where they themselves dictate the policies that will further improve their healthcare; giving people a sense of empowerment in terms of being able to control their future surroundings goes a long way in helping people’s health status. Williams explores this aspect by first explaining the colonization process of the aboriginals. The British colonization over the Aboriginal people, had the purpose of depriving the indigenous people of the land that they had held since centuries; control of land was hence usurped by the colonizers, treaties were not signed with the aboriginals, and there were continuous wars fought between the British colonizers and the aboriginals over issues of land being usurped and resources being stolen. Thus, the colonizers did not understand the aboriginal land ownership system and this in turn caused many of the problems that were to follow which severely impacted health of future aboriginals and lead to problems of alcohol misuse. Smye, Rameka and Willis (2002) discuss the importance of respect for indigenous opinion and an inclusion of their views in the way in which health policies are formed. They also discuss the lack of importance given to the mental health of these aboriginals and this lack of concern and attention has hence formed the way in which institutional policies have been put in place. As stated by Kendall (2008) the important thing to note is that aboriginal perception of healthcare is very different from the perception of the dominant colonizing power. For them, healthcare is not just about the physical aspect of being provided with medicines, it is much deeper than that; aboriginals have a very holistic view of healthcare and it is very important that their view be incorporated in healthcare policies that are made. There are now many associations that have started working towards this aim: an example is the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association (AIDA) which now proposes that indigenous people be allowed to have a say in the health policies that are made for them. Johnson (2005) explains how indigenous knowledge and perception of healthcare takes a very holistic view as compared to western knowledge which looks at healthcare in a very myopic, one dimensional way. So far we have discussed how indigenous knowledge can help in forming health policies; however, the reasons for this have not been explored. One major reason is that the indigenous people understand their land better than anyone else; hence the knowledge that they have can be used and implemented for sustainable practices hence curbing social issues such as excessive alcohol consumption which is the result of such practices. Thus, having considered the social determinants of healthcare and its impact on Australian aboriginals, we realize that there multiple factors combined that give rise to the prevalent pathetic condition of health issues amongst the Australian aboriginals. By looking at all these factors we come to realize a very important fact: the social determinants of health of these indigenous people shows us not only the way in which these indigenous people are disadvantaged, but it also reveals for us how the rights of these people have been continuously ignored. Thus, when looking at social determinants, if one fails to identify or give due importance to the connection between healthcare and the rights of the indigenous people, then its bound to be unsuccessful. References Aboriginal Knowledge for Sustainability, A burgeoning role for Aboriginal knowledge. (2005). ECOS magazine, 2005 (Issue 125). Briggs, V. L, Lindorff, K. J. & Ivers, R. G. (2003). Commentary: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and Tobacco. Tobacco Control, Vol. 12, Supplement 2: Insights from Australias National Tobacco Campaign. Published by: BMJ Publishing Group Dick, Darren. (2007). Social determinants and the health of Indigenous peoples in Australia – a human rights based approach. International Symposium on the Social Determinants of Indigenous Health, Adelaide, 29-30 April 2007 Edwards, Tania & Sherwood, Juanita (2006). Decolonisation: A critical step for improving Aboriginal health. Aboriginal Health, Centre for Remote Health, a joint Centre of Flinders University and Charles Darwin University, Alice Springs NT, PP: 178 – 190 Kendall, E. et al. (2008) Improving practice by respecting Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing. In Health care practice in Australia: policy, context and innovations, ed, S. Taylor et al., 220-238. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press. National Aboriginal Health Strategy Working Group. (1989). National Aboriginal Health Strategy, AGPS, Canberra, 1989, pix. Parker, Robert. (2009). Australias Aboriginal Population and Mental Health. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease: January 2010 - Volume 198 - Issue 1 - pp 3-7. Smye, Vicki, Rameka, Maria & Willis, Eileen. (2006).Indigenous Health Care: Advances in nursing practice, CN. Page 3. 180. Volume 22, Issue 2, September 2006. CN. Williams, Sandra. (2007). Indigenous Poverty in Australia. http://www.suite101.com/blog/sandraeli/indigenous_poverty_in_australia Wilson, George & Woodrow, Margaret. (2009). Adaptive Environmental Management. Springer Netherlands. Read More