indigenous Australians

Question 1

general useful info

Answer 1

Indigenous Medicine
General background
Huge health inequality between non-indigenous and indigenous australian
Life expectancy of males and females is 10 years
Children are smaller
Huge prevalence of Chronic diseases - lifestyle based diseases, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol, cancer, mental health
Reactive vs preventative - reactive to the bad thing, preventative - ensure it doesn’t happen
Social determinants of health
poor education, unemployment, low income, discrimination and poor quality housing

Question 2

solutions to issues re. indigenous health

Answer 2

1)Access
PTV-increase transport to primary healthcare facilities

increase the number of healthcare facilties, increase number of

primary healthcare facilities

increase funding to telehealth

2)culturally sensitive workforce
a workforce which is trained in understanding the differences in cultures and how to foster a more welcoming and aware non-ignorant environment.eg. eye contact

Aboriginal community controlled Health organisation
(ACCHO)
having indigenous indiv within workforce= familiar face hence more welcoming

Question 2

what are some barriers to indigenous health care

Answer 2

Access
A large proportion of aboriginal australians do not live soley on the coast of australia, they live in parts of regional, remote and rural australia (50% approved very remote)
This results in immense difficulties in accessing primary health care, and even more so specialist care (including pathology, imaging etc)
This lack of access results in high costs, one has to consider taking time off work, traveling, finding someone to stay
Despite increased subsidisation there is still a degree of opportunity cost invariably
Reactive vs preventative

Acceptability
- what i define as getting these patients into the hospital door
Aboriginals marginalised as a community and segregated when australia was colonised
Taken time for their to be a formal apology
Stolen generation
+continuous racial abuse
Loss of hunter/gatherer lifestyle
Racially abused often
RESULTS IN - distrust and a great sense of “lack of comfort” - do not want to go to a hospital
DISTRUST

Appropriateness - what i define as making those patients happy in the hospital and likely come back
Lack of adequate culturally sensitive care - party due to lack of adequate training
Western medicine & indigenous medicine may have different core values and not overlap
Indigenous medicine = more holistic (big focus on bush medicine/ elders beliefs/ gender based care)