Introduction
Different groups of people in Australia have diverse cultural practices. For instance, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s way of life is not similar to the culture and lifestyle of other community groups such as the refugees and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community. The individual experiences of each particular cultural group affect their behaviors and habits which impact health-related risk factors.This essay discusses the current and historical events of two cultural groups; the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and Australian refugees and how these occasions have impacted risk factors related to their health. A risk factor is any attribute, constituent, theexposure that enhances the likelihood of development of disease or injury. The essay also pronounces the policies and frameworks set aside to improve the groups’ health, highlighting and care provision and policies influence their health outcomes (Eldredge et al., 2016).
Refugees in Australia usually originate from other regions as a result of war, persecution or violence and head on to the specified country in search of a permanent home. The health of this group of people is affected by specific risk factors which are mainly environmental aspects. Most refugees’ housing facilities are provided for by the government. They, therefore, do not have the chance to live in the environmental conditions they would like which leads to limited access to various factors such as clean water and sanitation (Mallett et al., 2011). Air pollution is also a common problem among the refugees’ abiding places. Other risk factors include genetic risk factors that depend on an individual’s gene makeup and thus he or she has no control over them. While genetic risk factors lead to chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, environmental features cause health issues such as vitamin deficiencies, latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI), hepatitis B and schistosomiasis (Masters et al., 2018).
Refugees and asylum seekers are usually forced to flee their respective countries or regions of residence due to the crisis and hardships they face there. They leave behind land, resources and sometimes their families in search of peace and harmony in their lives. The majority of refugees in Australia come from Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. Conversely, others arrive from Syria, Iraq, Sub-Saharan Africa, Myanmar and many other countries in the world. Historically, a major percentage of asylum seekers arrived by plane. The number of those arriving by boat has, however, been increasing in the recent years of the early 2010s and late 2000s (Phillips & Spinks, 2013).
The crisis they face from home lead to their displacement which adversely affects the emotional as well as their physical health and wellbeing. The crisis in Syria, for instance, led to millions of Syrians being displaced internally or emigrating to other places, making Syria the largest forcibly evacuated population in the world (Gatrell, 2015). Years of insecurityand political instability has led to the emigration of many people from Afghanistan. South Sudan has had one of the largest crisis in Africa leading to the emigration of many people seeking peace and a safe place to reside. During this crisis, homes were burnt and resources destroyed whereby the people left with nothing. Decades of ongoing conflict and war has led to many Somalis leaving their homes with their families to live in refugee camps in other places.As a result of all these catastrophes, people immigrate to new places, mostly with no possessions. The Asylum seekers are housed by the government, most times in destitute camps where there are inadequate basic necessities such as water, sanitation,and education. Clean sanitary accommodations in these places are almost unheard of. Refugees in Australia suffer from communicable ailments due to air pollution and their health is very poor as they are more vulnerable to illnesses and diseases.
Australia has tried to help the asylum seekers who arrive there, for example through the Refugee and Humanitarian Program. This program protects asylum seekers (onshore component) and aids in the resettlement of them (offshore component). Through grants and provision of visas, Australia is enhancing the freedom and the living standards of the refugees. Heightening their living standards, in turn, leads to an improvement in their health.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peopleare Australia’s first peoples who have undergone extreme destitutions since the colonization of the nation-state by European settlers. These adversities affect their health and decline its abundance. They have poorer health compared to non-indigenous Australians due to these hardships. Among this group of people, the health-related risk factors are mostly behavioral aspects which can be altered by one’s change in lifestyle. They mostly suffer from chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, trauma, mental illnesses,and cancer. More of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people suffer from chronic conditions and are involved in smoking and excessive drinking than non-indigenous Australians (Vos et al., 2009). This group of people also has a distinct culture which affects their thinking on matters related to health, health care provision and care providers.
This group of people has distinctive historical events and experiences which impacts the risk factors related to their health. The Stolen Generations is one such event that adversely affected and still affects the mental health of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. A percentage of indigenous Australians are reported to have been separated from their families while others lost their relatives (ABS, 2009).This is an incident whereby the federal and state governments and churches, under their corresponding parliaments removed children of this community group’s descent from their families.
The colonization of Australia by European people also adversely impacted on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who lived in the country at the time. Before colonization, these people were divided into peaceful tribes and were nomads. They moved from one place to another in search of food and other commodities they required. The British initially formed friendly relations with the community but later on, the relationship became hostile where they were forced to behave as the British wished and were shot if they resisted. This led to direct fighting with the colonizers leading to loss of people and land by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The people were also introduced to new and infectious diseases such as smallpox, influenza, chickenpox,and measles which further killed people (Jalata, 2013). The sufferings experienced during this period still affects this community’s health and wellbeing as they never quite recovered (Axelsson, Kukutai & Kippen, 2016).
The Australian government has come up with strategies to enhance the health of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by developing agendas and policies to this effect. These include:
Close the Gap is a rigorous and focusedmovement with partakers such as the government and organizations, for instance, the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association. Its objective is to close the life expectancy and health gap amid non-indigenous and indigenous Australians (Goold, 2011). It is thus meant to lessen the disadvantages of the indigenous Australians with prominence on areas such as the access to infant mortality, childhood education, employment, smoking rates, educational achievements (Lunn, 2014). The policy was synthesized by the 2005 social justice report released by the then Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner (Calmar, 2005).
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013-2023: this is an evidence-based policy agenda which was formulated to promote the health and wellbeing of this group of people (ISLANDER, 2013). It was established as an effort to close the health and life expectancy gap between the indigenous and non-indigenous Australians (Durey & Thompson, 2012). It guides all stratagems, policies,and programs designed with the aim of improving the health and wellbeing of these people. Its vision is to develop a health system that is effective, culturally appropriate, and free of racism and inequalities as well as one that is affordable to all Australians (McIver, 2011). The plan thus positively impacts the health of the indigenous Australians by enhancing their hospital experiences which encourages them to seek out medical care (Browne et al., 2017).
Conclusion
The essay establishes that the dissimilar experiences of various cultural groups in Australia affect their view on health as well as the kind of ailments they suffer from. The Australian refugees and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are two diverse community groups with unlike cultures, ways of life, beliefs and values. Thehealth of these groups of people is affected by completely different risk factors. They also endure dissimilar diseases whereby indigenous Australians mostly suffer from chronic conditions while the refugees in Australia ail from communicable diseases such as tuberculosis. The Australian government is putting effort to help improve the health and wellbeing of these two groups of people by formulating policies such as the Refugee and Humanitarian Program and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013-2023.
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