Essay: Social Determinants Of Aboriginal Health In Australia" (56 Characters)

Current Health Status of Aboriginal

The population selected to have adverse health outcomes in Australia is the Aboriginals. According to Rheault et al., (2019), the Aboriginal’s health status and health literacy is poor as compared to the general community in Australia. There is a wider health disparity gap that has been in existence for several years. There is, for instance, a seventeen years age gap in life expectations between the non-indigenous individuals and the Aboriginals (Rheault et al., 2019). Besides, individuals aged below 65 years have a higher death rate than the rest of the population. Additionally, the Aboriginals are not offered equal prospects to access healthcare services associated with the fact that they are socioeconomically underprivileged (Rheault et al., 2017). There are two leading social determinants that affect the Aboriginal health status, including access to healthcare services and socioeconomic status.

Despite various development and advancements being made on specific measures of the Aboriginal health situation, there are still wider gaps that do not align with the health benefits that have been implemented among the other population in the country (McCalman et al., 2021). Various illness caused by diseases like diabetes often results in increased death rates. Such issues have drastically reduced by 30% since 1975 (Nolan-Isles et al., 2021). However, for the Aboriginals, there are no improvements regarding deaths associated with diseases like diabetes (Burns, 2018). Besides, there is a young age structure among the Aboriginal community, which means that the scope of issues affecting them is expected to increase in the coming years significantly. The increase in regards to a large number of the youth population will require various advanced and improved healthcare services and databases in order to align and stay updated with the multiple demands of the selected community 1975 (Nolan-Isles et al., 2021). Efforts should also be made to maintain the status quo to achieve decreased health inequality among the selected community (Nolan-Isles et al., 2021). The disparity regarding the health status that the non-indigenous group experiences are linked to the systematic discernment (Burns, 2018). Historically, the Aboriginals have been unable to be provided with equal opportunity to be as healthy as the rest of the Australian population. The disparities can be attributed to the unapproachability of various mainstream services and reduced access to healthcare services, including aspects like insufficient delivery of healthcare infrastructure among the targeted population and inadequate primary healthcare.

In contemporary society, the burden of the disease among the Aboriginals have increased and is now 2.3 times more than that of other population in Australia. Aspects like chronic illness and psychological stress are prevalent in the community (Nolan-Isles et al., 2021). Their health is further viewed as holistic since it involves the well-being, physical health, cultural well-being, and the emotions of both the community and the families (Nolan-Isles et al., 2021). Such aspects mean a need to implement various programs, services, and policies that consider their social and cultural determinants of health.

There are two primary social determinants that impact the Aboriginals in Australia. The first factor is socio-economic status. Most of the individuals from the society are economically disadvantaged, such that a significant number of them are unemployed or receive low incomes (Flavvel et al., 2022). The average gross household income in regards to Aboriginals every week is about $363. However, the weekly income for the non-indigenous group is about %585 (Flavel et al., 2022). Besides, the high unemployment rate of the Aboriginals is about 20%, which is considered to be three times the increase compared to the general population in Australia (Valessi et al., 2018). There is various research that demonstrates a connection between the social-economic status of an individual to their health. Poor households are often associated with poverty and poor health because of multiple factors. The first factor is that they are underprivileged regarding education and literacy (Calma et al., 2017). Such aspects usually negatively affect the ability of a person to access and read various health information and resources. The second factor is insufficient income which drastically reduces the ability of individuals to access quality healthcare services and treatments. The last factor is poor infant diet connected to chronic diseases and high mortality rates (Calma et al., 2017). Besides, Aboriginals are more likely to live in overcrowded houses, which contributes to the spread of communicable diseases.

Two Social Determinants

A second social determinant factor is easy to access to quality healthcare services. Such aspects can be attributed to the cultural barriers that have made the Aboriginals develop negative attitudes towards accessing healthcare services (Delacy et al., 2020). Health disparities often exist among the indigenous group, hindering them from accessing universal healthcare coverage and benefits. The Aboriginals also live in remote and rural geographical areas, which has made them experience increased child and infant mortality rates since they are unable to access the required medical care (Pearson et al., 2020). Additionally, the community members have reported low birth weight and age-standardized death rates. Besides, a significant number of them have higher risks and are more vulnerable to diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The differences in their cultural beliefs, health identity, and faith have also made the indigenous community less willing to utilize the healthcare facilities near them (Delacy et al., 2020). The cultural beliefs are associated with prevalent delays when going for check-ups and medical.

Most indigenous community members earn less income. Besides, they live in overcrowded households. Such aspects restrict their access to healthcare services since the tiny amount of income earned is spent on food and other basic needs (Mather et al., 2018). Various research has linked people from high-income households to have a longer lifespan and better health than low-income families who earn less income (Mather et al., 2018). In Australia, the Aboriginals are among the lowest income individuals and are linked to have low levels of educational achievement. Individuals from the community who are unemployed are less probably going to have good health than to those who are well-educated (Li, 2017). Additionally, low-income individuals are less likely to be covered by insurance. Therefore, they have poor health outcomes because they evade going for medical checkups unless it is during an emergency or if they are incredibly sick. Most individuals from the stated population are also incapable of accessing healthcare services, which is attributed to  financial reasons than  the general population. Such issues may raise concerns on if financial assets are more essential to different resources and policy interferences as compared to factors like cultural background.

Most indigenous community members earn low wages and therefore spend most of their time dealing with the healthcare bureaucracy. They are also worried with how they will have easy access to the healthcare system and ways they are going to survive during medical emergencies  (Mather et al., 2018). Most of them believe that a healthcare system is a form of an ongoing challenge that drains the small's resources they have. Such notions demonstrate that the socioeconomic factors are more important to the Aboriginals because they command the sector where the system in which individuals can easily access hospitals (Li, 2017).  

References

Azzopardi, P., Sawyer, S., Carlin, J., Degenhardt, L., Brown, N., Brown, A., & Patton, G. (2018). Health and wellbeing of Indigenous adolescents in Australia: a systematic synthesis of population data. The Lancet, 391(10122), 766-782. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(17)32141-4

Burns, J. (2018). Overview of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health status 2018. Healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au. Retrieved 26 April 2022, from https://healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/healthinfonet/getContent.php?linkid=617557&title=Overview+of+Aboriginal+and+Torres+Strait+Islander+health+status+2018.

Calma, T., Dudgeon, P., & Bray, A. (2017). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social and Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health. Australian Psychologist, 52(4), 255-260. https://doi.org/10.1111/ap.12299

DeLacy, J., Dune, T., & Macdonald, J. (2020). The social determinants of otitis media in Aboriginal children in Australia: are we addressing the primary causes? A systematic content review. BMC Public Health, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-08570-3

Flavel, J., McKee, M., Freeman, T., Musolino, C., Eyk, H., Tesfay, F., & Baum, F. (2022). The need for improved Australian data on social determinants of health inequities. Medical Journal Of Australia. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.51495

Li, J. (2017). Cultural barriers lead to inequitable healthcare access for aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. Chinese Nursing Research, 4(4), 207-210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnre.2017.10.009

Mather, C., Douglas, T., & Jacques, A. (2018). Health literacy of undergraduate health profession students in Australia: A comparison of the island state of Tasmania and other Australian universities. Kontakt, 20(4), e386-e393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kontakt.2018.08.008

McCalman, J., Longbottom, M., Fagan, S., Fagan, R., Andrews, S., & Miller, A. (2021). Leading with local solutions to keep Yarrabah safe: a grounded theory study of an Aboriginal community-controlled health organisation’s response to COVID-19. BMC Health Services Research, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-06761-1

Rheault, H., Bonner, A., & Coyer, F. (2017). Health literacy - “I don't get it”. The Journal For Nurse Practitioners, 13(7), e334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2017.05.042

Rheault, H., Coyer, F., Jones, L., & Bonner, A. (2019). Health literacy in Indigenous people with chronic disease living in remote Australia. BMC Health Services Research, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4335-3 

Pearson, O., Schwartzkopff, K., Dawson, A., Hagger, C., Karagi, A., & Davy, C. et al. (2020). Aboriginal community controlled health organisations address health equity through action on the social determinants of health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia. BMC Public Health, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09943-4

Vallesi, S., Wood, L., Dimer, L., & Zada, M. (2018). “In Their Own Voice”—Incorporating Underlying Social Determinants into Aboriginal Health Promotion Programs. International Journal Of Environmental Research And Public Health, 15(7), 1514. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15071514