Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Wellbeing

Question: Discuss about theAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Wellbeing. Answer: Introduction Health is not the absence of a malady or the physical completeness of an individual or the community as a whole.To a larger extend,it also involves mental ,economical and social well-being (WHO,2016). Its a multifaceted aspect of the community that is robustly concerned with peoples lives, mode of settlement, education, employment, religion and social justice (Australia Institute of Health and Welfare, 2014). It has been deduced that social soundness is a significant determinant of the health in a given society. For example, in Australia, it has been found that the existing social disadvantages have profoundly contributed to the ill-health of the indigenous people (Australia Institute of Health and Welfare ,2014). Proper and holistic strategies ought to be propounded in order to achieve universal health. Primary healthcare should be actively supported and strengthened. This is an evidence-based method which sees that healthcare is available to all through their full engagement at an affordable cost (Baum, 2015). In this way the community is empowered to manage its own health. Moreover, the entire process of coming up with health programs and plans should be enormously inclusive. The indigenous people or their representatives should be actively involved in the institution of any health program or project (Baum, 2015). This will significantly catapult the health seeking behaviour of those w ho feel disadvantaged thus enhancing the wellness of the community. In addition, the cultural sensitiveness should be intensely adhered to. While discharging health services, the health personnel should acquaint to and respect the culture of the natives (Deferranti, 2013). Moreover, to curb this menace, there must a collaborative approach involving various stakeholders such the government, the health docket and the representatives representing the perceived disadvantaged population. This will focus on addressing social disadvantages that robustly contribute to ill-health. These include unemployment, education, inadequate and contaminated water and alcohol and drugs (Australia Institute of Health and Well-being, 2014). Furthermore, the organization should come up with educational and counseling services. This will be geared towards enhancing emotional well-being. This involves educating the population on hazards that impact them such as drugs and alcohol (Australia Institute of Healt h and Welfare, 2014). To effectively engineer and execute the proposed strategies, one should possess and depict the following qualities; sound knowledge base culminates to effective primary healthcare and patient teaching besides ensuring flexibility and open mindedness to enable one to accommodate, respect and appreciate diverse cultures during the discharge of healthcare (Council of Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner ,2012). In addition, to work appropriately in this environment, one ought to be ready to listen to clients in order to provide patient-centered care. Individuals choices and concerns should be incorporated and addressed during the plan of care (Davis, Birks and Chapman, 2015) Cultural safety is where theres physical, spiritual, social and emotional tranquillity in conjunction with the upholding of peoples identity, respect and needs. This aspect should be highly promoted to ensure effective and inclusive health care delivery. The following should be put into consideration to ensure the discharge of a culturally safe health care. The health practitioner should make sure that he /she discharges healthcare in the manner that people recognize and want. People should believe that health care is provided in a dignified manner and that they have choices to make pertaining their health and lives. In addition, in the case of localities where there is a language barrier or improper mastery of local language, language support and translation should be available. This will ensure that there is a manner of understanding of beliefs about health and disease. This will make the community view the health setting as a culturally safe environment (Taylor Guerin, 2013). Furthermore, those discharging health care should thoroughly scrutinize their own cultural identities, attitudes, and flexibility in their attitudes towards people from different cultures. In addition, they should endeavour to see that their actions during the discharge of care recognize and pay courtesy to the cultural identities of others besides safely meeting their needs,expectations and rights (Burgess, 2013). The most challenges one is likely to encounter are ethical dillema ,lack of adequate resources to implement the primary healthcare programs and lack of cooperation from the native population (Davis,Birks Chapman, 2015).Fortunately ,the possibillities of these challenges occuring have been enormously reduced.This is as a result of the government and other stakeholders pumping resources and involving the natives in all matters concerning their health and lives.This has promoted trust thus enhancing cooperation (Burgess, 2013). Closing the gap alludes to the commitment of the Australian government to address the existing inqualities between the natives and alien Australians (Australia Institute of Health and Welfare, 2014). This includes rising mortality rate, poor sanitation and high disease burden, wanting education and unemployment. Statistics illustrate that the aboriginal people have the poorest access to primary health care. This is depicted by a high burden of potentially preventable hospitalizations (Taylor Guerin, 2013). The institution of primary health care program is really paramount as this will skyrocket the access to essential health services as other Australians. This program will also avert the diseases from occurring in the first place or detect them as early as possible thus preventing them from progressing to chronic levels. Furthermore, cultural awareness is quite imperative. There is a strong correlation between culture and emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing. Cultural sensitiv ity and mastery by those mandated in coming up with policies and those executing government programs, the abolishing of any form of discrimination and coming up with programs that accommodate and meet the cultural expectations of the people are enormously critical in zeroing the existing disparities. In addition, proper collaboration with the indigenous population can have far-reaching effects in curbing this menace. The coming up of aboriginal committee controlled health services has culminated in the establishment of the aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders steering committee. This will address and focus on specific native health priorities and thus improve health outcomes. Lastly, according to (Fisch Mage, 2015), education is the genesis of hope and prosperity which can ultimately result in remedying other disadvantages For instance, it has been found that at higher scales of education, theres is almost no employment disparities between the indigenous and non-indigenous Austral ians (Ojeda, 2012). Cultural safety came into being in the 1980s and 1990s.It was propounded to see that there is respect and no harm on individuals identity. It entails developing strategies in the areas of service delivery to create forums for the service dischargers to enable them to come up with and appreciate cultural diversity (Grezon Conrad, 2013). The culturally sensitive interventions and programs will go in great depth in ensuring individual empowerment. This will further enhance efficient and effective service delivery as the indigenous will perceive the vicinity as a cultural safe place. Self-determination is the act of transferring a decision-making power from a sole decision maker such as the government to the indigenous population (Fisch Mage, 2015). It also encompasses actively being involved in policies and program formulations and providing services from the cultural perspectives. Self-determination can be a crucial aspect in achieving profound and sustained improvements in social and economic status of the indigenous people as they are able to determine their own economic, social and cultural development (Fisch Mage, 2015). Nevertheless, it should be strongly emphasized that self-determination isnt synonymous to sessions from the state. The government of Australia and private sectors have propounded a number of strategies in an attempt to dismantle the existing disparities between the indigenous and non-indigenous people. But all this will be futile without proper engagement of the native population. Collaboration entails inclusivity in decision-making and in the development of programs and plans. It also involves the partnership of various stakeholders who participate in foreseeing the welfare of the aboriginals in achieving the common goal (Davis, Birks Chapman, 2015) Reference List Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2014, Australia's health 2014: the 14th biennial welfare report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Baum, F 2015, The New Public Health, Oxford university press, South Melbourne Burgess, P 2008 Beyond the Mainstream, Health Gains in Remote Aboriginal, Wollongong press, Aldade Council of Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioners (American Nurses Association) 2012, The scope of practice of the primary health care nurse practitioner, American Nurses Association, Kansas City Davis, J., Birks, M. Chapman, Y 2015, Inclusive practice for health professionals, Pan Macmillan Australia, Sydney Deferranti, D, M 2013, Closing the gap in education and health, Elsevier, Washington D.C. Fisch, J, Mage, A 2015, The right of self-determination of peoples, Elsievier,Sydney Gezon, L and Conrad, P 2013, Culture, McGraw-Hill, New York Ojeda, A 2012, Health Determinants, Thomson/Gale,San Diego. Taylor, K. Guerin, P 2013, Health care and indigenous Australians: cultural safety in practice,Palgrave Macmillan, South Yarra.