Social Determinants of Aboriginal Peoples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Social Determinants of Aboriginal Peoples. Answer: Introduction The health drawbacks faced by indigenous peoples in Australia is centuries old, before 1788, the indigenous Australians enjoyed healthy lives than most Europeans (HealthInforNet, 2017). After the arrival of British, this situation changes and currently indigenous communities are more vulnerable towards diseases than others. There are several social, economic factors which have increases health disadvantages in indigenous peoples such as unemployment, the absence of health care and lack of lands (Knibbs Sly, 2014). One of the leading causes of suicide and mental illness in indigenous peoples is racism (Priest, Paradies, Gunthorpe, Cairney, Sayers, 2011). This report will discuss regarding the impact of racism on the mental health and suicide rate of indigenous peoples in Australia. Due to racism, indigenous people face various social discriminations and abuses which resulted in mental illnesses and psychological problems that encourage peoples to commit suicide. This report will evaluate four recent media articles from multiple sources which are based on the effect of racism on mental health of indigenous peoples. As per Thorpe (2017), in Australia, the government has failed to fulfill the requirements for indigenous health, they have continuously disappointed despite providing two-way support. This article provides that government failed to protect aboriginal peoples from suicide caused due to non- indigenous peoples racism. This article provides that high rate of suicide is caused due to racism. The indigenous people are vulnerable towards suicide due to their mental health issues which are the result of racism faced by them. As per this article, there is a double chance of indigenous people committing suicide than comparing to people from other communities, along with that, they also face a high level of psychological suffering than others. As per the research, the psychological distress increases the chance of suicide three times more in aboriginal peoples than non-indigenous peoples management. According to Thorpe (2017), the government can assist in reducing the high suicide rate in indigenous peoples. They can implement strict regulations to support and address the challenges faced by indigenous peoples. Other than government policies, the support of non-indigenous is also necessary for reducing the rate of suicide of aboriginal peoples. The support should be offered and designed for communities to ensure high level of outcomes. Relevancy of topics discussed in overall unit The news article covered topics provided in module 1 2 topic 3 2 respectively. The topic one of module two provided the essential of government regulations to address the on-going issues concerning well-being of indigenous peoples. The article discussed that although the government has taken several initiatives, there is still requirement of solid provisions. The primary initiatives taken by Australian government include policies for health programs, nurse-family partnership program, and facilities to mothers and babies (Australian Department of Health, 2017). These initiatives are focused on filling the gap in health care of indigenous peoples that is caused due to social inequalities Management. Module one topic three on the other hand provided that identity of indigenous peoples culture is a significantly important. The government programs should keep this in mind and initiate programs for providing proper identity to aboriginal culture. The actions taken by media are affecting both adversely and positively on the topic, the attempts made by them prove that government programs are unable to address the problem of racism faced by indigenous peoples. The media sources negatively spread the news of high rate of suicide in aboriginal peoples while comparing it with non-indigenous peoples. As per Islam Fitzgerald (2016), the media coverage of the topic is considerable important as it provides information regarding public opinions and government policies. The media can improve indigenous peoples health through evidence-based broadcasting and increasing awareness. This SBS media item can enforce government to increase its initiatives and develop new services to fulfill the health necessities of aboriginal peoples. I believe that racism has always been a problem in Australian communities and this media article proved the same. This article provides that aboriginal peoples did not have culture, social and spiritual identity due to which they are vulnerable to the risk of suicide. I feel like the government is not taking strict decision for the safety of indigenous peoples. There are enough documents available which proved the link between social factors and indigenous peoples health (Shepherd, Li Zubrick, 2012). I think that Australian government should initiate strict policies to remove inequalities from the society to benefit well-being of indigenous peoples living in Australia. The young indigenous peoples living in Australia has a high chance of experiencing mental issues than compared to non-indigenous young peoples. The recent report by the National Indigenous Times defines the link between, suicide, mental health, and racism. According to the report, three in ten young aboriginal peoples are likely to face severe mental health issues. The report stated that around 33 percent of the young indigenous people might suffer from mental problems. The study was conducted on peoples between the age of 15 to 19 years, although, few participant were aged ten years as well (NIT, 2017). The increasing rate of suicide was linked to the trauma faced by peoples due to racism. As per the National Indigenous Times, the aboriginal peoples in Australia face disengagement during their education and employment. These factors reduce social well-being and emotions in young indigenous peoples that lead to substance abuse which eventually resulted in suicide. As per the article, a holistic approach is necessary to deal properly with decreasing levels of social well-being and emotions. There is a requirement of holistic services that focus on recovery of indigenous peoples by empowering them. The indigenous elders, leaders, and communities should struggle for the establishment of policies which assist in their resilience and recovery. There are few methods proposed in the article to address mental health issues such as telephone hotline facilities, community agency, and magazines. The young indigenous peoples can take the help and support of their family and friends to reduce their mental stress. To conclude, the article focuses on the requirement of internet and online technologies to address the mental health issues faced by young indigenous peoples (NIT, 2017). The online services provided necessary information regarding the treatment, prevention and diagnosis program. Relevancy of topics discussed in overall unit The module 3 topic 2 and module 2 topic 1 are related to this media article. The topics discuss element of aboriginal culture and influence of colonisation respectively. Module 3 topic 2 provided that there is solid connection between spiritual and physical elements. The aboriginal peoples are strongly connected with their land and consider it a source of life. Therefore, social difficulty like unemployment increases the psychological tension and mental health issues in between indigenous peoples. Module 2 topic 1 provides that colonisation significantly influences the health and social status of aboriginal peoples; it adversely impacts on aboriginal health since it is related to historical trauma. Similarly, racism is a similar and interconnecting phenomenon which has increased due to effects of colonisation (Paradies, 2016). Both colonisation and racism resulted in high rate of suicide attempts made by aboriginal peoples. The media item contributes significantly to the high rate of mental health problem in between aboriginal peoples. The primary contribution of the article is proposing the application of a holistic method to face the issues relating to young indigenous peoples. The article has supported few of the programs which are established in Australia. For example, indigenous board which is selected by local communities, operate and manage the ACCHS which provided healthcare services to indigenous peoples through a holistic approach which reduce illnesses, improve health and enhance the development of communities (Durey Thompson, 2012). These facilities also give indigenous communities educational resources for healthcare facilities. Further, implementing a holistic approach spread information regarding the cause of illness in historical context and socio-economic, it provided culturally appropriate solutions for health promotions, reduction of diseases and education, and also offer to explain the reason for intervention. I feel like this article has done a great job in explaining the issues relating to the mental illness of young indigenous peoples. The article provided that rather than just a disease, mental illness is social cause approach, and it recommended the application of a holistic approach for solution. The article focuses on the fact that for indigenous peoples health is relating to various aspects such as body, spirit, emotions and mental (Baba, Brolan Hill, 2014). To examine the mental issues of indigenous peoples several factors are required to be evaluated such as culture, economic, social, historical, community and spiritual (Ypinazar, Margolis, Haswell-Elkins Tsey, 2007). I believed that the article provides a potential solution for the issue faced by indigenous people in Australia. WAtoday. (2017). Abuse, neglect: Perth inquest hears tragic tale of indigenous youth suicides. Retrieved from https://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/abuse-neglect-perth-inquest-hears-tragic-tales-of-indigenous-youth-suicides-20170627-gwzfux.html This news article discusses the issues of suicide among young indigenous peoples living in Australia. The article concentrates on a story of 10 years old girl who took her own life after a period of three years from when her sister committed suicide as well. The news article also provides thirteen other cases relating to suicide which involved young indigenous peoples and which happened in between 2012 and 2016. The high rate of suicide cases involving young aboriginal peoples is serious issue since there is lack of proper reason for such suicides. During the inquiry of the suicide case of 10 years old girl who was from Looma community, there was lack of proper motive for her decision to take her own life (WAtoday, 2017). Nonetheless, it was provided in the investigation that the girl was suffering from suicidal intentions. Also, she was facing domestic violence and along with alcohol abuse and she did not receive any mental health facilities for such issues. In 40 investigations, around 700 recommendations have been filed for proper addressing of the problem of suicide among aboriginal communities. Mr. Urquhart provided that a fundamental approach is necessary to address these issues (WAtoday, 2017). He worries that many of the recommendations provided are not sufficient enough and many others are yet to be effectively implemented. Patricia Dudgeon gave her opinion during the investigation by stating that on-going racism is one of the primary factors that adversely influence the well-being of indigenous peoples. Other factors which linked to racism include poverty, paternalism, and forced removal. Professor Dudgeon claimed that there is not a simple solution available for the problem of racism. She argued that as long as people are treated as second-rate citizens, the issue will continue to transfer from one generation to another. Relevancy of topics discussed in overall unit This article is linked to multiple topics provided in the unit. For example, module 2 topic 1 provided the influence of colonisation is significant over the aboriginal living in Australia. Most of the young indigenous peoples are still experiencing racism as a side effect of colonisation. As per the evidence provided in this article, health of young aboriginal peoples is considerably affected. This article includes information and evidence from various other media items and scholarly reports. According to Fogarty (2016), the rate of suicide in between young aboriginal men of Australia is highest in the world. Specifically, Queensland and Tasmania have reported the maximum rate of suicides. Chalmers and colleagues provided a similar view by stating that suicide rate of young aboriginal peoples is considerably high when compared to non-indigenous peoples (Chalmers et al., 2014). As per these statistics, there is a requirement of culture design which is appropriate for the mental illness interventions of the young aboriginal peoples in Australia. In this case, module 3 topic 1 is related which focus on designing culturally appropriate facilities. This article provided necessary information regarding the related issues; it focuses on the reason of young aboriginal people for suicide. According to the article, the high suicide rate among aboriginal people is caused due to mental health issues. Many adolescents who committed suicide were suffering from mental illnesses at some point in their life, and failure to address such issues were the reason for their suicide. Other than mental health issues, there are several other issues which contributed to the suicide rate of aboriginal peoples such as alienation, the stress of social disadvantages, racism, and exclusion from society (Department of Health, 2013). Additionally, the article has reported that rate of suicide is higher in remote areas; a large number of young indigenous peoples who committed suicide were living in rural areas (Soole, Kolves, De Leo, 2014). The evidence also provided that domestic violence and substance abuse, mainly alcohol, are linked to the high rate of suicide among young indigenous peoples. Personal reflection I think that early detection of serious mental illness syndromes in young aboriginal peoples in Australia is significantly important. By detecting risks factors at an early stage such as substance abuse can help indigenous adolescence tackle their mental issues and reduce intention of suicide. I believe that proper study of mental health issues patterns can provide necessary information which can be utilised in order to prevent the cause of suicidal intentions. I think that it is easier to remove an illness if the disease or its causes are reliably detected (Costello, 2016). According to Haggan (2017), the government is devoted to positively influence the health and social status of aboriginal peoples in Australia. However, he provided that renewed initiative and efforts are necessary to bridge the gap between indigenous peoples and other communities of Australia. It is necessary that renewed approach specifically integrated the social causes that influence health. Proper implementation of this approach will assist in reducing the long-standing inequalities among Australia between indigenous and other communities. A collaborative effort from state, territory and federal government along with aboriginal leaders is required to establishing equality between different sections of society in Australia. The article provided several recommendations relating to bridging the gap in Australian communities. Firstly, an investigation in racism is necessary which focuses on the incidents of racism in healthcare environment which resulted in inequality while accessing healthcare facilities. The Australian government should provide necessary resources to enforce this implementation effectively. Additionally, there are recommendations on strategies for suicide prevention in the article. The majority of suicide cases among indigenous Australians occur before the age of 35 years, which provides that a large number of young aboriginal people are facing the risk of suicide (Haggan, 2017). In conclusion, the National Close the Gap Day is required to be initiated by the government to improve the social condition of indigenous communities living in Australia. This article linked to the module 4 topic 2 which focuses on implementing solid approach and partnership model to close the gap. Primarily, the article discussed regarding government regulations which are required to close the gap between health inequalities faced by aboriginal peoples than compared to non-indigenous peoples. The state, territory, federal governments and indigenous leaders are required to collaborate for creating and applying policies to close the gap of inequalities face by indigenous peoples. Providing training to a large number of indigenous nurses can assist in closing the gap (West, Usher, Foster, 2010). Indigenous nurses have various unique set of skills that can help in improving the outcome of the aboriginal population. The doctors association of aboriginal peoples also help in filling the gap of inequality in healthcare (OMara, 2009). Further, the article relates to module 2 topic 2 which concentrate on governments approaches to close the gap in between Aus tralian communities. Impact of media item on related topic This article argued that government is requiring establishing necessary initiatives to address the mental health problems as well as suicide caused due to racism. Collaboration between indigenous leaders, healthcare, and government, is required to implement effective strategy relating to the issues. The article provides that the government is implementing solid policies to promote the availability of aboriginal peoples to better healthcare systems (Peiris, et al., 2012). This article portrayed a positive image of government regarding the promotion of healthcare benefits for indigenous peoples. I think that the data available can be utilised by the government to implement suitable programs for the healthcare of indigenous peoples since they face a significant amount of inequality (Reading Wien, 2009). The government should also include healthcare professionals and indigenous leaders to work collaboratively on changing aboriginal peoples situation. In rural areas, many healthcare professional face difficulties working with aboriginal peoples (Wilson, Margarey, Jones, ODonnell Kelly, 2015), therefore, government should appoint indigenous health professionals in such areas. Conclusion In conclusion, racism has a considerably adverse influence over wellbeing and mental health of aboriginal peoples living in Australia. Many experts have linked racism to the high rate of suicide among aboriginal peoples. As discussed in this report, media has a significant role in order to spread awareness regarding health, and social issues faced by indigenous peoples due to inequalities in Australian communities. The media shape public awareness regarding various initiatives, approaches, and programs which are established to address challenges relating to health inequalities face by indigenous peoples. The media also recommends few strategies that can be adopted by the government to promote the healthcare of indigenous peoples. References Australian Department of Health. (2017). Indigenous Australians Health Programme. Retrieved from https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/indigenous-programme-lp Baba, J. T., Brolan, C. E., Hill, P. S. (2014). 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