Indigenous Australians

The following discussion will focus on the statement “treating unequal people equally is just as unfair as treating equal people unequally”.

Indigenous Australians have the worst health status in the country and on some scales the worst in the world.

When it comes to cultural safety health centres need to be more culturally safe to ensure Indigenous Australians feel safe and comfortable to access health facilities and not feel they are going to be treated unequally.

There are misconceptions about health expenditure. Sweeping generalisations are used that if there is more money spent on Indigenous people then their health should be better then the rest of the Australian population. When making these statements, the history of Indigenous Australians health needs to be taken into consideration.

There are different models of service delivery, some of these include the bush mobile van, which provides outreach service for Aboriginals with chronic health conditions and another is a male health program which looks after sexual health, health education and health checks. Both of these delivery models are run by congress.

Social determinants play a crucial part in the health status of Indigenous Australians. Stress, Nutrition and Addiction all put extra strain on Indigenous Australians health status.

The four main causes of excessive deaths in Indigenous Australians are from circulatory disorders, injury, respiratory disorders and diabetes. These disorders can be reduced if the health services spent more time allocating health treatment in these areas.

The above discussion outlined some pints that affect Indigenous Australians health status. Treating unequal people equally is just as unfair as treating equal people unequally. Whether you are Indigenous Australian or Caucasian Australian one thing stands and that is as long as you are Australian you should receive adequate health assistance to improve health status of all Australians.

References

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. www.aihw.gov.au retrieved 19^th June 2007.

McMurray, A (2004) Community Health and Wellness: A socioecological approach.

Smith, J (2004) Australian Rural and Remote Health: A social justice perspective.