Indiscriminate Healthcare Services For Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islanders In Australia

Healthcare Services In Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islanders

It is important to spread adequate healthcare services irrespective of their gender, caste and cultural diversity. The effectiveness of the health care services irrespective of socio-cultural background can be demonstrated as an ethical practice of an indiscriminate healthcare setting. However, the aboriginals of the Torres Strait Islanders are deprived of the adequate healthcare facility. The existence of discrimination in the healthcare practices can be identified as the key reason for the unethical deprivation of the aboriginals of the Torres Strait Islanders. Reportedly, it is found that the aboriginals of the Torres Strait islanders suffer from cardiovascular disease, lungs problem and type 2 diabetes has remained unnoticed by the healthcare professional for a long time. This is the reason for the short life expectancy of the aboriginals of Torres Strait Islanders. As per the report of the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) Report Card 2016, the aboriginals contribute 3% of the overall Australian population. However, the mortality rate increased by 15% in the last twenty years due to the lack of adequate healthcare facilities. These studies will unfold the importance of spreading effective healthcare facilities to the aboriginals of the Torres Strait islanders respecting their socio-cultural values. The effectiveness of health services and the required outcome will be briefly discussed in the study. Additionally, the birthing model in the healthcare determinants will be analyzed based on the healthcare needs of the aboriginals of Torres Strait Islanders.  The social determinants of the healthcare services for the aboriginals of Torres Strait islands will be analyzed based on the related examples and healthcare documents. The concluding part of the study will summarize the whole discussion and will focus on an overall recommendation for effective healthcare services to the aboriginals of the Torres Strait Islanders.    Healthcare Services In Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islanders Discussion Paper

Healthcare services in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders do not have sufficient access to the healthcare facility in Australia due to the discrimination in the healthcare setting. No proper government or non-government aid reaches them on time (Silverstein, 2017). Moreover, they cannot avail treatment while changing cities due to their financial insufficiency. 64% of the aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders suffer from several chronic diseases. However, they cannot get proper treatment that can reduce their mortality rate (Taylor & McDermott, 2016). However, presently, the Australian government and OSR organizations have taken initiatives to provide adequate healthcare facility to the aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders’ people (Campbell, Hunt, Scrimgeour, Davey & Jones, 2018). The OSR organizations have taken an initiative where around 68% of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait island people would come under primary healthcare services.

Initiatives Taken To Improve Healthcare Services

The number of healthcare consumers of ACCHS services is increasing presently. This can be identified as an ethical initiative to develop an indiscriminate healthcare setting in Australia. Equality in healthcare services must be provided with high priority (Stoneman, Atkinson, Davey & Marley, 2014). The increase rate in ACCHS’s OSR consumers is 9% every year. In the year 2012, the aboriginal clients under this scheme were 252,038 which are 274,848 in 2014-15. Hence, it is also notable that the gap of the effective healthcare facilities between aboriginals and non-aboriginals is still 39% which is needed to mitigate immediate basis.

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The lack of effective healthcare facility can be identified as the key reasons for the growing number of unhealthy people among the aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. No healthcare awareness program used to arrange in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islands (Askew, Lyall, Ewen, Paul & Wheeler, 2017). This, the smoking and drinking rate among the aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders increased to 51% in 2002. On the contrary, the healthcare programs of ACCHS have helped to mitigate the smoking drinking rate by 9% which is presently 42%.

The report of ACCHS indicates that, around 233 healthcare campaigns have been arranged. It is notable that 134 of this were conducted with the aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. The related data of the healthcare campaigns among the aboriginals of Torres Strait Islanders was provided to the ACCHS (Campbell, Hunt, Scrimgeour, Davey & Jones, 2018). The data has shown that the effective healthcare facility has increased in the Torres Strait islands and the number has jumped from 42% to 50%. Moreover, a significant decrease in chronic disease has also been recovered through the healthcare performance indicators (Hejduková & Kureková, 2017). 13.7% of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders live in remote areas. Thus, it was not easy to provide effective care services to them (Shahid, Bessarab, van Schaik, Aoun & Thompson, 2013). This is the reason behind the decrease in healthcare events and increase in regulator clients. Hence, the implementation of the ethical care plans by ACCHs has made it helpful to in developing quality care facility among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait island people for effective healthcare outcome.

The ethical principles that are applicable in developing the social determinants of the healthcare facilities among the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders are health equalities and human rights approach, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community control and engagement, partnership and accountability. Social determinants are the essential demographical factor that impacts in the healthcare facilities for aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders (Shahid, Bessarab, van Schaik, Aoun & Thompson, 2013). The basic risk factors are associated with the identification of the lifestyle errors of the aboriginal people. 31% of them are alcoholic and has a habit of smoking. This signifies that there is 11% gap in the healthcare determinants. Additionally, they live in an unhygienic place, as 13% of the households are overcrowded having an unhealthy atmosphere. Effective utilization of the ACCH resources can mitigate the healthcare issues among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people. This requires effective communication, cultural respect and indiscriminate healthcare setting (Sajiv, 2013). Furthermore, an interpreter must be involved in the process to act as a cord of healthcare communication between the aboriginals and healthcare staffs (Weel-Baumgarten, 2018). This can be helpful in developing healthcare structure among the aboriginal communities of Torres Strait islands to develop the healthcare benefit.

Social Determinants Of Healthcare For Aboriginals And Torres Strait Islanders

A holistic development in the health service of the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islanders would help to improve the health outcomes of the aboriginal people. The health outcomes measures are important parameters that determine the healthcare efficacy (Gwynne, Jeffries & Lincoln, 2018).  Documentation of reports of the clients with positive results should be done to measure the health outcomes in the Aboriginal Torres Strait island people.  The health outcomes measure type 2 diabetes. It is seen that by performing the HBA1c test that the results are less or equal to 7 per cent that indicates a controlled level of diabetes among the aboriginals of Torres Strait Islands (Shahid, Bessarab, van Schaik, Aoun & Thompson, 2013). The blood pressure level of the average population seems to be in the control range that is one of the positive sign of the health outcomes to develop healthcare benefit.

Some of the health outcomes are still neglected and should be looked into with matter of concern in the nursing care settings. Obesity is one of the prime problems of the aboriginal people in the Torres Strait Island. According to the Body mass index result, the problem of obesity is increasing in the aboriginal population in Steady rate (Adegbija, Hoy, Dong & Wang, 2017). This problem should be taken care through proper awareness and nursing care by the health authority of the Torres Strait Islanders. There are some new health outcomes those like kidney functioning test and smoking test.

This new health outcome shows that 50% women among the aboriginals of Torres Strait Islanders are smokers. On the other hand, the glomerular filtration test among the aboriginal is done that shows the possibility of chronic kidney disease in 81% of the population (Adegbija, Hoy, Dong & Wang, 2017). These are some of the health outcomes that should be properly diagnosed in the nursing care settings in the aboriginal of the Torres Strait Islanders.

The cultural safety and cultural respect are one of the essential components in the delivery of proper health service to aboriginal persons. There should not be the presence of any kind of racism during giving service to the aboriginal people of the Torres Strait Island. The culture ethnicity and linguistics of the aboriginal people are different from the rest of the population present in the country (Sajiv, 2013). According to the National Aboriginal Health strategy along with physical wellbeing mental and social wellbeing is also essential for the holistic development of the health among the aboriginal persons. According to the Cultural safety position statement, better health outcomes can be achieved if the aboriginal person of the Torres Strait Island can be delivered service that maintains cultural integrity and cultural respect. During the training session of the nurses, it is necessary to teach the culture and the background and the communication strategies of the aboriginal communities (Sajiv, 2013). This will help the nurses to deliver culturally safe service to the aboriginal patients of the Torres Strait Island. Healthcare Services In Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islanders Discussion Paper According to the researchers, it is seen that holistic health development occurs when the patient feels cultural, socially and emotionally safe. Enhancement of this kind of culturally safe nursing practice will help in the holistic development of the health of the aboriginal person in the Torres Strait Island.

Importance Of Culturally Safe And Respectful Nursing Care

The council of the Australian government is committed between the Aboriginals of the Torres Strait Island people and the other population of the country by 2030. According to the research it is seen that birth and early childhood is the critical phase that should be focused on proper nursing care (Taylor & McDermott, 2016). This gap needs to be fulfilled with appropriate strategies that have to be taken to improve the birth rate and holistic health of mother and child in the aboriginal people of the Torres Strait Island.

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As opined by the researchers the birthing on the country and the birthing on the country model should be followed properly by the aboriginal community. The Birthing country model describes that a metaphor that implies the best start for the babies and the mother of aboriginal people in the Torres Strait Island (Adegbija, Hoy, Dong & Wang, 2017). It provides an integrated holistic appropriate care model. The Birthing care model includes the different maternity services needed during the childbirth in the Aboriginal population of the Torres Strait island (Hejduková & Kureková, 2017). Various components of birthing on a country model that enhances the health care services are as below.

• The nursing care is mainly community-based and governed in a child-centric way.
• Incorporates a holistic nursing care management for child and mother.
• The risk assessment should be done in a perfect way.
• The service delivery should maintain the cultural integrity of the aboriginal population of Torres Strait Islanders.

Conclusion

The aboriginal people of the Torres Strait island leaves in a remote area. They have a separate culture a, language from the non-indigenous community in Australia. The Aboriginal population of Torres Strait Island suffers from various kinds of health problems. The health problems include diabetes, chronic kidney disease, infant mortality and obesity.  Holistic development of nursing care will help to provide adequate nursing care service to the aboriginal people. By implementing proper models and strategies the health care needs of the aboriginal people can be fulfilled. If the implementation of cultural integrity in nursing is performed in a proper way it will help to increase the positive health outcomes of the aboriginal people of the Torres Strait Island.

References

Adegbija, O., Hoy, W., Dong, B., & Wang, Z. (2017). Body mass index and waist circumference as predictors of all-cause mortality in an Aboriginal Australian community. Obesity Research & Clinical Practice, 11(1), 19-26. doi: 10.1016/j.orcp.2016.06.003

Askew, D., Lyall, V., Ewen, S., Paul, D., & Wheeler, M. (2017). Understanding practitioner professionalism in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health: lessons from student and registrar placements at an urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary healthcare service. Australian Journal Of Primary Health, 23(5), 446. doi: 10.1071/py16145

Campbell, M., Hunt, J., Scrimgeour, D., Davey, M., & Jones, V. (2018). Contribution of Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Services to improving Aboriginal health: an evidence review. Australian Health Review, 42(2), 218. doi: 10.1071/ah16149

Gwynne, K., Jeffries, T., & Lincoln, M. (2018). Improving the efficacy of healthcare services for Aboriginal Australians. Australian Health Review. doi: 10.1071/ah17142

Hejduková, P., & Kureková, L. (2017). Healthcare systems and performance evaluation: comparison of performance indicators in v4 countries using models of composite indicators. E+M Ekonomie A Management, 20(3), 133-146. doi: 10.15240/tul/001/2017-3-009

Sajiv, C. (2013). Cultural considerations when providing care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (ATSI) opting for conservative care. Nephrology, n/a-n/a. doi: 10.1111/nep.12080

Shahid, S., Bessarab, D., van Schaik, K., Aoun, S., & Thompson, S. (2013). Improving palliative care outcomes for Aboriginal Australians: service providers’ perspectives. BMC Palliative Care, 12(1). doi: 10.1186/1472-684x-12-26

Stoneman, A., Atkinson, D., Davey, M., & Marley, J. (2014). Quality improvement in practice: improving diabetes care and patient outcomes in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services. BMC Health Services Research, 14(1). doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-14-481 . Healthcare Services In Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islanders Discussion Paper