Meeting the Health Needs of Aboriginals: Advocacy, Community Engagement, and Nursing Practice

Running head: NURSING
Essay
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1NURSING
Part 1
In philosophy, the principle of common good refers to wither what is accomplished by
collective action and citizenship, or what is shared and advantageous for most members who
belong to a certain community (Dahl & Soss, 2014). According to AIHW (2016) Aboriginal
people have reported a 2.3 times increased burden for diseases, when compared to their non-
indigenous counterparts. The Aboriginals usually report reduced levels of usage of
pharmaceutical benefits and Medicare benefits that accounts for the lower levels of primary care
access in the target population. Ensuring adequate access to primary healthcare service has been
widely accepted as a strategy for enhancing health outcomes of the indigenous population. Thus,
lack of access increases their chances of suffering from chronic health abnormalities and violates
the common good principle. Barriers to adequate education among the indigenous population
includes use of English in the teaching materials in regions where it is not the first language of
people, lack of in-depth information on Aboriginal history, few Aboriginal teachers, lack of full-
time educators, and uneducated parents (Ford, 2013).
Furthermore, living conditions such as, overcrowding and poverty makes it difficult for
the indigenous students to afford education services. Segregation according to the level of skills
and absence of sound infrastructure also fails to accommodate enough Aboriginals in schools,
thus failing to establish the common good principle. Racial minorities have also been found to
bear a disproportionate burden of mortality and morbidity. These inequities are commonly
explained in relation to racism, considering the fact that racism plays an important role in
restricting the lives of immigrants and racial minorities (Herring et al., 2013). Owing to the fact
that health inequities among the indigenous minorities are more pronounced, several diseases are
prevalent among them such as, heart disease, infant and maternal mortality, and cancer. The

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relative socioeconomic disadvantage that is commonly experienced by the Aboriginals places
them at an increased risk of being exposed to environmental and behavioural risk factors related
to health.
Part 2
Advocating for the rights of the Aboriginals helps in achieving a compassionate and just
world where all Australians will get the opportunity of realizing their best potential. Population
advocacy takes into account the fact that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who
were considered the actual custodians of the land, are subjected to regular injustice that has
resulted in poverty, ill health, family breakdown and frightening rates of incarceration. Advocacy
will help in providing the Aboriginals adequate support, which in turn will facilitate their
working towards achieving complete potential and gaining an increased control over their affairs.
This in turn will also assist the process of mobilization of the Aboriginals and the wider
community for establishing an equitable and just society. On the grounds of the common good
principle it can be stated that the indigenous people are entitled to living a life of dignity and
opportunity that is free from all sorts of disadvantage and discrimination (Westheimer, 2015).
This right is common and shared by all citizens of the nation, regardless of their racial or ethnic
status.
Hence, advocacy and social justice will focus on ensuring that all Australians namely,
indigenous and non-indigenous get the opportunity to exercise their preferences on how they live
and the ways that can be adopted to make those opinions (Freeman et al., 2014). In other words,
advocacy will be grounded in the day-to-day and practical realities of life. It will help in ensuring
formulation of an environment where the indigenous people get provisions for proper sanitation