Improving Health Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

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15 Mar 2019
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In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, the concept of health is viewed as a holistic
approach, which includes not only physical well-being but also emotional, social, and cultural
well-being (Schultz and Cairney 2017). In my opinion, the health outcome experienced in
this contemporary Australian reason is associated with several challenges. These include
health literacy, lack of transportation, limited availability of health and educational
institutions, and existing racism. However, in literature, there exist several other factors that
have an influence on the health outcomes of this indigenous population. For example, social
inequality and existing stereotype among the urban population, which underestimate these
community members, is a factor that affects the indigenous population.
According to Larkins et al. (2016), Australian government have taken adequate steps and
invested resources via health organizations and medical support services. The objective of
these programs is to facilitate multifunctional services, social support, and fulfilment of basic
requirements including education, nutrition, and knowledge of healthy well-being.
Furthermore, these services requires active collaboration action partnership of medical
practitioners, nurses and pharmacist, allied health practitioners, and social workers. In my
opinion, although these programs have scope to improve the overall health aspects of the
Islanders, however, the existing barriers remain consistent. For instance, lack of an
appropriate number of professionals, unwillingness to work in remote areas, lack of access to
emergency services due to unavailability of transportation is key factors because of which the
situation still remains same from the past decades. In addition to this, at temp should also be
taken to improve the socio-cultural outcomes and educational requirement of these
community members (McNamara et al. 2018). Personally, I believe, educating children,
supporting families with employment, making them aware of the demerits with substance use
and alcohol consumption, can help the members in managing their health. With education
and information, the community can improve their lifestyle, adopt healthy eating habits, and
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