Contemporary Indigenous Health and Wellbeing| Report

Running head: CONTEMPORARY INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND WELLBEING 1
Contemporary Indigenous Health and Wellbeing
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CONTEMPORARY INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND WELLBEING 2
Contemporary Indigenous Health and Wellbeing
Inequalities affect most societies and threaten the existence of some groups who are
underprivileged. In Australia, the Aboriginals and Torres Trait Islanders who are the indigenous
inhabitants faced health inequalities for a long time (Carey et al., 2017). Fortunately, the United
Nations and the development of the closing gap developed strategies to change their health status
by prioritizing it as a human rights concern. This paper would review the implications of CTG
concerning Judy as a case study.
Closing the GAP was introduced in the healthcare sector as a governmental plan to
address the challenges that resulted in Aboriginals and Torres Trait Islanders being
disadvantaged while seeking health solutions. The strategy by the government was aimed at
reducing some of the challenges that faced the Aboriginals and Torres Trait Islanders which
include accessibility to early childhood education, high incidences of child mortality, low life
expectancy and employment issues (Doran et al., 2016).
The development of the closing gap policy in Australia and its adoption was influenced
by a social report in 2005 as well as the close the gap social justice campaign. According to the
report, the average median age of the Aboriginals and Torres Trait Islanders was 21 years while
that for the non-indigenous was 36 years. Also, as of 2001, 39 percent of the Aboriginals and
Torres Trait Islanders were below the age of 15 relative to that of non-indigenous that was at
20%. Similarly, the report indicated that 57% of the Aboriginals and Torres Trait Islanders
people were below the age of 25 years (Griffiths et al., 2019; Griffiths et al., 2016). These
statistics indicate the low life expectancy and hence health inequality that was being experienced
by the Aboriginals and Torres Trait Islanders relative to the non-indigenous counterparts.

CONTEMPORARY INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND WELLBEING 3
Later, in the year 2008, both the Australian government and the Aboriginals and Torres
Trait Islanders inhabitants came to a common agreement to achieve health equality regarding
their health status and life expectancy (Parter, Wilson & Hartz, 2018). The health equality desire
was to be realized between Aboriginals and Torres Trait Islanders and the non-Indigenous
Australians by the year 2030. The agreement led to the signing of “Indigenous Health Equality
Summit Statement of Intent”. Subsequently, the Council of Australian Governments established
measurable targets and goals to evaluate the implementation of the agreement. The Prime
minister of Australia releases a report to the parliament yearly on the progress of the reports
(Deravin, Francis & Anderson, 2018).
Certain barriers affected the changes making up the CTG program for solving indigenous
issues. The timeframes that had been previously determined did not take consideration of the
challenges that would face the government in the comprehensive implementation of the
strategies effectively. Most of the changes that had been stipulated required longer time to be
experienced by the Aboriginals and Torres Trait Islanders (Altman, Biddle & Hunter, 2018).
According to the case study, some of the social determinants of health that would
manifest potential consequences include socioeconomic status, employment and connectedness.
From the information provided in the case study, Judy does not own a car. This indicates that her
accessibility to healthcare services that are 10 kilometres away will be difficult as she is largely
immobile. Hence, prolonged diabetes would seriously affect the socioeconomic status of Judy as
she would have to rely on primary healthcare services being offered at home that could be costly
(Li, 2017). CTG has developed a comprehensive primary health care system. Notably, primary
healthcare provides an initial line of contact for the indigenous people to the healthcare system.

CONTEMPORARY INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND WELLBEING 4
In most cases, the changes implemented by the CTG led to the establishment of Aboriginal
Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) that is tasked with the provision of primary
healthcare. They provide services such as treatment of diseases using standardized protocols,
provision of emergency services and essential drugs to indigenous people and the management
of chronic diseases (Fisher et al., 2019; Spurling et al., 2018).
On the other hand, Judy was previously a part-time teacher; however, her condition will
not allow her to continue working. As such, Judy would face unemployment and hence,
reduction in income. Prolonged progression of diabetes would rip Judy off her savings, leaving
her with little disposable funds to sustain her daily needs. Further, it should be noted that Judy is
currently a widow. Her sons live nearby and provide the necessary support whenever they can.
However, the support of the family members may not be for too long as she would put a lot of
pressure on them to meet her daily needs as a dependant (Marmot, 2017). These constraints on
finance would probably cause her a lot of stress, depression and high blood pressure leading to
more adverse health outcomes. Through the CTG policy, there are well laid out procedures to
support the patient through counseling as organized through AMS. AMS adequately exposes the
patient to various social, health and psychological support systems that improve their quality of
lives especially in the case of chronic disease like the case of Judy (Canuto et al., 2019).
CTG provides solutions to some of these challenges amicably. Firstly, registering Judy
for CTG would help reduce the cost of care. The cost would be reduced through the CTG-
pharmaceutical benefits scheme co-payment measure. The relief would reduce the cost incurred
by Judy to receive medications from pharmacies, private medical facilities and other suppliers.
CTG changes are also aimed at helping the indigenous persons to access employment, facilitate

CONTEMPORARY INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND WELLBEING 5
career progression and development. CTG can guarantee an increase in the income of Judy’s
sons to enable them to support her with the chronic ailment (Reeve et al., 2015). Further, CTG
promises to increase the accessibility of the indigenous to healthcare services and necessary
support. It should be noted that CTG seeks to provide a holistic approach towards solving the
challenges that would likely face Judy. The challenges in relation to socioeconomic factors,
connectedness and employment, would adversely affect her health outcomes as she is suffering
from a chronic disease (Marmot, 2017). Hence, CTG would not only enhance her access to
healthcare but would provide the necessary support system like counseling.
Aboriginal liaison officers (ALO), are the officers entitled to provide cultural, emotional
and social support to Aboriginals and Torres Trait Islanders patients and their family members.
In most cases, ALO performs their roles at medical facilities helping patients to talk to medical
professionals. ALO helps patients to understand necessary medical processes and procedures
hence helping them to take control of critical decisions while receiving care. Further, the ALO
provides support to staff in the medical facility to be able to deliver culturally competent care to
patients (Li, 2017; Stanford et al., 2019). Similarly, ALO can also participate actively in the
making of decisions regarding admission and discharge. Lastly, ALO provides a useful link
between various community support programs, support services as well as agencies working to
improve the health and wellbeing of people in the society. On the contrary, Aboriginal Medical
Service (AMS) is a service designated towards the Aboriginals and Torres Trait Islanders. AMS
can either be controlled by the Aboriginals and Torres Trait Islanders community or not. AMS is
meant to provide the necessary structures and support as mandated by the government. Their role

CONTEMPORARY INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND WELLBEING 6
in the community is to provide medical care, counseling, health education and promotion,
pharmaceuticals, and rehabilitation (Schultz & Cairney, 2017).
The involvement of ALO and AMS to the case of Judy was first because she is
indigenous. It is the responsibility of the ALO and the AMS to safeguard the welfare of the
Aboriginals and Torres Trait Islanders as provided in the changes advocated for by CTG.
Further, they are responsible for supporting the health needs of Judy as she is suffering from a
chronic disease (Hersh et al., 2015). Hence, they must act as a link between her and the
community health centre where she would be receiving healthcare support. Moreover, it is the
responsibility of the AMS and ALO to advice and support Aboriginals and Torres Trait Islanders
on matters of medications and counseling like on the registration to the CTG program. The
common factor among ALO, AMS and Community Health centre is that they all work to
promote the quality of health of Aboriginals and Torres Trait Islanders. Both the ALO and AMS
provide guidance and guide patients to the nearest and most suitable support services like
community health care (Hersh et al., 2015; Deravin, Francis & Anderson, 2018). Hence, the
community health center is being supported by the AMS and ALO.
As noted above, CTG is effective towards addressing issues of inequality that initially
faced the Aboriginals and Torres Trait Islanders people. The case of Judy points to the social
determinants of health that include socioeconomic, connectedness and employment that affect
many other Aboriginals and Torres Trait Islanders people. For instance, the CTG provided for
changes that led to the development of the ALO positions and AMS that champion for the
wellbeing of the Aboriginals and Torres Trait Islanders people effectively.

CONTEMPORARY INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND WELLBEING 7
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