Ensuring the Health of Aboriginal and Torres Strati Islander Peoples Research Paper 2022

Running head: ENSURING THE HEALTH OF ABORIGINAL AND TORRES
STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLES
ENSURING THE HEALTH OF ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT
ISLANDER PEOPLES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

ENSURING THE HEALTH OF ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER
PEOPLES
1
The following sections of the paper discusses the ways to safeguard proper health and
well-being of Aboriginal and people of Torres Strait Island. According to NACCHO
(National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation), the definition of health
describes the security of the whole community and not just any individual’s physical well-
being. Community well-being is further defined as a prosperous society, where every
individual has emotional, social as well as cultural well-being and can unlock full potential as
human beings. With the following research done on the health of Aboriginals and Torres
Strait Islanders people, I have tried to state down the importance of self-determination,
cultural safety and collaboration in the well-being of the above-specified group. The paper
will also discuss various health delivery services, my interaction with the specified group of
people and finally, my healthcare advocacy to improve their health status and contribute to
‘closing the gap’.
During my brief interaction with the Aboriginal patients and families, I got the
understanding of where there health status of these people stands. Primary health should be
the clear priority for these sections of individuals, and this can be done by addressing
determinants of improvement and social inequality. A broad range of factors affect the health;
however, if we mainly focus on the emotional and social well-being in healthcare plans, then
we can swiftly achieve improvements in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
outcomes. I have developed a keen understanding of the concept of cultural safety and how it
is basic literature to the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander people. In my working days as
healthcare supervisor in a community clinic, I discovered that it is very important that we
value the roles of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers as they often face
ethical and cultural dilemmas in the workplace. These workers are the first point of contact
for the local individuals, and they can be very helpful in making the local community
understand the proper healthcare strategies with suitable implementation (Zhao et al. 2013).

ENSURING THE HEALTH OF ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER
PEOPLES
2
However, the occurrence of such cultural dilemmas has led to higher burnout rates, and we
need to eliminate these cultural indifferences. We can use the expertise of these local
healthcare workers to connect to the local community at deeper levels and then further
develop cultural safe health services, all the while improving the whole healthcare system of
this community. To understand the cultural building capacity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people, I first started by acknowledging the key groups of people and the
organisations of importance. Then, I tried to connect with these groups and establish proper
engagement as one of theirs. This helped me recognise the attitude and diversity of the
cultures in the key groups. I got to learn that these groups have autonomy over their lives,
which directed me to respect their sense of pride and self-determination. It is important that
we acknowledge their history and life experience and understand cultural safety, i.e. whether
they feel safe to be themselves, from their own perspective. To be one of them, all I did was
to engage with one of their staffs and create an environment where their beliefs and culture
are respected. I noted that many indigenous communities were located in remote areas and
other discrete geographic settlements too, living in other dominant culture. A community
profile including local individuals is an excellent approach to lay down the foundation of
active engagement, which can crucial to employ future healthcare strategies. This community
profile will first start with all their workers getting briefed about the history of the specific
community, their geographical boundaries, the key individuals of the community (like the
elders) and understanding the government protocols for working with such community. The
program’s aims like individual care for specific members of the family, a framework of the
program (including design, development, implementation and evaluation) and its effect on
Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders should be announced clearly before approaching the
group.