Equity or Equality for Aboriginals Healthcare

Running head:REFLECTIVE WRITING
Equity or Equality for Aboriginals Healthcare
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

REFLECTIVE WRITING1
Description
The following reflection about the difference between equality and equity is based on
the use of Gibb’s Reflective Cycle (Brookes.ac.uk., 2020). Recently, while reading up on the
healthcare gap that exists between the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders and that of non-
Indigenous Australians, I came across the terms ‘equality’ and ‘equity’. Equality refers to the
practice of treating everyone the same, which will entail administering similar healthcare to
everyone, irrespective of their ethnicity. Equity, on the other hand, refers to the act of being
fair and giving everyone what they need. In this context, this will mean making special
provisions for the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders due to their pre-existing poor health
and lower life expectancy in comparison to the non-Indigenous Australians. They often
endure living conditions that do not support good health and thus tend to have higher
mortality rates from the same infections than non-Indigenous Australians
(Humanrights.gov.au., 2020).
Feelings
Feelings before exposure to the topic
Before adequately reading about the topic, I have always been a firm believer in
equality. I always believed that everyone should be treated equally and be given equal
provisions for healthcare. This seemed to be a fair idea, and in my head, that was enough to
give everyone access to good healthcare.
Feelings after exposure to the topic
While I still stand by the fact that everyone should be treated equal, the concept and
need for equity never crossed my mind. It never occurred to me that everyone might not have
similar baseline conditions to receive the care. This drastically defeats the point of equality.
This explains that equality does not always constitute fairness, and by giving equal rights, it