First Nations Health Inequities: An Obstacle to Reconciliation - Contextual Analysis

Indigeneous history culture and identity

SOCIOLOGY 1
Contextual Analysis of article “First Nations health inequities an
obstacle to reconciliation”
By Jeff Reading
The article “First Nations health inequities an obstacle to reconciliation” was written
by Jeff Reading with the aim to analyse the relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous
peoples in Canada in terms of the inequalities in the health and the health care services
provided to the Indigenous and Aboriginal people of Canada. The following contextual
analysis is aimed at shedding the light on the various aspects of health issues and the
reconciliation measure in the article by the author. In addition, the stakeholders of the issue
would be identified together with the role of the authorities in the same. The analysis would
conclude on the effectiveness of the article in bring out the issue and solution to the same.
The article is primarily focussed towards the nature of conflict in terms of health
statistics between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples based at Canada. In addition, the
legal retorts to the above mentioned differences have been highlighted as proposed by the
respective authorities. The central theme of the work can be bifurcated into two sections
namely the “Existence of the Aboriginal people in Canada” and “Approaches of Healthcare
systems in Canada.” The work is further directed towards the significance of reconciliation
and the means to achieve it.
The primary stakeholders of the issue are the Aboriginal people and their families.
The various other stakeholders are the policy formulators namely the federal, provincial,
territorial and Aboriginal governments, healthcare organisations such as the Ontario
Indigenous Peoples’ Health Authority, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the
matter of legal pronouncements.
The issue of equity among the healthcare rights has been raised because of a number
of reasons, the same are listed and explained as follows. It has been cited that there is a
downfall spiral of ill health among the Aboriginal people. The article states that the chief
cause of the same are stated to be the social, political, cultural and economic equities, which
further leads to the burden of ill health among the Aboriginal people. The article agreements
the fact as carried in various researches that the overall inefficient policies together lead to
the deterioration of health and growth of non-indigenous people in Canada (Rousseau, 2018).