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

The article sheds light on the various aspects of health issues and the reconciliation measure in the article by the author. The stakeholders of the issue would be identified together with the role of the authorities in the same.

Indigeneous history culture and identity

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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).

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The source cannot be stated to be biased because the various courts have already
identified reconciliation measure as a vital constituent of the constitutional protections of
Aboriginal rights, and have therefore led to the establishment of the notable Truth and
Reconciliation Commission (Nagy, 2014). Thus, as accorded in the article and as stated in the
various works, the current deteriorating health among Aboriginals is the result of the
inefficient policy formulations of the Canadian government. The evidence of the same is that
there have been consistent incidents of grievances on the lines of mistreatment of Aboriginal
children, sub-standard housing and living conditions, inadequate social services, structural
poverty, and other incidental factors leading to the health issues in such people and their
children (Boyer, 2019).
The rationale of reconciliation on health issues is also presented in the fact that if the
efficient practices are not employees for the heath and living conditions of the Aboriginal
population, the same would lead to the economic impacts for the country. According to the
2016 census, there was a whopping increase amounting to 42.5 per cent since 2006 in the
growth of the Aboriginal population (Kirkup, 2015). Thus, it is right to state that
deteriorating health is a matter of concern from the economic point of view as well.
As the article suggest, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has been into
consultation with various governments to acknowledge the responsibility of the improvement
of the health care services to the aboriginal people and certain recommendations have been
suggested on the same lines. The reconciliation practices and recommendations suggested are
significant in a way that over the recent years, the practices have emerged to be a catalyst
leading to improvements in the overall dialogue between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous
peoples in Canada. Thus, it would be right to state that based on the social, economic and
political principles, the recommendations issued by TRC are worth towards efficient and
healthy community building as a whole.
However, as stated in the article implementation of the recommendations are the most
critical part and extended efforts are required for the same. One of the models that is
suggested in the article is the British Columbia Tripartite Agreement on First Nation Health
Governance. The model is effective in a way that is based on the development of partnerships
between First Nations and provincial and federal governments (O’Neil, Gallagher, Wylie,
Bingham, Lavoie, Alcock & Johnson, 2016). Some of the benefits that can be achieved from
the implementation of the model is the enhanced governance, reciprocal accountability, and

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efficient partnerships and relationships. The chief benefit can also be extended in likewise
indigenous setting based communities within and outside Canada (Gallagher, Mendez &
Kehoe, 2015).
Thus, as per the discussions conducted in the previous parts it can be stated that the
health issues and differentiated practices in terms of societal benefits, education and others
have been creating wide impacts on the overall development of the Aboriginal people. The
article shed light on the significance of the issue and the same can also be accorded by the
demographics of the population. The article can be stated to be well structured and
comprehensive in a way that it helped the readers gained an insight of the background of the
issue, its impact on the lives of stakeholders involved and community, and the solution
proposed. Further, the solution that is reconciliation is efficient means to revive the
community and practices as a whole.

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References
Boyer, Y. (2019). Moving Aboriginal health forward: Discarding Canada’s legal barriers.
Canada: Purich Publishing.
Gallagher, J., Mendez, J. K., & Kehoe, T. (2015). The First Nations Health Authority: a
transformation in healthcare for BC first nations. In Healthcare Management Forum,
28(6) Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications, 255-261.
Kirkup, K. (2015). Canada’s Indigenous population growing 4 times faster than rest of
country. Retrieved from: https://globalnews.ca/news/3823772/canadas-growing-
indigenous-population/
Nagy, R. (2014). The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Genesis and Design
1. Canadian Journal of Law & Society/La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société, 29(2),
199-217.
O’Neil, J., Gallagher, J., Wylie, L., Bingham, B., Lavoie, J., Alcock, D., & Johnson, H.
(2016). Transforming first nations’ health governance in British
Columbia. International Journal of Health Governance, 21(4), 229-244.
Rousseau, J. (2018). Struggling toward Indigenous representation and service improvement
within the BC Ministry of Children and Family Development. Canadian Public
Administration, 61(4), 641-664.