The health and welfare of Australia's Aboriginal

Running head: HEALTH ISSUES IN TORRES STRAITS ISLANDERS
Health issues in Torres Straits Islanders
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1HEALTH ISSUES IN TORRES STRAITS ISLANDERS
Community and Factors affecting this community health
Torres Strait Islanders are people of Torres Island who are original inhabitants of the
state Australia. The inhabitants of this area face many complex issues regarding every aspect.
It consists of social, economic, behavioral, and political issues that affect them and
deteriorates the health of the people. The factors that effects and influence the health of these
habitats based on the four elements are- colonization and invasion, native habits of living, act
of assimilation, racism, discrimination, poor health outcome (Waterworth et al., 2015).
The social factors that affect health are- antisocial behavior, low-income state of the
island, racial discrimination, political corruption, alcohol, and drug abuse. The social
problems are mainly caused by unemployment, urbanization, gender and sex discrimination,
and, most importantly, lack of knowledge and education. Few other issues are unresolved
trauma, violence, substance misuse.
Diseases
The factors or the common diseases that are faced by these habitats are obesity due to
poor nutritional conditions, lack of immunization among the people, alcohol use, and drugs
effect among the population, mental issues, diabetes mellitus, cancer, respiratory diseases. All
these are a part of the behavior risk associated with these people (Al-Yaman, 2017).
Relation of the factors with health
The social factors contribute to a well-being environment for both physical and
mental development, which will provide a healthier quality of life. The social determinants
are affecting this person, as the community is uneducated and not informed by sanitation and
health (Markwick et al., 2014).
The poverty level is high, which fails to provide proper nutrition among the
population; as a result, obesity and malnutrition are common.
Discrimination and social racism affect the mental health of the population, which
leads to depression and anxiety among all ages of people.
The situation can be controlled by the government by guiding the habitats with the
community and cultural education, immunization programs that will build immunity capacity
among the population, especially in the children.

2HEALTH ISSUES IN TORRES STRAITS ISLANDERS
References
Al-Yaman, F. (2017). The Australian Burden of Disease Study: impact and causes of illness
and death in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, 2011. Public Health Res
Pract, 27(4), e2741732.
Markwick, A., Ansari, Z., Sullivan, M., & McNeil, J. (2014). Social determinants and
lifestyle risk factors only partially explain the higher prevalence of food insecurity
among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the Australian state of Victoria: a
cross-sectional study. BMC public health, 14(1), 598.
Waterworth, P., Pescud, M., Braham, R., Dimmock, J., & Rosenberg, M. (2015). Factors
Influencing the Health Behaviour of Indigenous Australians: Perspectives from
Support People. PloS one, 10(11), e0142323.