Social Determinants, Historical Policies, Institutional Racism and Health Belief Model: A Case Study of Joanna

Running head: CASE STUDY
Case study
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

1CASE STUDY
Answer 1:
The case study is based on the scenario of Joanna, a 16 year old teenager belonging the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander group. The main issue for Joanna is that she has become
pregnant to her partner. She has also left her home. Based on the review of her life condition,
some of the social determinants that is linked to Joanne case include home environment and the
economic stability factors. The social determinant factor can affect Joanne’s health and well-
being because she is not receiving the love and affection that is needed from her parent and
siblings. As she has seven younger siblings and she has left home too which would deprive her
from basic life needs. Hence, lack of access to housing can lead to many health inequalities for
her. Homelessness results from adverse social conditions and this can have poor impact on her
overall health and well-being (Stafford & Wood, 2017). Joanne also lacks financial stability as
she has left her home. Being pregnant also adds to her struggle as she is current unemployed.
Hence, lack of economic support can prevent her from seeking health service and getting the
right nutrition for health. Stam et al. (2016) explains that employment status is associated with
subjective well-being.
Answer 2:
One of the historical policies that has had significant on the health of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islanders include the Assimilation policy. It was a policy that was implemented in
1951 where the main aim was to absorb Aboriginal people into white society by removing the
children from their families. This policy is also terms as the child removal policy which resulted
in a legacy of trauma and loss for indigenous communities and families. The event seriously
affected mental health of children as children experience psychological, physical and sexual
abuse. Children received very low level of education and the stolen children often felt ashamed

2CASE STUDY
of their indigenous heritage (Australians Together. 2012). Hence, this historical policy has
affected the stolen generations and such children have lack of confidence and self-determination
to deal with life stressors. Joanne might have been indirectly affected by the policy because her
parents would not have raised her in an appropriate environment to strengthen her mental
resilience. She might have experience disproportional disadvantage because of being raised in an
indigenous family. Regularly experiencing discrimination and abuse would have affected her
self-empowerment and hindered her from enjoying self-responsibility and independence.
Answer 3:
Institutional racism, commonly referred to as systematic racism is usually expressed in
practice related to political and social institutions and is the racism by informal social groups or
people that controls the behavioral norms, related to racist thinking (Feagin and Bennefield
2014). The major impact of institutional racism on health can be accredited to the fact that it
governed the accessibility of people belonging to the non-white communities to affordable and
proper health care services, thus resulted in presence of health disparities among different racial
groups. This form of racism has been cited as one of the most common reasons for
disproportionate disease rates among the minority communities (Atkin 2018). In this case study
Joanna has been affected by institutional racism that can be attributed to her decision to attend
the community controlled health clinic for her pregnancy, in place of more advanced and
multispeciality health centres. The fact that institutional racism directly affects minority health
through health-related policies, racial segregation, in relation to delivery of services and lack of
insurance for the minorities who are less educated and unemployed, made Joanna opt for a health
service that was in accordance to her values and perspectives. Furthermore, lack of culturally
safe healthcare delivery in the private health centres also act as a form of racism against the