Professional Practice Nursing

The issue of health on the Indigenous Australians has been greatly affected by such factors as education, employment and income, housing as well as racism and racial discrimination. Lack of education makes Indigenous Australians have less personal care and engage in unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking and drinking. Lack of employment makes the Indigenous Australians unable to afford basic resources necessary for maintaining and improving their health. Additionally, housing problems expose Indigenous Australians to a contaminated environment and psychological distress. Moreover, racism and racial discrimination have the risk of making Indigenous Australians develop psychological disorders such as distress, stress, and anxiety. Generally, these factors determine the health of Indigenous Australians.

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Professional Practice Nursing
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Introduction
The issue of health is very significant in the life of every human being. Our health
determines the way we get involved in social and economic activities, depending on the
conditions and factors which we are exposed to. There are some groups which are more affected
in terms of health than others in society. For example, Indigenous Australians tend to face worse
health conditions than non-Indigenous Australians do. This happens due to their exposure to
factors such as education, employment and income, housing, as well as racism and racial
discrimination (Gubhaju et al, 2013, p. 661). This piece of work will discuss how these factors
influence the health of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians who have a lower level of
education are said to have higher risks of health as compared to those who have higher levels of
education. A study conducted by Markwick et al. (2014, p. 91) indicated that adults of
Indigenous Australians who had completed their 12 years in education had better health as
compared to those who reached a maximum of 11 years or below. This is because the less
educated Indigenous Australians are argued to have a better personal understanding which leads
to better health practices. Davidson et al. (2015, p. 70) argue that an educated Indigenous
Australian is less likely to get involved in such behaviors as smoking as well as alcohol drinking.
This is because educational knowledge and skills have enlightened them on the effects that are
associated with smoking such as cardiovascular complications like lung cancer. Comparing to an
Indigenous Australian who is not educated and who does not know the health risks associated
with smoking, he or she would indulge himself or herself into such behavior which has a
potential of leading to health complications. In addition, Bar-Zeev et al (2014, p. 290) assert that
the low level of education that exists in the majority of the Indigenous Australians makes the

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entire community face health risks. This is because when the majority lack education, they are
less likely to enlighten each other on safer practices which are health-friendly. The smaller
population of Indigenous Australians who are educated have less influence on the larger
population in terms of healthy practices. This implies that the larger population of these
Indigenous Australians engage in unhealthy practices because they have no one to enlighten
them on what is healthy and what is not healthy. This makes the larger population suffer through
contraction of diseases which are brought by unhealthy personal practices such as smoking,
alcohol abuse, personal hygiene and also protection of children by their adults. Markwick et al.
(2014, p. 598) posit that Indigenous Australians who are educated acquire greater control over
their lives and have a greater tendency to engage in the reduction of lifestyle risk factors related
to health. Additionally, women who are educated are able to learn how to keep themselves
hygienic and healthy such as through the use of sanitary towels. They are also able to monitor the
health of their babies through the knowledge and skills obtained through formal schooling.
Mothers in the Indigenous people of Australia who get educated gain the knowledge on better
ways of keeping their children free from diseases through provision of a balanced diet, proper
nutrition, as well as regular health check-ups in health care services.
In addition, employment and income are argued to be a major determinant of the health
of Indigenous Australians. This is because through employment, one is able to afford some of the
basic facilities which are significant in use on daily basis such as food, shelter, and proper
clothing. Roche et al. (2013, p. 20) argue that most Indigenous Australians face the challenge of
getting employment opportunities as well as being recruited whenever the job opportunities are
found. This is because they tend to acquire job opportunities which have fewer wages as
compared to those of the non-Indigenous Australians. A study carried out by Nguyen and

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Cairney (2013) indicates that more than 50% of Indigenous Australians have jobs which have
very little wages while about 20% of them are unemployed. This means that the entire
community is poor and that it cannot be able to provide for basic needs sufficiently and also
cannot engage in healthier practices. Another study indicated that the Indigenous Australians
who were not employed tended to engage in unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking of cigarettes
and drinking of alcohol, as compared to those who were not employed (Nguyen and Cairney,
2013). Moreover, those who were unemployed developed distress and other emotional and
psychological disorders due to the hardship of life which they faced. Taking an example of an
Indigenous Australian who is not employed and has children, it means that he or she cannot
provide fully for the children such as proper shelter and clothing, as well as proper medication.
To add on, this adult is unable to provide healthy nutrition since there are no finances which can
sufficiently cater for these needs. The children, therefore, develop nutritional diseases and attack
by diseases since their immunity tends to be low. The mortality rate among children increases
among the Indigenous Australians due to health complications associated with poverty (Jongen
et al, 2014, p. 251). The Indigenous Australians are also unable to have access to health
insurance services since they cannot afford the payments which are made towards these services.
Therefore, when these people fall sick, they are unable to afford the charges which are incurred
in their treatment. This means that many Indigenous people live with health conditions without
getting health services, facing the risk of developing more severe and complex health conditions.
There is also a risk of contracting different diseases among each other, such as communicable
diseases. There are higher chances of these people losing their lives, leaving the little children
parentless and having no one to take care of them and hence get exposed to higher risks of
developing health issues such as malnourishment and emotional disorders.

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Housing is another determinant of health among Indigenous Australians. Statistics show
that the majority of the Indigenous Australians are unable to have proper housing (Clifford et al,
2015, p. 10). Overpopulation among Indigenous Australians leads to congestion in the
community. Due to the less space and a high population, Indigenous Australians are faced with
the challenge of housing where they only make small and poor housing structures. Additionally,
due to this congestion and poor housing, there is a risk of the Indigenous Australians to
experience poor drainage systems where waste is disposed of in an unhealthy manner. This poor
housing means that they have little space to carry out meaningful farming which would help in
their survival. There is also a risk of the spread of diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid,
and bilharzia, just to name a few (Johnston et al, 2013, p. 2520). These diseases are dangerous in
the survival of Indigenous Australians. The poor housing is a sign of poverty among Indigenous
Australians. This is because the Indigenous Australians have low levels of employment which
can give them reliable and consistent wages which can enable them to develop better housing
facilities. When an outbreak occurs, there is a high possibility of many people within a
community contracting the diseases, leading to a high mortality rate. Additionally, when people
have housing problems and are congested together, they are less likely to acquire safe facilities
such as food and water. The food available may be contaminated by the improper drainage and
sewage in the area that they live. The water they consume on a daily basis in cooking and
drinking also has higher chances of being impure, contaminated by bacteria. Therefore, this
means that the Indigenous Australians have high risk of developing health complications because
of the exposure to unhygienic and contaminated food and water. Indigenous Australians also face
the problem of getting affordable housing. This implies that some Indigenous people may lack
housing facilities due to the high population and the shortages of these housing facilities. When

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they are faced with accessing housing facilities, the Indigenous Australians are exposed to the
risk of insecurity which endangers their overall health. Brown et al. (2013, p. 271) also argue that
Indigenous Australians develop emotional problems and disorders such as stress due to the poor
living conditions brought about by housing problems.
Racism and racial discrimination is a major problem facing Indigenous Australians.
Cunningham and Paradies, (2013, p. 47) argue that the issue of racial discrimination was
dominant some years ago, but now there is an improvement where the non-Indigenous
Australians have given them a better position in society in terms of employment, medical
facilities, leadership and education than before. However, a recent study shows that Indigenous
Australians are still affected negatively by racism and racial discrimination, implying that this
issue is still existing in Australia (Cox et al, 2014, p. 346). A study carried out to establish the
impact of racism on mental health among the Indigenous Australians indicated that racism
causes a high psychological distress score. The Indigenous Australians who were victims of
racism were found to have mental illnesses characterized by anxiety as well as distress disorders
(Gee et al, 2014, p. 60). Additionally, about 26% of family members developed psychological
disorders in the fear that one of them would be a victim of racism within a week or within a
month. This means that psychological disorders related to racism do not affect the victims alone,
but also affect those who are related to the victims. There is also evidence that shows that
Indigenous Australians face bias, restrictions, and exclusions on health care facilities (Parker and
Milroy, 2014, p. 30). Health care facilities such as insurance covers are distributed on a racial
basis where the Indigenous Australians are discriminated, meaning that they cannot access some
health care services in hospitals. On the other hand, the non-Indigenous Australians have access
to medical health covers which enables them to access sophisticated health care services. This

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means that the non-Indigenous Australians are able to survive when they are attacked by
complicated diseases and health conditions, as opposed to Indigenous Australians who have
access to low-level health care facilities. Indigenous Australians are also discriminated from
accessing certain health care centers within Australia (Jamieson, Steffens and Paradies, 2013, p.
92). This is an indication of racial discrimination which threatens the health and general well-
being of the Indigenous Australians. Some diseases can lead to the death of these Indigenous
Australians since they cannot access the necessary health care due to racial discrimination in the
entire health care system in the country.
Moreover, there are several factors which are claimed to be linked to racism and racial
differences. For example, Markwick et al. (2014, p. 91) argue that employment opportunities in
Australia are based on racial differences. For example, Cunningham and Paradies, (2013, p. 47)
posit that 30% of Indigenous Australians who were called for a job opportunities got the jobs.
The remaining 70% were discriminated on the basis of racial differences. This 30% are the
Indigenous Australians who had names which sounded like those of non-Indigenous Australians.
This racial discrimination in the employment opportunities makes many of the Indigenous
Australians remain poor, where the non-Indigenous Australians are always rich. The state of
unemployment on Indigenous Australians makes them be entangled by poverty, leading to the
difficulties of generating an income necessary for providing health resources. Additionally, due
to poverty, Indigenous Australians face challenges in affording health care services. Education is
also offered on racial terms where the non-Indigenous Australian children tend to have access to
good and quality schools, as opposed to Indigenous Australian children. This exposes Indigenous
Australians to illiteracy and lack of knowledge on different ways of caring for health.
Conclusion

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The issue of health on the Indigenous Australians has been greatly affected by such
factors as education, employment and income, housing as well as racism and racial
discrimination. Lack of education makes Indigenous Australians have less personal care and
engage in unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking and drinking. Lack of employment makes the
Indigenous Australians unable to afford basic resources necessary for maintaining and improving
their health. Additionally, housing problems expose Indigenous Australians to a contaminated
environment and psychological distress. Moreover, racism and racial discrimination have the risk
of making Indigenous Australians develop psychological disorders such as distress, stress, and
anxiety. Generally, these factors determine the health of Indigenous Australians. Actions should
be taken in order to protect Indigenous Australians from health complications and other related
problems.

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