Building Capacity towards Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People across Remote North Queensland

Running head: COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DISEASE PREVENTION
COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DISEASE PREVENTION
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1COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DISEASE PREVENTION
Introduction 180
The far north Queensland of Australia is mainly inhabited Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander population. This population has been suffering from various disadvantages in terms of
education, housing, employment and mainly health services. Their health outcomes have always
been quite poor with several occurrences of communicable diseases mainly the sexually
transferred diseases (Fagan et al., 2015). Occurrences of STD is seen to be particularly high in
the younger population of the Aboriginal community. A study has reported that two of the most
common sexual transferred infections were chlamydia and gonorrhoea showing 8,339 and 2,739
per 100,000, compared with 869 and 44.1 per 100,000, respectively (Crooks, 2010). STI is
involved in causing morbidity and leads to reproductive health outcomes that are negative like
pelvic inflammatory disease, incidences of tubal infertility, congenital infection along with
adverse pregnancy outcomes. The paper aims to discuss the building capacity towards Sexually
Transmitted Infection Prevention in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across remote
north Queensland. The paper illustrates the key strategies that can be employed in order to
address the health concerns prevalent in the Aboriginal community. Additionally the paper
discusses the approaches in order engage the community and ways to empower the community in
building of capacity for prevention. The paper also suggests strategies in order to promote health
models and the approaches employed to address the prevention of the sexually transmitted
diseases.

2COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DISEASE PREVENTION
Key Strategies to address health concern 240
One of the major strategies to address the health concern especially in terms of sexually
transmitted diseases (STD) in the youth population of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
is the implementation of the Youth Person Check strategy. The youth population of the
aboriginal community is asked to participate in the programs who are further enquired through
the use of questionnaires. Programs such as YPC are considered in such settings since the
conditions here can be met (Fagan, Cannon & Crouch, 2013).
Another strategy implemented was the Well Person’s Health Check. This program was
implemented which helped to identify the health problems having high prevalence in the
population of the Aboriginals (Miller et al., 2002). This program was successful in developing an
early detection that was sustainable in terms of strategy used for early detection especially for
this particular region.
Finally another strategy can be implemented for identification of health issues especially
at the practice level using the Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health
(BEACH)/Supplementary Analysis of Nominated Data (SAND) study (Nattabi et al., 2017). This
study helps to examine the health issues impact on the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islanders
through the use of certain questions which are related to their ethnicity. This way improvements
can be obtained in the flow of information with respect to the sexually transmitted diseases and
other communicable diseases.
Community Engagement
Community engagement is essential for building of capacity for the prevention of the
Sexually transmitted diseases in the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islanders. Community

3COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DISEASE PREVENTION
engagement involves school-based programs which provides a holistic approach sexual health
and substance use. The education programs developed for the young population of the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander is required to respond to the social, cultural and
environmental determinant in context to the area where they live. There is a need of access to the
appropriate health care services, along with the community-based programs (Rusch et al., 2008).
Peer education is also seen as an essential part. It is seen that rates of teenage pregnancy is high
in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. This suggests that there is a need to
develop programs of education promoting healthy living along with responsible parenthood in
addition to avoidance of transmission of infections from the mother to the child. It also helps to
build capacity to make healthy relationship choices.
Capacity Building
Capacity building helps to strengthen the health services and along with building of
community expertise in order to respond to health needs of the population. It also takes
responsibility of the health outcomes. The idea of capacity building includes equipping the staff
in an effective manner who possess appropriate cultural knowledge along with clinical expertise.
It builds infrastructure of physical, human and intellectual nature that helps to foster leadership
in addition to governance and management of finances (Trickett & Pequegnat, 2005).
Capability building in terms of prevention of sexually transmitted diseases consists of a
two way action plan. The first action plan involves partnership and the second action plan
involves prevention. With the help of effective partnership the health care services of the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander can be improved. Partnerships can be formed in the