Understanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Culture and Health

This essay delves into the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community's holistic understanding of health, emphasizing its cultural, emotional, and social dimensions. It highlights the community's perspective on health as a comprehensive life process, influencing healthcare providers to support individual and community wellbeing. The essay discusses how issues like traditional knowledge, social justice, and connection to the land are integral to their health perception. It examines the personal attributes that shape individual views, including family values, education, and personal experiences. The author reflects on how their family beliefs, education, and personal experiences align with the community's emphasis on collective wellbeing and the importance of affordable healthcare services. The essay concludes by reinforcing the positive perception of the community's health and cultural practices, shaped by various influences.

Running head: ABORIGINAL AND TORRES CULTURE 1
Aboriginal and Torres Straight Culture and health
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliation

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES CULTURE 2
Aboriginal and Torres Straight Culture and health
The Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander have a holistic understand health in a holistic
way. The understanding or health does not revolve around the wellbeing or a particular
individual in the community; the focus is on the whole community (Coffin, 2007). Their health
refers to the cultural, emotional, and social wellbeing of all members of the community. As
perceived by the community, issues to do with health means a whole life process. In my opinion,
it influences providers of health care services who need to reach a point where all members of
the community should be able to achieve their full potential at individual level. Additionally,
such individuals need to participate in ensuring the wellbeing of their communities.
According to HREOC, (2015), the community’s understanding of the culture and health
issues covers the whole community and is a process that starts at birth and ends at death of an
individual. The community puts much concentration on issues that affect the daily activities of
the members of the society. As stated earlier, such issues include traditional knowledge and
healing, social justice, human rights, connection to the country, and equality in the society.
Based on this illustration, WHO (2015) denotes that the of health and culture according to the
Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander entails mental, physical, cultural, and spiritual health of
all the individuals in the community. In this case, land is said to be one of the central factors that
promote health in the society.
Analysis of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander understanding of the cultural and
health issues has shaped how many people view the whole health and cultural sectors in
Australia and beyond (Carson, Dunbar, Chenhall, & Bailie, 2007). At the same time, there are
personal attributes that influence how an individual views the cultural concepts related to

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES CULTURE 3
Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander. Some of these personal factors include family and
attitudes, education, personal experience, media, and past literary works about the community.
For instance, my perception regarding the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander understanding
of health and culture has been shaped by the family values that I have learned. I our family, it is
believed that whatever one does must be of good to the entire family; not an individual. This
belief continues even when a family member moves out of the family compound and goes on the
entire life of the individual.
Based on this family value, my family has made me appreciate the beliefs and concepts
of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community (Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003). The
issues of health need not to be concentrated on an individual; but that of the whole community.
My family beliefs and that of the community in question complement one another in advocating
for the wellbeing of all the members of the community. The understanding of health matters in
the community upholds the wellbeing of the entire society, ranging from mental, physical,
cultural, to spiritual health. Every member of the community will always work towards making
the whole community safe. This process needs to continue throughout the life of an individual.
Additionally, the personal experience and education journey I have gone through have
influenced my view of the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander community. In school, we
have always been taught to be our brothers’ keepers and that whatever we should mean well to
others. Again, there are several life experiences that have motivated me to read from the same
scripture as the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander community on issues to do with health
and cultural practices (United Nations Declaration Report, 2007). For instance, there are cases
when we, as students, need each other to achieve a specific goal. Cases involving group
assignments or games such as football need cooperation as a team to help attain the require

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES CULTURE 4
results. In such cases where students need each other most, we have always realized that working
towards wellbeing o f other promote good interactions among students.
Literature works done in the past have also encouraged the need to work together and
promote wellbeing of others in the society (Eckrmann et al., 2010). According to the beliefs of
the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander community, the providers o f the health care services
need to work towards making the services affordable to all members o f the community. This
attitude has helped countries in fighting infectious diseases, where every members of the
community needs to be free from the disease for the community to be safe.
Conclusion
From the illustrations above, it is clear that the perception many people have regarding
the beliefs and understanding of health and cultural practices of the Aboriginal and Torres
Straight Islander community is positive. My own experience, education, family values, and
media I have read have shaped my views to believe in the beliefs of the community in question.

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES CULTURE 5
References
Carson, B., Dunbar, T., Chenhall, R. D., & Bailie, R., (2007). Social determinants of Indigenous
health. Ellen & Unwin.
Coffin, J. (2007). Rising to the challenge in Aboriginal health by creating cultural security.
Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal, 31 (3), pp 22-24.
Eckrmann, A.K., Down, T., Chong, E., Nixon, L., Gray, R. & Johnson, S (2010). Binam Goonj:
Bridging cultures in Aboriginal Health (3rd edition), Elsevier, Chatswood.
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC). (2015). Human rights explained.
Sydney,NSW: HREOC, Retrieved from www.humanrights.gov.au/education
Neumayer, H. (2013). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in Public Service Roles:
Representation, Recognition and Relationships in Australian Government
Bureaucracies. Journal of Australian Political Economy, (82), 133–148.
United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007).
Wilkinson, R. G. & Marmot, M. (Eds.). (2003). Social determinants of health: the solid facts.
World Health Organization
World Health Organization WHO. (2015). Health and Human Rights. Fact Sheet No. 323
accessed 21/06/2016 http://www.who.int/mediacenter/factsheets/fs323/en/.pdf