Critique of Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing in Australia

This report analyzes Aboriginal health in Australia, focusing on the Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS) and Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing. The report examines the historical context of the AMS, its establishment in Redfern, Sydney, and its holistic approach to healthcare, which acknowledges Aboriginal paradigms and health beliefs. It details the AMS's commitment to primary healthcare principles, community engagement, collaboration, and evidence-based practices. The report also explores the significance of social and emotional wellbeing for Aboriginal people, contrasting it with Western mental health definitions. It highlights the Bourke Aboriginal Health Service's initiative supporting social and emotional wellbeing, including its multidisciplinary teams and programs like "Strong Women, Strong Voice" aimed at empowering Aboriginal women through business opportunities. The report references relevant sources to support its analysis, providing insights into the challenges and strategies related to Aboriginal health and wellbeing.

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Bachelor of Nursing
Part 2
The Aboriginal Medical Services is a central indigenous organisation from where other
Aboriginal healthcare services and communities have stemmed. It was established in Redfern,
Sydney in 1971. The idea of setting up a separate healthcare unit for the Aboriginals appeared
when Gordon Briscoe and Shirley Smith met a man while on their field trip for Aboriginal legal
services (Browne et al. 2016). The man was so sick that he could barely talk and yet the family
members had not called upon a doctor as they would not be able to afford the treatment and
medications. Also, during this time, Australia did not have a universal healthcare scheme that
would allow them to access mainstream healthcare treatments. Inspired from this incident
Briscoe, Smith, Coe, Flower and other activists established the Aboriginal Medical Services to
provide free healthcare to the Aboriginal people.
The services provided were a holistic approach towards healthcare and started the practice of
viewing the disorders and health issues from an Aboriginal perspective, acknowledging the
paradigms and health beliefs that shaped the habits of the Aboriginal people (McMurray &
Clendon, 2015). It closely followed the principles for primary healthcare for indigenous people
and have been written as follows:
● The community is required to showcase genuine interest in the maximising the
engagement of indigenous people as a community in healthcare-related practices. It
should not be limited to only providing healthcare and treatment but should act towards
aligning the habits of aboriginals so that community health status can be improved. This
is performed by the organisation through periodic field trips and awareness activities. The
organisation also publishes information literature through handy pamphlets and booklets
to advise the people about healthcare goals.

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Bachelor of Nursing
● Collaborating with other healthcare-related organisation is of importance as this ensures
that the approach is holistic. The AMS has collaborated with a various housing
association to ensure that the problem of overcrowding in Aboriginal families can be
sorted.
● Core primary health care programs include chronic and contagious disease preventions,
vaccination programs, maternity and natal healthcare check-up and mental health care
wards.
● Evidence-based practice is a must as it helps to identify the gaps between the healthcare
activities and the desired outcome. One such evidence is the outcomes of life expectancy
among the aboriginals are lower than non-indigenous people.
● The organisation uses a multidisciplinary team which comprises of an indigenous person
who is knowledge about the lore and health practices. Other members can include a
general physician, community workers and activists, researchers and childcare specialist.
● The healthcare approaches from the AMS do not alienate the indigenous people and
allow them the achieve harmony between their practices and healthcare treatment. The
modern ways are not thrust upon them, rather many awareness programmes are held
trying to engage the aboriginal people.
● The AMS had trouble finding secured resources and funding in its first five years.
However, today receives stables funds from the government, other private communities
and volunteers.

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Part 3
The social and emotional wellbeing of an aboriginal is a measure of their connection with their
surroundings and is of importance as this connection is the essence in their culture and traditions.
Given the modern healthcare approaches and their interactions with non-indigenous people can
make them feel threatened and alienated. They may question their heritage and their belonging
which may give rise to other mental and emotional complications (Health info net, 2018). As a
result, the social and emotional wellbeing of an aboriginal needs to be safeguarded.
Bourke Aboriginal Health Service is an organisation that funds a social and emotional well-being
initiative for the islanders. This initiative is a reflection of the Aboriginal understanding of life
and their relation with various entities in the environment (Bahs, 2017). It considers
environmental, ideological and mental factors when helping the indigenous people. It recognises
people with trauma and grief after their connection with their family or environment has been
lost due to forced removal. In some cases, this removal is required for their recovery or health
complications. The multidisciplinary teams caring for the people consist of two counsellors, a
female family healthcare worker and two psychologists (Health, 2017). The aim of this initiative
is to set up a referral program through which the services can be provided promptly whenever
their is a need for them. The program has a special initiative included in it called the “Strong
Women, Strong Voice”. It aims to create a business opportunity for traditional yarn and craft
items (Health, 2017). These items were already in existence in the culture, the initiative would
help the aboriginal women to increase their yield and connect them to business chains. They will
also provide counselling to make them more business-minded and adaptable for economic
activity.

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References
Bahs, (2017), Social and Emotional Wellbeing program, Retrieved from
https://www.bahs.com.au/services/social-and-emotional-wellbeing-sewb-program
Browne, A. J., Varcoe, C., Lavoie, J., Smye, V., Wong, S. T., Krause, M., ... & Fridkin, A.
(2016). Enhancing health care equity with Indigenous populations: evidence-based
strategies from an ethnographic study. BMC Health Services Research, 16(1), 544.
Health, (2017), Primary health care and Indigenuous health: Australia, Retrieved from
https://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/health-oatsih-
pubs-linkphc~health-oatsih-pubs-linkphc-changes~changes3
Health, (2017), Principles for success for primary health care services, Retrieved from
https://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/health-oatsih-
pubs-linkphc~health-oatsih-pubs-linkphc-local~principles
Healthinfonet, (2018), Social and Emotional Wellbeing, Retrieved from
https://healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/learn/health-topics/social-and-emotional-wellbeing/
McMurray, A., & Clendon, J. (2015). Community health and wellness-e-book: Primary health
care in practice. Elsevier Health Sciences.