HEALT 2114, Semester 2, 2019: Aboriginal Health Issue Essay Analysis

This essay examines the significant health issue of hearing and sight impairments among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. It begins by describing the various causes of these impairments, including genetics, aging, and environmental factors, and highlights the negative implications on education, employment, and independent living. The essay then presents current statistics, comparing the prevalence of these impairments between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations in Australia, demonstrating a higher burden on the Indigenous population. The historical impact of colonization, including racism, discrimination, and loss of culture, is discussed as a key factor influencing health outcomes. Furthermore, the essay identifies and analyzes two critical social determinants of health: poor environmental conditions, such as inadequate housing, and lower education levels, explaining how these factors contribute to the development and progression of hearing and sight impairments. The essay concludes by summarizing the findings and emphasizing the need for improved healthcare and social interventions to address these disparities and improve the quality of life for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Introduction
Australia’s Governments has been facing the challenge of improvement of the health conditions
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from a long time. Even though some
improvements have been achieved in certain areas since the 1970s such as infant mortality
health, overall improvement has been slow and incoherent. Impairment of human senses such as
vision and sight can result in negative implications in areas such as education, employment,
social engagement and independent living. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in
Australia face increased incidence of various vision and hearing ailments than non-Indigenous
people. The report will elaborate these health issues in detail and compare their prevalence
among non-Indigenous people. The assignment will also mention the cultural implications and
barriers in addressing hearing and sight impairments for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Australians.
Describe the health issue
The sense of vision can be impaired due to various reasons such as genetics, ageing, premature
birth, disorders, infections, injuries, ultraviolet (UV) exposure, nutrition and tobacco use
(Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016). An impaired vision can restrict the prospects in
educational, employment and social network context. It may further enhance the likelihood of
injury and be a cause of dependency on assistance and other people (George Institute for Global
Health, 2017). A partial loss of sense of vision can also lower the ability of a person to live on
their own and enhance the chances of mortality (Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council ,
2017). Ear has three main parts which are external, middle and inner ear and disorders of the ear

are categorized based on the part in which the disease develops. Impairment in these parts
particularly, middle and inner ear may lead to temporary or permanent hearing loss.
Burden of hearing and sight impairment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Australians
In Australia, eye and sight issues are reported less by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander than
the non-Indigenous Australians. It is also reported that children of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander frequently have better vision than children of non-Indigenous people (particularly those
residing in remote areas) (AIHW, 2016). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have more
chances to develop certain eye problems than non-Aboriginal and Torres and Strait Islander
people and adults have increased likelihood of vision loss and blindness (Chronic Care for
Aboriginal People, 2017), but they are less chances of their hospitalization due to eye problems
(Public Health Association of Australia, 2017). Refractive error, cataract, diabetic retinopathy
and trachoma are the most frequently faced eye disorders by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Australians. (Roberts, et al., 2015) The findings of eye assessment done in the 2015-
2016 National eye health survey (NEHS) revealed that 11% and o.3% of Indigenous adults
suffered from bilateral vision impairment (VI: impaired vision in both eyes) and bilateral
blindness, respectively. The chief reasons of blindness were cataract, diabetic retinopathy, optic
atrophy and a combined reason of these mechanisms. Nearly 18,300 Indigenous adults were
likely to have VI or blindness. It was also found that Indigenous adult population had three time
more prevalence of both VI and blindness than the non-Indigenous adult population. But the
level of blindness was six times more prevalent among the Indigenous adult population than the
non-Indigenous adult population in 2008, which indicated reduction in blindness inequality
among indigenous and non-indigenous people. In AATSIHS 2012-13, the most prevalent long-

term health issue was found to be eye and sight issues. 33% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people indicates eye and sight issues with around 38%, 29% and 9% of women, men
and children reporting eye and sight issues respectively (Cancer Australia, 2015). Certain
communities in the NT, WA and SA among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children have
still reported the cases of development of trachoma.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, particularly those who belong to children and
young adult age group show high rate of ear impairments and hearing loss as compared to other
non-indigenous people in Australia (Tanevska, Budd, Rompotis, & Harvey, 2017). In the 2012-
2013 AATSIHS, disorders of the ear and mastoid and/or hearing problems were stated as long-
term health condition by 12% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 13% men and by
12% women reported issues with the sense of hearing. For all the age groups below 55 years of
age, the incidence of ear/hearing impairments were more for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people than for nonindigenous people.
Impact of history
In Australia, aboriginal people have been living for minimum 45,000 years and may be for
120,000 years. For centuries, Aboriginal Australian have experienced famines and floods. These
experiences exhibit the spirit and resistance of the Aboriginal culture. Nearly 270 islands in the
Torres Straits have been inhabited by the Torres Strait Islander people. They now live throughout
inland Australia and the Straits. In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies, there are
distinguished ethnic and cultural differences, harboring several languages and customs. But, both
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had a partially nomadic way of life in their groups
of family and community. With seasonal change, they also moved from a defined region.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians face continuing challenges for their health and
wellbeing. The decisions of policy in the past have negatively influenced their quality of life and
health status including their health of senses of hearing and sight. Some of these negative
impacts which they have faced in the past and continue to experience are racism, discrimination,
the coerced elimination of children, and loss of identity, language, culture and land (Steering
Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision, 2016). But the conditions have
improved in recent times. Several positive changes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
autonomous governance have taken place.
Two social determinants of health on the development and progression of
hearing and sight impairment
Poor environment- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians develop ailments which are
associated with poor environmental health more than nonindigenous Australians. It can occur
because of deprived housing settings, absence of accessibility to tradespeople and detachment of
certain communities and maintenance expenses (Devitt, et al., 2017). Areas which must be
specifically mentioned for the environmental health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander are
overcrowding and infrastructure which include fundamental amenities and services required for
proper housing. 21% Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people lived in congested homes in
2014-15.
Education- Education has been an important social determinant of health as it spreads awareness
among people regarding their health. Education paves way for healthy lifestyle by integrating
aspects of healthy diet, raising above cultural norms, maintenance of hygiene and many more.
The 2012-13 AATSIHS also revealed an association between education level and psychological

distress for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. It found that 34% Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people who had education till 9 level faced high/very high degree of
psychological distress, while 26% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who had
education till 12 level faced high/very high degree of emotional stress.
Cultural implications and obstacles in addressing hearing and sight impairments for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians
The Aboriginal and Torres and Strait Islander Australians have their own set of culture which
differs from other Australians. This difference is a cause of inequality in health status between
Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Australia. The cultural differences implicates to
ineffective communication between Indigenous people and health care professionals which
obstructs their healthcare provision. The conversational interaction in West is characteristically
"dyadic" which means between two specific individuals. In such interactions, eye contact is
significant and the one who speaks is in control of the interaction; and "contained" in a
comparatively short, defined time interval. But conventional Aboriginal conversational
interaction is "communal" which means it involves broadcasting to several individuals, eye
contact is not significant, the one who listens is in control of the interaction; and "continuous",
prolonged, undefined time interval. In addition, racism is also a usual denominator for history of
indigenous people. They face exclusion from several aspects of social, political, and economic
domains in the society. They have frequently been reported to experience negative consequences
for health due to this exclusion.
Conclusion

Loss of hearing and sight senses not only affects the individual’s quality of life but also burdens
the healthcare sector of Australia. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians reportedly
have poorer health issues of the senses of sight and hearing than non-Aboriginal and Torres and
Strait Islander Australians. Among many social determinants which have impacted the
progression of impairment of these senses, two most common are poor education and diminished
environmental status.
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