HSC203 Assignment 2: Indigenous Health Service Report Analysis

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the Aboriginal Medical Service Co-op Ltd Redfern, a crucial non-profit organization serving the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Central NSW, Australia. The report begins by outlining the service's profile, emphasizing its community-driven approach and cultural sensitivity. It then identifies external factors that influenced the service's establishment, including self-determination, mortality rates, and federal government funding. The core of the report examines the impact of specific healthcare practices, such as alcohol and drug treatment, oral health services, and services for the aged, on the health and well-being of Indigenous Australians. The report highlights the challenges faced by Indigenous communities, including racism, discrimination, and health disparities, while underscoring the AMS Co-op's role in addressing these issues and improving health outcomes. The analysis references key literature and data to support its findings, providing a comprehensive overview of the AMS Co-op's significance in the context of Indigenous healthcare.

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Aboriginal Medical Services Co-op Ltd Redfern

Service profile
This is a multifunctional non-profit organization that offers culturally
acceptable healthcare for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
in Central NSW Australia (Verhagen, Ros, Steunenberg & Wit, 2013). Their
services are managed and delivered by the community members who are
much aware of and sensitive to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander. The service came into existence in 1971 at Redfern, and it was
the first health service to be controlled by the Aboriginal community of
Australia. Today it is a key indigenous health organization facility where
most of the Aboriginal community health services are provided at the New
South Wales(Verhagen et al., 2013). Its concept is to make the Aboriginal
people have their controlled health care whose central objective aims at
transforming health standard to the aboriginal communities of Australia.
1. External factors that influenced the establishment of aboriginal
Medical service at Redfern
The company serves over 55, 000 patient annually who have
challenges in alcohol and drug abuse, needs medical attention, and who
are aged (Howard-Wagner, 2018). This medical service was established to
help people at risks of homelessness, who are homeless, and vulnerable
to drug abuse, like alcohol and tobacco.
i. Self-determination
Aboriginal Medical Services originally started as a ‘shop-front’
volunteer service. The service was set by three indigenous doctors; doctor
Gordon Briscoe Dr. Fred Hollows and Dr. Ferry Grunseit who had interest
seeing healthcare service available to the aboriginal people who reside in
Redfern(Howard-Wagner, 2018). Since the establishment of this
community controlled health sector other 150 centers were established in
remote, urban and region areas of Australia. The Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islanders patients have always received this service for free as the
service focuses on the principle of holistic health care as well as taking
care of the community as a whole.

ii. Mortality rate and life expectancy
The life expectancy gap between the non-indigenous and Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander is worrying to date. Over half of aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islanders live in regions or cities. There is a significant
disease burden between aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders living in
non-remote areas which accounts for 60% gap in mortality rate compared
to those who live in remote areas (Condon et al., 2014). Aboriginals who
live in urban and regional areas of Australia account for 83% of mental
disorders, 66% of chronic respiratory disorders, 64% of cancers, 62% of
diabetes and 61% cardiovascular diseases. Before the service was
established the community aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders living in
Sydney relied on local general practitioners goodwill or emergency
department (Condon et al., 2014). The community experienced racism
when seeking medical services. The state of poverty deprived them of the
ability to purchase medicine and attend general practice.
iii. Federal government funding
One year after the Aboriginal Medical Services was started, it failed
to meet the demand of its services. It was during that time the Federal
Government made available it's funding for the project. Since then
Aboriginal Medical Services has expanded to be a multifunctional health
service providing services in dental, medical, outreach services and public
health.
2. Identification of health practices and examining their impact on
Australian indigenous people’s health and well being
i. Alcohol and drug treatment service
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Alcohol and other drug
refer to any structural intention meant to address an individuals' use of
drugs (Anthony, 2013). Alcohol and other drugs are meant to minimize
harm for people who are using alcohol and other drugs harmfully and are
not dependent on them and carrying out treatment interventions to
people who are severely dependent on drugs (Lee, 2012). Alcohol and

other Drugs interventions include maintenance pharmacotherapy;
aftercare, outreach, therapeutic communities, relapse prevention,
cognitive behavioral therapy, withdrawal management, and brief
intervention (Conigrave et al., 2012). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
have values that are different from mainstream health service providers
of Australia proves to be a barrier about trust and intimacy.
To avoid difficulties in applying mainstream services two
alternatives have been proven effective, i.e., Development of cultural
adaptations based on mainstream interventions evidence for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islanders; and the interventions run and controlled by
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (Whitty & Clifford, 2017). Cultural
practices incorporations that prove effective are spirituality, traditional
values, and activities compared to mainstream services (Conigrave et al.,
2012). This incorporations in services have enabled the healthcare
providers to deliver interventions in culturally and meaningful ways,
utilization of traditional healing while respecting cultural differences of the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders communities (Verhagen, Ros,
Steunenberg & Wit, 2013).
ii. Oral health service
Oral health is the health of mouth tissues: gums, teeth, bone, and
muscle. A common oral disease is a periodontal disease and tooth decay
also known as caries. The effects of these common diseases are
embarrassment or discomfort, discomfort and tooth loss, problems with
eating, speaking, or problem with persons’ social life. More Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islanders compared to other Australians have a high
prevalence of oral diseases (Whitty & Clifford, 2017). They are in most
cases not able to receive preventive dental care, and most have untreated
dental diseases. The aboriginal medical service helps to prevent this
occurrence by helping to reduce the intake of processed sugary
foods/drinks.
iii. Service to Aged people

Older people have poorer health status and higher levels of socio-
economic disadvantage. They need healthcare and support which differs
from those offered to the other older Australians. Older Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islanders have dementia problems, diabetic, cardiovascular
disease, suffers loneliness and probably high rates of chronic disease
(Conigrave et al., 2012). The aboriginal medical service provides flexible
aged care in rural and remote areas. This service is not only used for the
aged but the under ages who need care.
Conclusion
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders face racism and discrimination
compared to other Australians. They are associated with binge drinking,
smoking, and other drugs abuse. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
have poor health and are denied government support and other human
right services. They are associated with poor education, oral diseases,
poverty, and domestic violence. Aboriginal medical service co-op was
started as a ‘shop-front’ volunteer service in 1971 to help minimize some
of these challenges amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

References
Anthony, T. (2013). Indigenous people, crime and punishment. Routledge.
Condon, J. R., Zhang, X., Baade, P., Griffiths, K., Cunningham, J., Roder, D.
M., ... & Threlfall, T. (2014). Cancer survival for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Australians: a national study of survival rates
and excess mortality. Population health metrics, 12(1), 1.
Conigrave, K., Freeman, B., Caroll, T., Simpson, L., Lee, K. K., Wade,
V., ...& Freeburn, B. (2012). The Alcohol Awareness project:
community education and brief intervention in an urban Aboriginal
setting. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 23(3), 219-225.
Howard-Wagner, D. (2018). Aboriginal organisations, self-determination
and the neoliberal age: A case study of how the ‘game has
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Lee, K., Freeburn, B., Ella, S., Miller, W., Perry, J., & Conigrave, K. (2012).
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Verhagen, I., Ros, W. J., Steunenberg, B., & de Wit, N. J. (2013). Culturally
sensitive care for elderly immigrants through ethnic community
health workers: design and development of a community based
intervention programme in the Netherlands. BMC public health,
13(1), 227.
Whitty, M., & Clifford, A. (2017). The Dissemination of Alcohol
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