Mental Health Care and Context: Aboriginal Women's Health Report

This report addresses the critical issue of mental health care and context for Aboriginal women, focusing on the significant health disparities they face. It highlights the impact of historical factors such as dispossession, marginalization, and racism on their mental well-being. The report presents background information on the problem, including statistical data on mental health disorders, hospitalizations, and the prevalence of psychological distress among Indigenous women. It outlines various solutions, including government initiatives like the Indigenous Advancement Strategy and the Alive and Kicking Goals programme, which aim to improve safety, welfare, and prevent suicide. The report also explores the role of research feminism and postmodernism in understanding the unique needs of Aboriginal women in mental health, emphasizing the importance of trauma-informed approaches and culturally sensitive care. It concludes by stressing the significance of early intervention and the support provided by Australian government programs to address these challenges.

Running head: MENTAL HEALTH CARE AND CONTEXT
Mental health care and context
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MENTAL HEALTH CARE AND CONTEXT
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Background information about the problem...................................................................................2
Description of the problem..............................................................................................................3
Overview of the solutions to be outlined.........................................................................................4
Paragraph 1......................................................................................................................................5
Research feminism in Australian mental health..............................................................................5
Paragraph 2......................................................................................................................................6
Post modernism in Australian mental health...................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
Reference.........................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
This report states that the aboriginal women are subject to certain risks that are related to
poor health conditions. Aboriginal women are experiencing significantly weaker health
conditions. Various indigenous women are suffering from health problems because of the
situation of their lives, having major influences being associated with dispossession, forced
removals from families, marginalization, racism as well as getting exposed to violent behaviours.
For ensuring improved outcomes related to health, strategies should be including knowledge as
well as awareness related with the historical aspects, experience, cultural aspects as well as the
rights of indigenous women.
Background information about the problem
From the research that has been conducted on the Aboriginal people, it was found out that
disorders of the mind are the second biggest reason regarding ‘burden of illness’. The Australian
Bureau of Statistics is defining burden of illness to be the health loss regarding the Australians
because of premature mortality, disability as well as other events that are considered being non-
fatal. The major kind of mental health or disorders regarding the behaviour due to which the
hospitalization of Aboriginal people takes place was because of psychoactive materials (38%),
followed by schizophrenia, as well as disorders that are delusional (26%), as well as disorders of
the mood (15%) (O’Reilly 2017). There has been the identification of depression to be one of the
six most frequent challenges that the GPs manage in respect of the Aboriginal patients. It was
found out by the ‘Human Rights of People having Mental Illness’ that unsociable as well as self-
destructive behavioural aspects, frequently the outcome of mental as well as social anguish that

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has been undiagnosed, brought the Aboriginal individuals into repeated contact with the criminal
justice process (Taylor 2014). The Aboriginal individuals are doing the representation of 2.5% of
the Australian population. On the other hand, from 2007-2008, the Aboriginal people accounted
for 5.6% of the mental health based crisis department service incidents.
Description of the problem
Depending upon the 2012-13 Health Survey, majority of the indigenous adults were
having reduced psychological stress levels, whereas 30% were having very high levels. The
indigenous women (36%) were considerably more prone in comparison to indigenous men
(24%) towards doing the reporting of increased psychological distress levels. Moreover,
Indigenous Australians who lives in non-remote places were more likely to do the reporting of
increased levels of distress (32%) in comparison to those living in the remote areas (24%).
Situations regarding mental health did the accounting in respect of 3% of deaths within
Indigenous Australians over the period of 2008-2012. Amongst these deaths, 54% were in
respect of organic mental disorder whereas 31% were in respect of mental as well as behavioural
disorders because of the use of psychoactive substances (Rogers 2013).
During the period between July 2011 to June 2013, conditions related to mental health
were the major cause in respect of 8% of hospitalizations in respect of Indigenous Australians.
There occurred the hospitalization of indigenous men in respect of conditions related to the
mental health at 2.3 times the rate of non-indigenous males, as well as indigenous females at 1.7
times the rate in respect of non-indigenous females. From 2004-05, there has occurred a 40% rise
in hospitalizations in respect of conditions that are related to mental health among the Indigenous
Australians. One of the major reasons in respect of hospitalization related to mental health were

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considered being mental as well as behavioural disorders because of psychoactive substance use,
schizophrenia, mood disorders, as well as neurotic, stress-based turmoil (McGorry 2013).
Indigenous hospitalization rates in respect of issues related to mental health were highest within
the individuals in the age groups between 25-54.
The collection of survey data regarding GP from April 2008 to March 2013, suggested
that 11% of every challenge that GPs manage within indigenous patients were problems related
with mental health. Hopelessness was considered being the most recurrently reported problem
related with mental health that GPs managed within the Indigenous Australians, which was
followed by apprehension, and after that the using of tobacco, alcohol as well as various drugs.
Overview of the solutions to be outlined
Policies and reforms that are responsible for meeting the mental health needs of the
Aboriginal group are mentioned as under,
1. The Indigenous Advancement Strategy – The programme relating to safety as well as welfare
assists in providing adequate funds in respect of strategies that are known to do the enhancement
of safety in respect of the community as well as supporting the welfare of indigenous people. In
2014-15, this took into consideration funding of $39.7m in respect of social as well as emotional
welfare services and workforce assistance. Work in respect of renewing the Social as well as
Emotional Welfare Structure is being made as well. Investment regarding the prevention of
suicide in respect of the Indigenous Australians is offered as well by the Government of
Australia (Lu 2015). This can be stated by the fact that, approx. $4.9m dedicated regarding the
National Suicide Prevention Programme in respect of particular services regarding Aboriginal
Australians. Also, $1.2m committed under the package regarding the ‘Taking Action to Tackle

5MENTAL HEALTH CARE AND CONTEXT
Suicide’ in respect of particular activity related to the prevention of suicide, which targets the
Aboriginal individuals Lawrence 2013).
2. The Alive and Kicking Goals programme – It is considered being a pioneering as well as
award-winning programme regarding suicide prevention that targets youth facing risk in regional
Western Australia. The programme is considered being very much unique, which is based on
evidences, entirely owned as well as led by the young Aboriginal men as well as women. The
Alive and Kicking Goals programme is aiming towards saving young lives via the creation of
positive attitudes related to the seeking of support, culturally secure peer education as well as
network relating to support (Frost 2014).
Paragraph 1
Research feminism in Australian mental health
The accepted pattern states that Aboriginal women are having more likelihood of getting
diagnosed with increased prevalence disorders. Clinical research did the persuasion of
physiological explanations in respect of the mental health problems of women. Whereas, there
has been emphasis relating to the perspectives of the feminists regarding the pathologisation of
the experiences regarding women patients. As per the current research, there has been refocusing
of attention on the distinctive requirements of mental health law as well as policy in relation to
the mental health influence regarding violence. There has been the recognition of the
requirement for a strong response to the experience of violence towards women. In respect of the
experience of women, this aspect is calling for the way of adopting a women centric, trauma
informed process, for developing the law, policy as well as service provision relating to mental
health. These kinds of approaches will be having an engagement with the advancing

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identification of the aspirations relating to the movement of the customers as well as the structure
of human rights (McGorry 2013).
Paragraph 2
Post modernism in Australian mental health
Postmodern feminism is having its root in post-structuralism, postmodern philosophical
aspects as well as French feminist theory, each of which is emerging in a spontaneous manner at
the same time. In this respect, there is the requirement for developing a gendered evaluation of
current Australian mental health procedures. There is the requirement for exploring the power-
knowledge information that is shaping the present policy decisions, and therefore, the though
process that is guiding the health professionals, in association with the experience of depression
in women as well as emotional distress within the Australian society in the present times
(Corrigan 2014). Policy discourses are a way by which the exercising of the neo-liberal rule is
done in association with the emotional lives of women as a population as well as identification of
the individuals as ‘at risk’ of mental problem. Even though there has been the significant
ignoring of socio-cultural evaluation of the gendered experience relating to depression within the
polices regarding mental health that will be drawing upon discourses relating to the biomedical
as well as psychological aspects that is focused toward the process of preventing, identifying as
well as treating the disorders (Rogers 2014).
It has been found out that the increased vulnerability to mental disorders of Aboriginal
women has been attributed to personal functioning of the psychological aspects. Specifically
speaking, the propensity of Aboriginal women towards worrying is reflecting upon the ingrained
socialization patterns where Aboriginal women are having confinement towards passive roles as

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well as are provided limited developmental scopes for developing mastery. The clinicians as well
as researchers, who are socialising as well as shaping within the cultural aspects, do the
formation of stereotypes regarding what is constituting ‘normality’ in females and, as a result the
deviation from these will be having the classification of abnormality (Lawrence 2013). It was
also found out that Aboriginal women are having more likelihood for getting perceived by the
professionals of health to be healthy in a psychological manner when they are not considered
being either having competitiveness or aggressiveness (Docherty 2016).
Conclusion
To conclude, it can be stated that early intervention is of paramount importance to cope
with mental disorders among the Aboriginal women. In Australia, governments of state and
territory provide special care to serve the needs of Aboriginal women having mental illness. The
Australian government provides funding to services related to mental health through programs
like the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
(RPBS). Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS). A range of services relating to the mental health
are offered by the State as well as Federal legislation which include healthcare services in
psychiatric settings of hospitals, mental healthcare services targeted to the community of
particular states and territory and healthcare services provided in the residence of the people
suffering from mental disorders.

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Reference
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Docherty, T., 2016. Postmodernism: A reader. Routledge.
Frost, N. and Elichaoff, F., 2014. Feminist postmodernism, poststructuralism, and critical
theory. Feminist research practice: A primer, pp.42-72.
Lawrence, D., Hancock, K.J. and Kisely, S., 2013. The gap in life expectancy from preventable
physical illness in psychiatric patients in Western Australia: retrospective analysis of population
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Lu, Y. and Racine, L., 2015. Reviewing Chinese immigrant women's health experiences in
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