Indigenous Health in Australia: A Primary Health Care Analysis

This report examines the health of Indigenous Australians, focusing on the social determinants of health, primary health care principles, national health priority areas, and cultural competence. It uses the "Healing Circle at Gnibi" video as a case study to analyze how social exclusion and issues like child abuse impact Indigenous communities. The report identifies collaborative approaches and community engagement as key primary health care principles. It highlights poverty and hygiene as critical national health priority areas and emphasizes the importance of cultural safety and competence in developing effective health programs. The CIRCLE initiative is presented as an example of a program that promotes healing, education, and awareness within the community.

Running head: HEALTH OF INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIA
HEALTH OF INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIA

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Table of Contents
Question 1........................................................................................................................................2
The social determinants of health inform the way we use primary health care to help
communities to maintain health and wellness. Using relevant examples from the video,
identify and discuss how two (2) social determinants of health helped determine the need for
the project.....................................................................................................................................2
Question 2........................................................................................................................................3
Using relevant examples from the video, identify and explain how two primary health care
principles guided the project in the video....................................................................................3
Question 3........................................................................................................................................4
Identify one National Health Priority Area that will be impacted on because of the program.
Explain how this has the potential to affect the health of children or adults in the community,
now or in the future......................................................................................................................4
Question 4........................................................................................................................................5
Define cultural competence and cultural safety. Discuss why these concepts are important
considerations when developing a program like the one in the video. Provide at least one
example from the video where these concepts are demonstrated................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................6

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Question 1
The social determinants of health inform the way we use primary health care
to help communities to maintain health and wellness. Using relevant examples
from the video, identify and discuss how two (2) social determinants of health
helped determine the need for the project
The social determinants of the health play an integral role in informing the manner in
which the primary health care contributes to maintaining the wellness as well as the health of the
communities. The effectiveness of the primary health care aims at keeping the individuals,
communities as well as the family in the healthy condition. The improvements in the health of
the population through the process of the healthcare helps in the prevention of the investments,
which is required for the surgical purposes, increase in the pharmaceutical usage along with the
hospitalization. The primary health care also helps in the supporting the families, communities,
individuals as well as the health sector, to prevent any diseases and illness (Greenwood et al.
2015). This includes the identification and the working for the improvement of the social
conditions, which contributes to the significance impact on the health such as the housing,
education, income and the environment.
The first social determinants that are identified in the video are the social exclusion of the
teenage girls, who are conceiving the child at a younger age (Smylie and Firestone, 2016). They
are being secluded by the society because of the varying perceptions of the society who do not
treat the teenager mothers in the same manner as the married ones. This, in turn, is encouraging
the young mothers to assess the Maternal and the Child Health Care services, since they are not
able to participate in the mother's group. The initiatives taken by the social workers help in
building up their depression as well as help them to fight against the stress, postnatal depression
and prevent them from taking up the drugs. Thus, it is necessary to help them fight as well as the
depression, to sustain health and wellness. Thus, this defines the necessity of the project to
improve the state of the health of the individuals, for the betterment of their lifestyle (Fisher et
al. 2016).

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Another social determinant identified from the video is the indigenous community of
Australia has been suffering from the increasing child and drug abuse. The research has shown
that the Kalumburu, the indigenous community in Western Australia, has been witnessing large
number of sexual assault charges in its community. This has resulted in the increasing trauma in
the community. Thus, to provide safety to the community, the CIRCLE (Collaborative
Indigenous Research Centre for learning and Care) takes initiatives in rebuilding the community
and healing them, to help them recover from the trauma (Drummond et al. 2015).
Question 2
Using relevant examples from the video, identify and explain how two
primary health care principles guided the project in the video
The social determinants that have been identified from the video, which has led to the
determination of the need for the project required. The primary health care principles that helped
in the guiding of the project in the video involve the Maternal and the Child Health Care
services. The health care principle involved in resolving the issue regarding social exclusion
includes the collaborative approaches. This approach sees the health care services that work with
the different sectors such as community-based delivery of service organizations, either non-
government or government. The initiatives taken by the social workers help in building up their
depression as well as help them to fight against the stress, postnatal depression and prevent them
from taking up the drugs. Thus, it is necessary to help them fight as well as the depression, to
sustain health and wellness. Thus, this defines the necessity of the project to improve the state of
the health of the individuals, for the betterment of their lifestyle (Cunningham et al. 2016).
Another health care principle that is to be taken into the consideration while dealing the
indigenous communities of Western Australia is the engagement of the genuine and local
indigenous community, for maximizing the participation and as well inclusion of the formal
structures of the community (Clifford et al. 2015). The research has shown that the Kalumburu,
the indigenous community in Western Australia, has been witnessing large number of sexual
assault charges in its community. This has resulted in the increasing trauma in the community.
Thus, to provide safety to the community, the CIRCLE (Collaborative Indigenous Research
Centre for learning and Care) takes initiatives in rebuilding the community and healing them, to

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help them recover from the trauma (Drummond et al. 2015). The tribal people of Western
Australia have been witnessing certain abuses that have been taking place in their villages for
past few years. For instance, it was observed that the young men of the community subjected the
children belonging to the specific community to assaults and rape. This not only resulted in the
creation of trauma among the community people but also led to generation of an unsafe
environment for them, which can give rise to many unhygienic conditions as well as diseases.
Thus, here, the Collaborative Indigenous Research Centre for learning and Care (CIRCLE) have
taken the initiative to make betterment in the lives of these tribal people. The health care
principle in this case aims at making the commitment to the health equity and considering it to be
one major aspect of the development regarding the social justice. In addition to that, the
principles of the health care also focus in the participation of the community in the overall
implementation of the health agenda. This not only makes them aware of their current situations
but also helps them in identification of the solution to overcome their trauma.
Question 3
Identify one National Health Priority Area that will be impacted on because of
the program. Explain how this has the potential to affect the health of
children or adults in the community, now or in the future
The National Health Priority Area refers to the approach, which acts as an initiative for
bringing the national health policy, emphasizing on conditions as well as the diseases, which
have a huge impact on the health of the communities. The National Health Priority Area that can
be identified from the video is poverty as well as hygiene and health conditions of the children
belonging to the indigenous communities of Western Australia. The research has shown that the
Kalumburu, the indigenous community in Western Australia, has been witnessing large number
of sexual assault charges in its community. This has resulted in the increasing trauma in the
community. However, the CIRCLE (Collaborative Indigenous Research Centre for learning and
Care) has taken the initiatives in rebuilding the community and healing them , to help them
recover from the trauma. This approach mainly aims at the providing the safety to the
community by offering a secured environment (Kolahdooz et al. 2015).

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The CIRCLE denotes the healing circle, which in turn helps in the rebuilding of the
community via sharing of the stories, encouraging them as well as making them aware of the
side effect of the drug abuse ("It Takes a Village", 2014). The healing method involves the
description of the pain of the community through the techniques of painting, dancing, and the
story maps. This method encourages the people to muster up the courage to speak about their
experiences and communicate with each other with their emotions. This, in turn, helps in the
establishment of the healthy relation among the people belonging to the same community, which
in turn, helps in the building of unity among them. Proper education is being provided to the
children as well as the adults belonging to the communities, in the context of the cultural
background to which they originally belong. This not only helps them to become competent to
survive through the adversities but also helps them in eradicating the poverty and sustaining the
better lifestyle. In addition to that, the CIRCLE also gives guidance on the danger related to the
drug and the alcohol as well create awareness among them about the protection, while mating.
This shall help the community in acquiring knowledge about the hygiene and the health-related
issues, leading to an improvement in their way of living (Kolahdooz et al. 2015).
Question 4
Define cultural competence and cultural safety. Discuss why these concepts
are important considerations when developing a program like the one in the
video. Provide at least one example from the video where these concepts are
demonstrated.
The cultural safety is referred to as the creation of the environment where the indigenous
communities are treated respectfully by the cultural background as well as aspects. The safety
revolves around the empowerment of the tribes to actively take part in the interactions, getting to
know the individual organization as well as their surroundings. Cultural competence, on the
other hand, refers to the ability for the interaction among the communities in an effective
manner, which helps in ensuring that requirements of the, members of the community are being
addressed efficiently. The CIRCLE (Collaborative Indigenous Research Centre for learning and
Care) has taken the initiatives in rebuilding the community and healing them, in order to help

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them recover from the trauma (Whalen et al. 2016). This approach mainly aims at the providing
the safety to the community by offering a secured environment.
The CIRCLE denotes the healing circle, which in turn helps in the rebuilding of the community
via sharing of the stories, encouraging them as well as making them aware of the side effect of
the drug abuse. The healing method involves the description of the pain of the community
through the techniques of painting, dancing and the story maps (Cunningham et al. 2016). This
method encourages the people to muster up courage to speak about their experiences and
communicate with each other with their emotions. In addition to that, the CIRCLE also gives
guidance on the danger related to the drug and the alcohol as well create awareness among them
about the protection, while mating. This shall help the community in acquiring knowledge about
the hygiene and the health-related issues, leading to an improvement in their way of living. Thus,
the cultural safety as well as the cultural competence are necessary while the program
development ("It Takes a Village", 2014)

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References
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Clifford, A., McCalman, J., Bainbridge, R., & Tsey, K. (2015). Interventions to improve cultural
competency in health care for Indigenous peoples of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and
the USA: a systematic review. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 27(2),
89-98.
Cunningham, F. C., Ferguson-Hill, S., Matthews, V., & Bailie, R. (2016). Leveraging quality
improvement through use of the Systems Assessment Tool in Indigenous primary health
care services: mixed methods study. BMC health services research, 16(1), 583.
Drummond, M. F., Sculpher, M. J., Claxton, K., Stoddart, G. L., & Torrance, G. W. (2015).
Methods for the economic evaluation of health care programmes. Oxford university
press.
Fisher, M., Baum, F. E., MacDougall, C., Newman, L., & McDermott, D. (2016). To what extent
do Australian health policy documents address social determinants of health and health
equity?. Journal of Social Policy, 45(3), 545-564.
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Indigenous Peoples' Health. Canadian Scholars’ Press.
Hunter, C. L., Goodie, J. L., Oordt, M. S., & Dobmeyer, A. C. (2017). Integrated behavioral
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Health Priority Areas. The Medical journal of Australia, 203(2), 97-101.

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Mitrou, F., Cooke, M., Lawrence, D., Povah, D., Mobilia, E., Guimond, E., & Zubrick, S. R.
(2014). Gaps in Indigenous disadvantage not closing: a census cohort study of social
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It Takes a Village. (2018). YouTube. Retrieved 5 April 2018, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcXGuq_k2K8