Reflective Writing: Healthcare Equity for Aboriginal Australians

This reflective writing piece, structured using Gibbs' Reflective Cycle, examines the healthcare disparities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians. The author initially believed in healthcare equality, where everyone receives the same treatment. However, after researching the topic, they realized the importance of equity, which involves providing tailored care based on individual needs, acknowledging the pre-existing poor health conditions and lower life expectancy of Aboriginal Australians. The reflection explores the impact of living conditions, higher mortality rates, and the limitations of 'equal treatment'. The author evaluates their shift in perspective, analyzes the need for specialized healthcare programs, and concludes that equity is crucial for ensuring quality healthcare. The author plans to advocate for equity over equality in future discussions and educate others on the issue, promoting increased funding and healthcare promotion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The writing references sources like the Australian Human Rights Commission and research by Kendall et al. (2020) to support its arguments.

Running head:REFLECTIVE WRITING
Equity or Equality for Aboriginals Healthcare
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1REFLECTIVE WRITING
Description
The following reflection about the difference between equality and equity is based on
the use of Gibb’s Reflective Cycle (Brookes.ac.uk., 2020). Recently, while reading up on the
healthcare gap that exists between the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders and that of non-
Indigenous Australians, I came across the terms ‘equality’ and ‘equity’. Equality refers to the
practice of treating everyone the same, which will entail administering similar healthcare to
everyone, irrespective of their ethnicity. Equity, on the other hand, refers to the act of being
fair and giving everyone what they need. In this context, this will mean making special
provisions for the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders due to their pre-existing poor health
and lower life expectancy in comparison to the non-Indigenous Australians. They often
endure living conditions that do not support good health and thus tend to have higher
mortality rates from the same infections than non-Indigenous Australians
(Humanrights.gov.au., 2020).
Feelings
Feelings before exposure to the topic
Before adequately reading about the topic, I have always been a firm believer in
equality. I always believed that everyone should be treated equally and be given equal
provisions for healthcare. This seemed to be a fair idea, and in my head, that was enough to
give everyone access to good healthcare.
Feelings after exposure to the topic
While I still stand by the fact that everyone should be treated equal, the concept and
need for equity never crossed my mind. It never occurred to me that everyone might not have
similar baseline conditions to receive the care. This drastically defeats the point of equality.
This explains that equality does not always constitute fairness, and by giving equal rights, it

2REFLECTIVE WRITING
is impossible that everyone will get equal results because they did not start from the same
place. The average condition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are poor, and they
suffer from various comorbidities that are not considered to be very serious among non-
Indigenous Australians. So, by giving them equal healthcare, it is not possible to expect the
same outcome.
Evaluation
I can say that my opinions on the topic came from my vague concept of equality. I
was under the impression that the gap in healthcare can be rectified if only everyone is
exposed to the same quality of healthcare. I am inclined to believe that most non-Indigenous
Australians like myself have a similar notion of the healthcare system, and this is simply out
of ignorance. Once I read more closely into the statistics and Close the Gap report
(Humanrights.gov.au., 2020), I learned about the poor conditions the Aboriginals and Torres
Strait Islanders face and why they require specialised healthcare programs to ensure good
health. I was also not exactly aware of the difference between equality and equity, and I
guessed that they both essentially meant the same thing. But now, I understand both concepts
better than before.
Analysis
From reading various informative sources, I have learned that while equality is
important, it is simply not possible that supplying equal provisions will be beneficial for the
Aboriginals and ensure equal healthcare. They have a higher chance of suffering from various
infections and diseases, and hence a higher effort and funding would be required to
administer fair treatment to them (Humanrights.gov.au., 2020). A study showed that ‘equal
treatment’ was problematic as Aboriginal women tend to have comparatively poor health

3REFLECTIVE WRITING
than non-Indigenous women (Kendall et al., 2020). So an extra effort is required to make sure
they are able to access good quality healthcare.
Conclusion
In conclusion, equality is important, but equity is the way to go in ensuring quality
healthcare for the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. Most of my previous thought
process and opinions were based on my personal feelings, and I thought that they simply did
not access good quality healthcare even though they were offered the same. Now, I know that
there is more to it. I wish I was more aware regarding this issue and understood the need for
equity, especially because in the case of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders.
Action Plan
In terms of the action plan, while I now believe that extra funding and healthcare
promotion programs should be undertaken for the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders, I
also realise that many non-Indigenous Australians share my view of equality and equity. So if
this topic comes up again, I will explain my new point of view and also try to educate my
peers regarding the need for equity rather than equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander healthcare.

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Reference
Brookes.ac.uk. (2020). Reflective writing: About Gibbs reflective cycle - Oxford Brookes
University. Retrieved 8 April 2020, from
https://www.brookes.ac.uk/students/upgrade/study-skills/reflective-writing-gibbs/.
Humanrights.gov.au. (2020). Achieving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equality
within a generation - A human rights based approach | Australian Human Rights
Commission. Retrieved 8 April 2020, from https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-
work/publications/achieving-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-health-equality-
within#a-the.
Humanrights.gov.au. (2020). Close the Gap: Indigenous Health Campaign | Australian
Human Rights Commission. Retrieved 8 April 2020, from
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-
social-justice/projects/close-gap-indigenous-health.
Kendall, S., Lighton, S., Sherwood, J., Baldry, E., & Sullivan, E. A. (2020). Incarcerated
aboriginal women’s experiences of accessing healthcare and the limitations of the
‘equal treatment’principle. International Journal for Equity in Health, 19(1), 1-14.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-020-1155-3