Reflective Essay on First People Health and Practice in Australia

This reflective essay examines the healthcare experiences of Australia's First Peoples, focusing on the influence of the author's cultural background (Sri Lankan) and professional practice on their understanding of the issues. The essay analyzes the worldviews and assumptions affecting First Peoples, exploring the underlying causes and impacts of discrimination, including its effects on health, education, and social well-being. The author discusses their learning from a workshop, emphasizing the importance of cultural safety, respectful communication, and understanding psychosocial factors in healthcare settings. The essay provides tangible examples of how these learnings can transform healthcare practices, such as decision-making, respecting cultural beliefs, and implementing supportive policies. The conclusion underscores the need for healthcare practitioners to provide equitable care, fostering a better environment for Australia's First Peoples and promoting lifelong learning within the discipline.

First People Health and Practice
In Australia

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Task..................................................................................................................................................1
1. Reflect on how your own culture and your professional culture, influences your
understanding of the content for each day. Further reflect on how this influences your
perceptions of and interactions with Australia’s First Peoples in health care. ...........................1
2 Analyse others world views and/or assumptions and consider some of the underlying
causes, effects and impacts of this on Australia’s First People. .................................................2
3. Discuss what you have learnt and how this might contribute to your lifelong learning within
your discipline.............................................................................................................................2
4. Reflect on what you have learnt and provide tangible examples( Providing health services
in Hospitals in different context) of how this could transform your practice in the healthcare
setting..........................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................4
References........................................................................................................................................5

Introduction
The first people in Australia are Aboriginal people and Torres strait Islanders who are
living in all areas of Australia. These people are facing many problem and faces discriminate due
to the poverty, faces racism, lack of education and employment. This causes the bad effect on
their health as they receive less or no quality of care. In context of these people, this assignment
will focuses on the influence and promoting the healthcare which are providing to these people
by a healthcare practitioner.
Task
1. Reflect on how your own culture and your professional culture, influences your understanding
of the content for each day. Further reflect on how this influences your perceptions of and
interactions with Australia’s First Peoples in health care.
My culture is belong from Buddhism of Sri- Lanka. This culture in the society is widely
diffused according to the class and caste. In the country and from being a Sri Lankan, the class is
determined by the concept of education and wealth and in class is determined by the birth of an
individual in a determined status. As being a Sri Lankan citizen, my experience is that in Sri
Lanka the care practitioners are providing a well developed infrastructures and supplies. They
also include Ayurvedic mode to heal people from physically as well as emotionally.
The doctors and health care workers are trained in allopathic medicine. The culture of my
country with the health practitioners also used some other healing rituals and other caste based
professionals. My culture helps many healthcare practitioners in their personal and professional
life. It helps the healthcare practitioners and as well as me by giving more guidelines and ethics
to the physicians. The Buddhism culture helps me the working ethics such as kindness,
autonomy, compassion and equality to treat people.
When interaction with Australia's first people, the culture helps me to interact with the
them more kindness and generosity. The culture also taught me to work in proper ethics and
rules in medical care so that they can treat from their stress (Ashfield and et. al., 2017). When the
interacting with these people I found that they were discriminate from the society including from
doctors so my culture and professional culture influences me to build the morale of these people
and treat them with holistic. My culture influences me to interact the all people in equality so that
they can share the social problem.
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2 Analyse others world views and/or assumptions and consider some of the underlying causes,
effects and impacts of this on Australia’s First People.
The first people of Australia faces many racism due to their beliefs from world wide. This
influences on the people's life by affecting them physically which includes emotionally, socially.
The cause of discriminate from the society to Australia's first people is occur due to their culture
(Barton and et. al., 2015). The culture of these people is different from other people of Australia
residents. So, they show racism towards these people which leads the discrimination from the
society. Due to their strong beliefs in their culture, they seem to be different from other citizens
of Australia. So, this cause the adverse effect on their life which includes physically, socially and
mentally.
The effect of discrimination on these first people of Australia is occur by increasing the
challenges and problems in their daily life requirements. They suffer lots of problem in gaining
the education and this cause the result is unemployment. These people suffer lots of lack of
healthcare services as the doctors entreat them. The effect on these people life is occur most in
the education sector. They facing the big problem from this sector as they are discriminate from
the society (Staff and et. al., 2017). The effect also occur from the environment as they are
mistreated by doctors and this will impacting on their social life. This effects on their mental
state and disease.
The impact of this on first people occur on their physically, socially and emotionally state. They
suffer from lots of unemployment and noneducational. Due to the lack of building relationships
with people they face lots of discrimination with in the society and they start suffer from stress
which is most common symptoms in between these people.
3. Discuss what you have learnt and how this might contribute to your lifelong learning within
your discipline.
From throughout this workshop, I have learnt some of the efficient qualities of health
professional which helps in my professional to treat people in a better way. The qualities
includes to provide safe cultural health services to the Australia's first people.
The main concern for a health professional is to analyse the situation and the impact of their
culture on their own. I have learnt so much about the managing of culture with respect so that no
one can harm from my words. The communication should be safe and be in equality so that all
individual of first people of Australia's don't feels any type of inequality from my side.
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First, I have to analyse the impact of historical events and health care services on the
people and this develops the trust and respect towards me so that the deliver of health practices
can become easier. Then my procedures includes to listen, watch and observing them carefully
so that it is easier to me to understand their problem. It also includes the responsibility of health
professional is to aware people of society about the condition of first people and encourage them
to help these people (Walters and et. al., 2017). I have learnt that as health professional, need to
analyse the risk factor for these people and provide the health services including social
determinants of health.
This learning things can help me in lifelong health care practitioners. As I learnt how to
treat and communicate of different kinds of culture people. This also influences in experience the
people on day to day basics. It is required to plan and deliver the services in a cultural respectful
manner.
4. Reflect on what you have learnt and provide tangible examples( Providing health services in
Hospitals in different context) of how this could transform your practice in the healthcare
setting.
The learning from my experience with Australia's first people can also help in developing
strategies in health care settings. It also helps me to transform the healthcare settings as a better
service provider. There are some examples which can be used and transform in healthcare
systems.
 Decision making:- The decision making qualities can influence the healthcare settings.
The health professionals need to be very efficient in the clinical field so that they can
take decisions regarding the services (Weise, and et. al., 2017). It incudes which type of
services are to be provided to an individual on which time.
 Respecting cultural:- Many of the people in community are strong cultural beliefs. So,
the responsibility of a health professional is to respect their beliefs and cultural.
 Communication:- The healthcare professional should communicate with patients in a
respectful manner. They should listen them properly so that the trust relationship can
built between them and the service users can share their problems properly.
 Analyse psychosocial factors:- The professional must need to understand the
psychosocial factors of people. It includes hostility, stress, self-esteem by which the
individual can face many problems in their life.
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 Maintain the policies:- The some policies are invent to support people in healthcare
services. The implement of this policies should considered by health professional such as
maintaining the privacy about their health conditions. The maintaining of records
confidentially also includes in the policies.
These examples can transform the practices in healthcare settings by providing the care
services according to the circumstance of people. This build trust and confidence to the people
and influences them to take part in system to decrease their healthcare problems.
Conclusion
From the above assignment it is concluded that, the effect of discrimination on Australia's
first people is affecting them in their physically socially and emotionally environment. So, in
order to help these people from their state, the care practitioners must provide them all the
sources. All professionals can learn from their culture & surroundings and can bring change for a
better environment.
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References
Books and journals
Ashfield, J. & et. al., (2017). A ‘situational approach’to mental health literacy in Australia.
malesuicidepreventionaustralia. com. au/resources/resource, 1-30.
Barton, H. & et. al., (2015). The Routledge handbook of planning for health and well-being:
Shaping a sustainable and healthy future. Routledge.
Staff, M. & et. al., (2017). Using aggregated general practice data to evaluate primary care
interventions. The Medical journal of Australia. 206(6). 242-243.
Walters, L. K. & et. al., (2017). Where to next for rural general practice policy and research in
Australia?. The Medical Journal of Australia. 207(2). 56-58.
Weise, J. & et. al., (2017). Primary health care for people with an intellectual disability: an
exploration of consultations, problems identified, and their management in Australia.
Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. 61(5). 399-410.
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