Health Complications Among Indigenous People: Nursing Considerations

This report provides a detailed analysis of the health complications, specifically eye and ear related issues, faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It highlights the prevalence of vision loss, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and otitis media within these communities, along with associated risk factors such as age, sun exposure, high blood pressure, malnutrition, and diabetes. The report discusses the impact of these health issues on education, employment, and overall quality of life. It then explores government initiatives, including health programs, vaccination drives, and screening tests, aimed at addressing these disparities. Furthermore, the report outlines nursing considerations, emphasizing the importance of holistic assessment, ethical practice, patient education, and therapeutic relationships in providing effective care. The conclusion underscores the ongoing need to address health disparities and improve the well-being of Indigenous communities, even though several programs have been implemented to reduce the rate of blindness, cataracts, and Otitis Media. The report also references relevant literature and statistics to support its findings.

Running head: HEALTH COMPLICATIONS AMONG THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
Health Complications Among the Indigenous People
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

HEALTH COMPLICATION AMONG THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE 2
Aboriginal means the original inhabitants of the mainland Australia, while the Torres
Strait Islanders refers to the indigeneous inhabitants of the wide stretch of islands which are
located to the northe of Australia, called the Torres Strait. These indigenous peoples are
found to suffer from poor health condition which affects the proper functioning of both eyes
and ears, restricting them from getting proper education, employment and other social
opportunities. These peoples are more prone to injury, often spend their lives being
dependent on others, has low life expectancy, and have no ability to move or work, thus
leading to an overall decline in the quality of life(Shmerling et al, 2019).
According to the reports of the National Eye Health Survey in 2016, about 12% of the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders had been found to suffer from vision loss or blindness.
In 2013, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Inslander Health Survey reported that vision
problem is the most prevalent health condition among these people. Uncorrected vision loss
has been the most common cause of eye problem among the indigenous people accounting
for almost 56-60% of the total vision loss issues. According to the statistics, the number of
people suffering from uncorrected vision problem increased from 5.4% in 2008 to 6.8% in
2016. The second most likely vision problem is the formation of cataracts in the eyes,
accounting for almost 20-25 % of vision loss among the indigenous people. The third type of
vision problem which was common among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders is
Diabetic retinopathy.
The risk factors which may lead to such poor eye condition of those people are: age
(older people had greater risk of eye problem than younger people), prolonged exposure to
the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun, high blood pressure, malnutrition and diabetes
(Temple & Russell, 2018). Also it was found that women were more likely to have vision
problem than men. Other crucial factors which are responsible for such an increased
prevalence of eye problem among these people are: inability to access proper eye care service

HEALTH COMPLICATION AMONG THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE 2
in the remote areas, being unable to afford the treatment cost, living a sub standard quality of
life, lack of proper education on satination and hyegine.
Apart from eye problems, the other major health issue for the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islanders are ear infection resulting in hearing loss. The children and the adolescent
group of people were more likely to suffer from ear infection. The most common ear disease
among those people are Otitis Media, which causes inflammation in the middle ear owing to
infection caused by bacteria or viral pathogens(Newell et al, 2019). Studies show that the
indigenous people are more prone to ear infection than the non-indigenous people. Likewise,
the rate of burden of otitis media was found to be around 9 times high among the indigenous
people than the non-indigenous people. Hearing loss leads to loss in cognitive functioning
and interferes with auditory processing skills. It was suggested that the children who were not
breastfed properly or suffered from malnutrition, had an increased risk of otitis
media(Mealings et al, 2020).
However, in recent times, the vision gap among these people has been reduced to a
great extent. The State, Federal and Territorial government have implemented various health
programs to address the issue of vision loss among those people, such as eye care programs,
provision of primary health care service along with fundings for ophthalmology. The
Government also implemented policies for providing effective treatment to those indigenous
people at low and affordable cost(Arthur, 2018). In 2013, the World Health Assembly
launched a program called “Universal Eye Health” with an intention to reduce the prevalence
of vision problem among the Aboriginal ans Torres Strait Islander people. The Primary
Health Care Activity is an integral constituent of the Indigenous Australia’s Health
Programme (IAHP) and is responsible for ensuring that these indigenous people have equal
access to affordable and culturally safe healthcare services(Burnett et al, 2016). The
Aborigical Community Controlled Health Service provides those people with effective,

HEALTH COMPLICATION AMONG THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE 2
improved, high quality healthcare across Australia. The Australian Government also
introduced vaccination programs for those indigenous people with the help of the “National
Immunisation Program”, where it was found that Haemophilus influenza type B vaccination
has been responsible for lowering the risk of ear infection(Yashadhana et al, 2020). In 2009,
the Council of Australian Government (COAG) initiated screening test of the newborns or
babies for the detection of any congenital hearing issues among them. Another screening
program called the “NSW Otitis Media Screening Program” was implemented by the
government in 2008, for conducting population based screening test of the 0-6 years old
indigeneous children having Otitis Media or hearing problems. Apart from screening test, the
government also initiated surveillience program which helped in monitoring and reporting of
Otitis Media and hearing loss among such people.
The nurses should follow the “Registered nurse scope of practice” proposed by
NMBA while treating those indigenous people. They should access, critically analyse their
condition using best available evidence based practice, They should give respect to the people
belonging to diffent cultural background such as the Aboriginnal an Torres Strait Islanders,
abide by the ethical principles while making clinical decisions, build a strong therapeutic
relationship with the patients, and create a safe and secure environment for ensuring their
well being, conduct assessment in a holistic approach utilizing the resources available and
evaluate the best outcomes for their health.
For the diagnosis of cataract, the nurse needs to assess, the ability of the patient to see
and perform activities, they should monitor the progressive loss of vision of the patient and
encourage them to seek the help of an ophthalmologist(Taylor & Anjou, 2020). The role of
nurses in treating diabetic retinopathy in patients is by educating them about the disease,
briefing them about the risk factors and health complication along with sharing the treatment
procedures(McKenna et al, 2018). They should also encourage the patients to keep their

HEALTH COMPLICATION AMONG THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE 2
blood glucose level in control and go for regular eye examination. For diagnosing, Otitis
media, the nurse needs to assess the patient for hearing loss or alternation in speech delivery.
They should position the patient in the way that promotes comfort, prescribe analgesic for
managing pain, they can also give antibiotics for treating bacterial infection, lastly they
should educate the patients about the complications of ear infection and suggest preventive
measures to avaoid the same(Tolchard & Stuhlmiller, 2018).
In conclusion, it can be said that, that there is an urgent need to address the gap in the
eye and ear health among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Though some
preventive measures have been taken by the government against this issue, which has greatly
reduced the rate of blindness, cataracts or Otitis Media, however, still some gaps are
remaining when compared the same with the non-indigeneous peopes. There are many
organizations who has implemented certain healthcare programs to address this issue,
provided the indigenous people with care and support, however still there are lots of things
that needs to be done for completely abolishing such health disparities among the Indigenous
people and allowing them to live a happy and healthy life.

HEALTH COMPLICATION AMONG THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE 2
REFERENCES
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Strait Islanders. Canberra, ACT: Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research
(CAEPR), The Australian National University.
Burnett, A. M., Morse, A., Naduvilath, T., Boudville, A., Taylor, H. R., & Bailie, R. (2016).
Delivery of eye and vision services in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary
healthcare centers. Frontiers in public health, 4, 276.
McKenna, M., Chen, T., McAneney, H., Membrillo, M. A. V., Jin, L., Xiao, W., ... &
Congdon, N. (2018). Accuracy of trained rural ophthalmologists versus non-medical
image graders in the diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy in rural China. British Journal
of Ophthalmology, 102(11), 1471-1476.
Mealings, K., Harkus, S., Flesher, B., Meyer, A., Chung, K., & Dillon, H. (2020). Detection
of hearing problems in Aboriginal and Torres strait islander children: a comparison
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Newell, C., Wyly, D., Stewart, T., Burns, A. N., Lee, B. R., & El Feghaly, R. (2019). Making
the Management of Acute Otitis Media a SNAP.
Shmerling, E., Creati, M., Belfrage, M., & Hedges, S. (2019). The health needs of Aboriginal
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Taylor, H. R., & Anjou, M. D. (2020). Cataract surgery and Indigenous eye care: A
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Temple, J. B., & Russell, J. (2018). Food insecurity among older Aboriginal and Torres Strait
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