Statement from the Heart Reflection: Healthcare, Closing the Gap

This essay reflects on the significance of the Statement from the Heart for future medical professionals, specifically in the context of the Closing the Gap initiative within the Australian healthcare system. The student explores the historical context of the Uluru Statement, emphasizing the exclusion...Read More

Running head: STATEMENT FROM THE HEART REFLECTION 1
Statement from the Heart Reflection
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Assignment Word Count: 1376 words

STATEMENT FROM THE HEART REFLECTION 2
Statement From the Heart Reflection
The plight of the Indigenous Australians, referred to as the Aboriginal and Torres
Islander People, is engulfed in an entirely complex scenario. Their rights and recognition within
the political and government systems of Australia have been usurped largely (von Schoenberg,
2018). Statement from the Heart is a critical issue that addresses the exclusion of the Aboriginal
and Torres Islander People from development of key decisions by the Australian government.
The exclusion and discrimination leaves the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People powerless
and lacking any aspect of significant recognition within the mainstay of the Australian
government (Brennan, 2018). The statement is a call for action through constitutional reforms to
deliver substantive changes to the recognition status of the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People
effectively. This essay will reflect on the significance of the Statement from the Heart to
professional practice as well it is relation to Closing the gap as applicable in the Australian
context.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart entails the aspirations, cultural fabric and the
spiritual aspects of a people that have been drowned and ignored over time. The statement is an
indication of the dissatisfaction of the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People by the treatment
they receive from the Australian government. The desire of the Aboriginal and Torres Islander
People to hold onto their culture spiritually to realize justice and self-determination amid the
influences that are gradually disregarding their ways of life and excluding them from the
mainstream of decision making processes in the Australian government. As a future medical
professional, I understand the statement the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People are not
satisfied by most of the government policies including healthcare service policies. Therefore,

STATEMENT FROM THE HEART REFLECTION 3
there would be a need to incorporate person-centered approach while dealing with Aboriginal
and Torres Islander People patients to ensure adequate cultural sensitivity and awareness
(Brennan, 2018). This would require cultural competency to incorporate the ideas and views of
the patients while making medical decisions. I believe this approach would successfully improve
patient outcomes and their quality of life in general. Effective healthcare professional practice
should incorporate the contextual realities in the environment and community like the case of the
Aboriginal and Torres Islander People.
Statement from the Heart is a clear indication that the rights of the Aboriginal and Torres
Islander People are being violated largely. As a health professional, I would act to evaluate
practice and identify the areas of concern in relation to protecting the rights of the Aboriginal and
Torres Islander People (Kelaher et al., 2017). One of the major areas for concern is the aspect of
culture. I would be a major advocator to ensure that the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People
are accorded culturally competent care. All healthcare services should respect and appreciate the
cultural characteristics of Indigenous Australians (Brennan, 2018). I believe, recognition of a
people’s values and rights begins by first appreciating their ways of life. Further, I would
endeavor to collect the views of the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People regarding the care and
treatment they receive from the healthcare channels. The feedback would be significant towards
addressing their needs as well as communicating their health needs and concerns to higher other
authorities for consideration. I would be committed to realizing patient-centered care through
using the views of the health service consumers to advocate for healthcare improvements that
responds to the needs of the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People. This is because, as a
healthcare professional I would be tasked to ensure recognition of the voices of the Indigenous
Australians that have been ignored for long.

STATEMENT FROM THE HEART REFLECTION 4
Consequently, I would seek the help and advice of the Aboriginal and Torres Islander
Peoples leaders and advocates about their healthcare concerns. As a healthcare professional, I
would be concerned with improving the health outcomes of patients and hence their quality of
life. The wellbeing of the patients and their loved ones would be my motivation in healthcare
service delivery (Larkin & Galloway, 2018). Hence, it would be realistic to filter healthcare-
related demands of the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People from their official channels as well
as to conduct research on other emerging issues surrounding evidence-based care required for the
Indigenous Australians. I strongly hold that understanding the demands of the Indigenous
Australians through the Statement from the Heart would enable addressing of their needs from
the point of care. Critical to note is that while undertaking care services, I would incorporate
collaboration, and professional development towards cultural competency to meet the unique
care demands of the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People (Hogarth, 2018).
Closing the Gap is an initiative of the Council of the Australian Governments aimed at
addressing the health issues of the Indigenous Australians. The Aboriginal and Torres Islander
People experience healthcare inequalities in their quest to receive quality healthcare services. As
such, the health impacts due to the inequality lead to poor quality of healthcare services, lack of
adequate accessibility to health services, reduced life expectancy, and the increasing cost of
receiving care for the Indigenous Australians (Taigman et al., 2014). The inequalities amounted
to gross violation of the individual rights of the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People as well as
lack of recognition by the mainstream government structures during critical decision-making
processes. Closing the gap appreciates that the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People have faced
historical injustices and demand equality and justice (Altman, 2018). On the other hand, the
Uluru Statement from the Heart boldly reiterates the demands of the Aboriginal and Torres

STATEMENT FROM THE HEART REFLECTION 5
Islander People to be recognized in a meaningful manner by the Australian government so that
their views and needs as a people can also count in the designing and implementation of the
government policies. Hence, as the government acts to close the gap through the strategy they
should be able to incorporate closely the views of the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People
through their leaders and advocacy groups. The realities manifested in the Uluru Statement from
the Heart and the Closing the Gap strategy impact greatly professional healthcare practice and
require due consideration by all professionals in practice.
Notably, the Statement from the Heart aligns with the Closing the Gap strategy. Both
strategies have an objective to improve the welfare and wellbeing of the Aboriginal and Torres
Islander People. They appreciate the exclusion and inequality that exists within the Australian
government making the Indigenous Australians strangers in their land. As such, the Statement
from the Heart, in collaboration with the Closing the Gap strategy would address the existing
healthcare issues that would greatly shape professional healthcare practice in Australia (Synot,
2019; McKay, 2017). I strongly believe the joint efforts of the two strategies would ensure
increased participation and involvement of the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People in their
care needs and critical decision making regarding care (Altman, 2018). In addition, it would
ensure the development of sustainable community-controlled health care services that are
tailored according to the needs of the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People. Hence, the outcome
would be a comprehensive outlook of a healthcare system that incorporates the cultural values
and respects the rights of the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People adequately (Parter, Wilson
& Hartz, 2019).

STATEMENT FROM THE HEART REFLECTION 6
In summary, Statement from the Heart seeks to address the key concerns of the
Aboriginal and Torres Islander People in relation to decision making and inclusion in the
Australian government. As noted in the paper, as a professional, I would evaluate and identify
the key areas of concern for Indigenous Australians to address in healthcare. Similarly, I would
enact a feedback system where patients and their families leave their opinions about care to
enable identification of areas for improvement. Also, I would be working closely with the
Aboriginal and Torres Islander People leaders and their advocates to understand their healthcare
concerns for incorporation into practice. The closing gap strategy addresses the health
inequalities that form part of the issues addressed by the Statement from the Heart. As such, the
Statement from the Heart aligns well with the Closing gap strategy to improve the welfare and
quality of lives of the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People. As such, I would be adequately
prepared to improve the health and wellbeing of the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People by
implementation of evidence-based practice guidelines.

STATEMENT FROM THE HEART REFLECTION 7
References
Altman, J. (2018). Beyond closing the gap: Valuing diversity in Indigenous Australia. Canberra,
ACT: Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR), The Australian
National University.
Brennan, F. (2018). Moving from Uluru to recognition. Eureka Street, 28(19), 23.
Hogarth, M. (2018). Talkin’bout a revolution: the call for transformation and reform in
Indigenous education. The Australian Educational Researcher, 45(5), 663-674.
Kelaher, M., Parry, A., Day, S., Paradies, Y., Lawlor, J., & Solomon, L. (2017). Improving the
identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in mainstream general
practice.
Larkin, D., & Galloway, K. (2018). Uluru Statement from the Heart: Australian Public Law
Pluralism. Bond Law Review, 30, 335.
McKay, D. (2017). Uluru Statement: a quick guide. Law and Bills Digest Section, Parliament of
Australia: Canberra, Australia.
Parter, C., Wilson, S., & Hartz, D. L. (2019). The Closing the Gap (CTG) Refresh: Should
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture be incorporated in the CTG framework?
How?. Australian and New Zealand journal of public health, 43(1), 5-7.
Synot, E. (2019). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70: Indigenous rights and the
Uluru Statement from the Heart. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 1-6.

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Taigman, Y., Yang, M., Ranzato, M. A., & Wolf, L. (2014). Deepface: Closing the gap to
human-level performance in face verification. In Proceedings of the IEEE conference on
computer vision and pattern recognition (pp. 1701-1708).
von Schoenberg, P. (2018). Listen to the voice of Aboriginal Australia. Education, 99(2), 23-23.