Nursing Essay Health and Welfare of Australia

Question: Describe about the Nursing Essay for Health and Welfare of Australia. Answer: Introduction: The first inhabitants of the country of Australia are the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander people. They are two cultural and original people of the country. The Federal government of Australia has identified the Aboriginals as the people who are the descendants of Aboriginals or are identified as Aboriginals or are accepted by the community as aboriginals. The Torres Strait Islanders are the people who came from the strait of Torres which is geographically located in the middle of Cape York tip and Papua New Guinea. Both of the tribes have their own cultural diversity. These people are referred to as indigenous people. The people from the rest of the world have entered into Australia and started to settle down there and these indigenous people became endangered. These people need the support from the government for their livelihood and health issues. These people have to struggle a lot for their existence (Humanrights, 2016). The essay is all about these two diverse groups in Australia and the discussion is related to the current and the historical events and the ways through which they have impacted on the known factors of risk in each of the cultural groups. The essay also discusses the health care policies and provisions of service that have motivated health outcomes for each indigenous group (Humanrights, 2008). In this essay, another group of people is being discusses that is the Chinese Australian community of people. They are the Chinese immigrants those immigrated into Australia many years ago and are considered as the biggest Chinese colony in Oceania. They are now the citizens of Australia but their ancestry and origin is China(Racism No Way, 2012). Discussion: Current and historical events and how they have impacted on known risk factors in each cultural group: The native people need the support and assistance of the governing bodies. It is seen that when the people from different corners of the world have settled down in Australia the native people had to struggle for their livelihood and existence. The origin of the Aboriginals is not known with certainty. Some of the studies have said that they were the nomads of Africa and Siberia. Thousands of years ago these people had entered into Australia and became the fist inhabitants of Australia. Some of the researches have claimed that the Aboriginal culture is almost 400000 years old (Korff J. , 2016 ). There has been a history talking about the Aboriginals being slaved. The workers of this clan were treated even badly than the animals. They were given huge loads of work but paid even less than 3% of the wage of the white skinned workers. They were exploited by the white skinned people and colour and racial discriminations were highly prominent. The Queensland Trust used to pay for their well beings but that had never reached the hands of the workers and their families. In the year 1949 the government had announced that these workers would be given 66% of the wages of the white skinned workers but there were many evidences which showed that only 31% was given in real. They were not given proper food and health care. They were even traded as commodities. They were brutally treated and they were not independent (Korff, 2016). The people of Torres Strait Islands are the native people of Australia. The Islanders have been living in the islands from thousands of years and there are almost 100 islands where these people live. There is no such evidence reflecting brutal and pathetic history like that of the Aboriginals. But they were also not allowed to live as the non-indigenous people and to lead a privileged life. They were not privileged in the educational grounds. They had a tough lifestyle and they had to struggle for their livelihood. They are believed to be Melanesian people. They are quite different from the Aboriginals. They were also given the lower standard of living. They were economically backward. There was high rate of discrimination of income and health care. They did not have money for their personal care. But things have changed as time passed in. In the present scenario of Australia there are still these people. They are associated with the present of the country. There had been many changes in the culture of these people. In the recent time these people get the privilege of the normal lifestyle and they are also given proper health support. They are given the opportunities to go to the schools and take education. The slavery is absolutely abolished and they are counted among the privileged with equal rights in every sector (Keenan, 2012). Both the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders are now treated in equitable platform with the other non-indigenous people. They are given equal health support and educational backgrounds and they are also treated with the other people of the country. There have been many of the employment programs specially designed for these indigenous people. These provisions help them with the needful financial support so that they could lead a respectful and normal lifestyle. But many of recent studie s have claimed that these people are still economically retarded people in the society of Australia. They are more used to with the health care provisions provided to them with the state and national government. The differences in the income levels of these people have made them to restrict to the public health care institutions. In the 19th century, the Chinese Australians were mainly employed as the labour force in the country and they were being racially and culturally discriminated. They also faced the language barriers and the other citizens of the country did not mix very well with them. But, from that time till today this Chinese Australian community has proved their worth by becoming one of the most highly educated and established communities in Australia today. The history of this community dates back to the 19th and the early 20th centuries. During those times, China was facing several issues like famines, civil unrest, military defeats and even foreign occupations. This led to insecurity and feeling of unsafeness in the people of the country and therefore many of them started to leave their homeland and migrated into countries like the US and Australia in hope of a better future and living(Racism No Way, 2012). The history dates back to 1803 when the first Chinese born settler named Ahuto who was a carpenter. When the gold mines were discovered in Australia, then the volume of the Chinese e migration increased. In the year 1856, around 12,396 Chinese immigrants entered into Australia and formed their colonies. The majority of such people were employed as labourers by the native Australians. The immigration also brought several risk factors like the racism and oppressions on these Chinese immigrants manifold. They were even used as slaves by many and not considered to be a part of the country. They were initially treated like outcastes. They also brought with them certain diseases indigenous to China that was also a cause of concern for the native people of Australia and a major factor of distancing themselves from these Chinese Australians. How health care policies and service provision have influenced health outcomes for each cultural group: The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderpeople were having various kinds of health issues which were bothering them since their origin. Since the aboriginal or the indigenous people of Australia were not having the exposure to the modern amenities and facilities of healthcare as they were very old tribes of the country and they were also being considered to be alienated from the civilized people of the society, they were not receiving the proper healthcare services and as a result of this many of the diseases were spreading like epidemic among them. Few of these diseases are the gum diseases, chronic cardiovascular diseases and terminal diseases like cancer. The aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderpeople are the oldest and actual native people of the Australian continent. They are on the continent since generations and in the early days when the continent was found. Later on immigrants from different parts of the world began to migrate into Australia and they became the citizens of the country(Abs, 2011). The indigenous people were feeding on the raw meat of the various wild and domestic animals many years ago when they were the only major race in the country. Therefore they started to develop the gum diseases due to the lack of proper hygiene. The raw meat and flesh used to be deposited at the base of their teeth and gums and remained stuck there as there was no proper brushing like we have today. These raw flesh and meat used to decompose and cause bacteria and virus infestation. These were causing health hazards for them. The gums were bleeding and sometimes the gum diseases became so severe that it resulted in the decomposition of the major part of the gums which even caused the death of many of the tribesmen. The other diseases which were prevalent among them were the cardiovascular, coronary diseases, cataracts, renal failures, cot deaths, hypertensions and some forms of cancer like the lung and intestinal cancer. There were many cases of disabilities and mental health issues al so. All these diseases were very serious at that time because there was no modern facility of healthcare system during that time as a result of which many of the Aboriginal and the Torres Island People began to die(Abs, 2013). As the days passed by and the threshold of the modern era began to creep in, these tribesmen began to get more of exposure into the civilized world as more and more people began to migrate into the continent from different parts of the world. They began to develop the civilization in the modern ways and the aboriginal people were slowly getting in contact with them although they were treated like the outcastes by the people of the modern society. They were not even thought to be human beings by many of the people of the modern society. This often resulted into conflicts between the two. Gradually, the government of Australia understood the importance of these indigenous tribes and realized that they were the true inhabitants of the continent of Australia and therefore, the government should deal with them in a fair and humane manner such that these people also receive the modern facilities and amenities and try to become much civilized(Healthinfonet, 2015). The phases for the development of these people and providing them with the modern access to healthcare began in the 2000 and since 2008 these two tribes have access to the various types of the medical and hospital services whenever it was required. The data collected in 2010, showed that the 62% households of these tribes have access to the Aboriginal healthcare services, 74% of these tribes can have access to the hospitals in the urban areas whereas 63% of these tribes in the remote areas can have access to this healthcare services. The 82% of these tribes in the urban areas can have access to the healthcare clinics and 69% from the remote areas. It is also known that around 84% of these tribes now can have access to the modern pharmacies and chemists and for the remote areas this figure stands at 50%(Aihw, 2011). Therefore, it can be said that the modern people belonging to these tribes have very good access to the healthcare infrastructure and all kinds of amenities and facilities and they are also being treated well by the modern civilized people of the country. It was also observed that just over 1/4th of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoplethose were of the age of 15 years or above were having problems in getting some of these healthcare services in the form of very long queuing times and medical expenses. These problems were mainly observed at the doctors, hospitals and the dentists where 10%, 7% and 20% of the adults, respectively were facing these problems. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peopleof the modern Australian society are having access to the child care services also along with the other community facility and services. Besides exposure to the modern healthcare facilities, they were also being made available to the following services: emergency services which are available to the almost 80% of the households, the facilities of police stations those are available to the 83% of their tribal population, school bus services which are available to 83% of households in the urban areas and 61% of the households in the remote areas. It was also observed that around 14% of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents of children ranging from newborns to 12 years were in need of better formal child care. In the remote areas the facilities of child care are still limited due to which the formal care of the children was not sufficiently resorted by the parents. Around 40% of the children in the urban areas needed more formal care of parents and around 31% of the children in the remote areas were not able to undertake formal child care properly due to the high costs of such care(Healthinfonet, 2013). In the 19th century and the early 20th century when the Chinese immigrants were rushing into Australia in hope of better living and security, they were not very well treated by the native people of the country and other ethnical groups of the country. They were not duly provided the various facilities of the community like social security, healthcare services, etc. There was extreme racism. These Chinese people were prone to various kinds of health hazards like cancer, cardiovascular diseases, ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease. The major types of cancers that this community of people suffered from were stomach, liver, intestinal, rectum and lung cancers. The Chinese Australians had a belief that they would be examined mainly by practitioners of their own ancestry that is Chinese. This is also one of the reasons why they refused to avail the healthcare services provided by the native Australians. However, in the modern era there have been certain policies for the Chinese Australians from the government. However, it can be said that there is evidence that the use of the public health services and hospitals are low in case of Chinese Australians. This is owing to the mentality of these people who tend to trust the Chinese practitioners only. The major barriers those were identified by researches conducted on the Chinese Australians are lack of proper interpreter services, very low use of the cancer preventive services like the Pap smear and screening of the breasts. Other barriers include the lack of awareness about the ethnic health workers and their existence. However, there has been improvement of these barriers since the 1990s and the government has designed several strategies to ensure that these people are treated as good as the normal residents of the country and the barriers such as problems in accessing services of mental health, communication problems, very low litera cy of mental health, discrimination, issues about confidentiality and stigma are eradicated(Queensland Health Multicultural Services, 2011). Conclusion: To conclude this essay it can be said that the Aboriginal and the Torres Island People are the indigenous and the fast inhabitants of the island continent of Australia. They are the main strongholds of the country which was later on populated by the various immigrants coming from different parts of the world. Therefore, it is the basic duty and responsibility of the government of the country to take care of the needs and wellbeing of the original inhabitants of the country. They were since long underprivileged and were not exposed to the modern amenities and facilities those the civilized society of the country was blessed with. They had their own socio-cultural-politico-economical issues which were not given due importance until this millennium. The essay also reflected the history, background and health related services those are offered to the Chinese Australian people and the major risk factors those are associated with them. The government of Australia has undertaken many projects and campaigns since the advent of the new millennium to provide much advanced healthcare and other community facilities to these two of the most ancient tribes of Australia. Today, it can be said that these tribes are getting the proper exposure to every amenity and facility of the society like any other people and this has reduced the cases of health issues which are now much controlled owing to the availability of medical services to these tribal groups. They are now sharing the same amenities, facilities, infrastructural and technological prowess along with the common citizens of the country although there are opportunities for further development and improvement in these services. Nevertheless, the government of the country needs to be credited for assuming a responsible approach to ensure that these two groups of the oldest inhabitants and residents of the country are not wiped out from the land and they can be considered as equally important human assets with the civilized society of Australia. References: Abs. (2011). 4704.0 - The Health and Welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Oct 2010. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from abs.gov.au: https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/lookup/4704.0Chapter930Oct+2010 Abs. (2013). 4727.0.55.001 - Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: First Results, Australia, 2012-13. 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Retrieved from humanrights: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/close-gap-indigenous-health-equality-summit-statement-intent Humanrights. (2016). Questions and Answers about Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from humanrights: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/questions-and-answers-about-aboriginal-torres-strait-islander-peoples#q1 Keenan, S. (2012, january 26). Aboriginal Australians are part of the country's present not just its past. Retrieved from theguardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jan/26/aboriginal-australians-australia-day Korff. (2016, june 24). Was there ever Aboriginal slavery in Australia? Retrieved from creativespirits: https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/australia-has-a-history-of-aboriginal-slavery Korff, J. (2016 , october 9). How old is Aboriginal culture? Retrieved from creativespirits: https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/how-old-is-aboriginal-culture Queensland Health Multicultural Services. (2011). Chinese Australians . Retrieved from health.qld.gov.au: https://www.health.qld.gov.au/multicultural/health_workers/Chinese2011.pdf Racism No Way. (2012). Australian Communities: Chinese Australians. Retrieved from racismnoway: https://www.racismnoway.com.au/teaching-resources/factsheets/74.html