Factors That Impact upon the Sexual and Reproductive Health of Indigenous Australians - Essay Example

Factors that impact upon the sexual and reproductive health of Indigenous Australians Your name Class Name Lecturer’s name Date Assignment Due Duckett (2000) regards sexual and reproductive health as “being physically, mentally, and socially healthy in regard to the reproductive system.” He argues that reproductive health seeks to ensure that individuals have healthy sexual behaviors and that they have the power to decide on their reproduction (Duckett, 2000). According to John & Keleher (2006), sexual and reproductive health services are aimed at ensuring that individuals have access to affordable family planning programs more especially women during their pregnancy and child. Lin & Fawkes (2007) explains the need of including screening and treatment of diseases like cervical cancer, sexually transmitted diseases and sexually transmitted infections in the sexual and reproductive system. Generally, sexual and reproductive health should involve both preventive and treatment measures. The indigenous Australians comprise of the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander people (Willis & Reynods, 2008). Their population comprises of a very small percent when compared to the non-indigenous Australians, and thus they are treated as a minority group (Taylor& Geurin, 2010). Borowski & Ozanne (2007) argue that their culture is one of the factors that distinguish them from the non-indigenous Australians. This study seeks to explore sexual and reproductive health in indigenous Australians and the connection between culture and access to health care services among these individuals with a distinct culture. Various factors that impact upon the sexual and reproductive health of Indigenous Australians as discussed in this study include: poor access to health care, lack of culturally appropriate screening and treatment as well as the traditional gender roles and service delivery. The first factor is poor access to health care (Willis & Reynods, 2008). To start with, Willis & Reynods (2008) explains that health care centres in Australia are situated in areas that are not easily accessible by the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islander people. In other words, the geographical and social isolation of the indigenous Australians make it hard for them to access health care facilities (Willis & Reynods, 2008). Secondly, the provision of community based health facilities in Australia is always limited by the economy of the country (Mooney & Scotton, 1999). Consequently, the services of offered in health care centres are not welcoming to the Indigenous Australians (Grbich, 1996). This can be attributed to the improper training of Australian nurses on cultural safety (Taylor & Guerin, 2010). Willis & Reynods (2008) also note that “lack of good connections between government, specialists and private sectors that deal with health care provision as well as between health service providers and other programs” is a cause for poor access to health care centres. According to Gardner and Barraclough (2002), indigenous Australians fail to go for health care services because the Australian health system is not well structured to cater for those with complicated conditions. Thus, most of The Australian’s indigenous people who suffer from complicated sexual and reproductive health conditions prefer to use traditional medicine. George & Palmer (2000) also note that the existing approaches to advocacy of sexual and reproductive health in Australia fail to meet the needs of the indigenous Australians. Taylor & Guerin (2010) further explain that most of the health care personnel in health centres are non-indigenous and untrained about the culture of the indigenous people. More often, they are not ready to work in the rural areas, thus making the indigenous Australians to lack adequate personnel in their health care centres. Other times, indigenous Australians fail to visit health care centre’s due to beliefs like “people die when they go to hospitals” (Elliot, etal., 2007). The second factor is lack of culturally appropriate screening and treatment (Taylor & Guerin, 2010).Both screening and treatment form a basic component of the sexual reproductive heath (Duckett, 2000). Indigenous Australians hold that their culture is so dear to their hearts that they can sacrifice their health for their culture. Kerridge etal (2005) notes that “they are spiritual people who are strongly connected to the land, families, sea and animals.” Palmer & Short (2000) describes how the indigenous Australians view health “it deals with the body, spirit, family and community.”This leaves a big task for the health personnel in offering a treatment that is culture sensitive (Taylor & Guerin, 2010). Taylor & Guerin (2010) also explains that “culturally safe health care should be employed while offering health services to the indigenous Australians.” As a health practitioner in Australia, it is important to understand the beliefs of the indigenous Australian’s about health. One of their beliefs, according to Kerridge et al (2005), is that the use of traditional medicine is necessary.” This then means that health practitioners in Australia should come up with a way of using both the traditional and modern medicine when treating the indigenous Australians. Other two beliefs about health and medicine, according to Elliot etal (2007) are “that modern medicine can make one to be very sick” and that “when you go to the hospital, you will die.”It is a must for every health practitioner dealing with the indigenous Australians to understand these beliefs so as not to act in a way that is offensive to them (Taylor & Guerin, 2010). Another issue that the indigenous Australian’s hold dearly to their hearts as mentioned earlier on is the issue of family land and community (Elliot et al, 2007). Elliot et al (2007) goes on to explain that the indigenous Australians are so tied to their land that they would rather die in their land where they will be close to their families and community members receiving traditional care than go to hospitals. So as to offer culturally appropriate treatment to the indigenous Australians, the Australian health practitioners should understand the thought system of the indigenous Australians (Taylor& Guerin, 2010). For instance, in case a patient is to be transferred from a local hospital to a major hospital, the health practitioners are supposed to know that this can cause a lot of tension to the patient and the whole community (Taylor& Guerin, 2010).Thus, it would be important to discuss the issue with the family and the community before the transfer can be made (Taylor& Guerin, 2010). The third factor that impact upon sexual and reproductive health of the indigenous Australians is the issue of gender roles “women business and men’s business” (Elliot et al, 2007). According to Elliot et al (2007), there are usually specific people who are usually assigned the role of talking on behalf of others. In a case of a community, an elder is usually appointed and in the case of a family, a brother, a sister, an aunt or an uncle could be appointed as a spokes person (Kerridge et al, 2007).Consequently, Elliot etal (2007) notes that “some communities have roles that dictate that only women talk (women’s business) or only men talk (men’s business).” Unless the health practitioner is fully aware of these norms then, there will be miscommunication. The health practitioners in Australian health centres should be in a position to identify an individual who can explain to them about the client seeking sexual and reproductive health care (Elliot et al, 2007). There are several ideas that Australian hospitals can employ so as to ensure that they offer culturally appropriate treatment and screening to the indigenous Australians with regard to sexual and reproductive health. In addressing the bad beliefs about hospitals, a health practitioner must first converse with the family of the patient so as to assure them that their relative will be safe. Secondly, so as to address the beliefs in use of traditional medicine, health care centres can devise ways in which traditional medicine can be used to complement modern medicine. Thirdly, in cases where a patient has to be transferred to another hospital the patient’s family members need to be notified in good time about the arrangements for relocation so that they make appropriate arrangements for his or her care. The health care centre can also help in arranging how the family members and relatives of the patient can be ferried to the place of relocation. This is in accordance to the Australian indigenous culture which demands that one should stay close to family members and relatives. Fourthly, to address the issue of gender roles, there is need for a health practitioner to identify the person who is expected to speak on behalf of the patient or the person who can look after the patient. The issue of strong ties to the land can be addressed by the health practitioners who are expected to assure the patients that they will be back to their land once they feel well. Lastly, the Australian hospitals should seek to establish good relationships with the indigenous health sector since it will encourage more indigenous Australians to consult the health care centres for health services. The indigenous health sector would aid in creating links between the indigenous people and the Australian health care centre’s. By the Australian health centre’s adopting health services that are culturally acceptable by the indigenous Australians, it would mean that more indigenous Australians would consider accessing the health care centres for sexual and reproductive services (Elliot et al, 2007). Conclusion The culture and practices of indigenous Australian’s influence the access to sexual and reproductive health care services among the people to a large extent. Sexual and reproduction health deals with all matters relating to the reproductive system at all stages of life. It seeks to ensure that every individual has affordable access to family planning methods, maternal care as well as screening and treatment of diseases related to the reproductive health. The major factors that impact upon the sexual and reproductive health of indigenous Australians include: poor access to health care, lack of culturally appropriate culture and screening as well as traditional gender roles. The reasons as to why Australians have poor access to reproductive health care services include: their geographical location, beliefs in traditional medicine, limited economy of the country to provide adequate community health facilities and lack of a well structured health care system to take care of complicated conditions. The lack of culturally appropriate methods for screening and treatment is mainly due to health practitioners who are not trained in cultural safety. Finally, the gender roles impact the sexual and reproductive health of indigenous Australians since they need to have people who can talk about them on their behalves. References Borowski, A. & Ozanne, E. (2007). Longevity and Social Change in Australia. Melboume: USNSW Press. Duckett, S.J. (2000). The Australian Health Care System. London: Oxford University Press. Elliot, D., Aitken, L. & Chaboyer, W. (2007). ACCCN’s Critical Care Nursing. Melboume: Elsevier, Australia. Fleming, M. L. & Parker, E. (2006). 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