Health Issues of the Noongar Community in Australia - Case Study Example

The Noongar Community in Australia Name Institution Instructor Course Date The Noongar Community in Australia Introduction Health issues or problems are rampant in the present society. There are so many health problems present in societies. They include HIV/AIDS, heart diseases, diabetes and other diseases. In this study, health issues in the Noongar community in Australia are discussed. the national health priorities for the community are also analyzed. The most prevalent problem is studied and a project formulated to curb the problem. Assessment and evaluation of the health improvement program are done to determine the viability of the program. The Noongar Community The Noongar community is part of the larger aboriginal community found in Australia. The community occupies the southwest corner region of Western Australia. Originally, the Noongar community occupied the Jurien Bay region in Western Australia. Traditionally, the Noongar people spoke the Noongar language (Van Den Berg 2002, p.56). However, today the Noongar people speak the aboriginal English language which is an intermediary between the local Noongar dialect and English. Before the European invasion in the aboriginal region, the Noongar community was estimated to be between 6000 and tens of thousands. However, the British colonization reduced the population of the community tremendously. Today, the community is estimated to be about 28000 people in population (Taylor 2004, p.184). Today, most Noongar people occupy the Perth metropolitan region. Characteristics of the Noongar Community The Noongar people value family life. They place an emphasis on having close connection with other people. This makes them concentrated in one place. The Noongar people are also vey traditional people, placing greater on their cultural heritage and traditions. Traditionally, the Noongar people depended on fishing, hunting and gathering for their livelihood (Bodley 2011, p.98) however, due to westernization, most of them have entered formal employment. The Noongar, like the rest of the aboriginal people, have strong connection to their land and culture. They greatly value land. The Noonger community has a higher proportion of children from age zero to 14 years. The youth follow the children in dominance. Generally, the young generation dominates the Noongar community. On the other hand, there are a low proportion of older people in the community. This can be attributed to the high mortality rate among the old people. There is also a small gender disparity between the two genders with both of them having almost the same proportion. The Noongar community belongs to the aboriginal ethnic group. They are part of the larger aboriginal community found in Australia. Like the rest of the aboriginals, the Noongar people believe in many gods who are represented by some physical form. The religious beliefs of the community are based on totemism where the people believe that there is a spiritual connection between all things and the land. Like the rest of the aboriginal people, the Noongar people believe in the supremacy and sacred nature of land (.Host & Owens, 2009, p.108) The Noongar mostly provide the unskilled labor force to the labor market in Australia. However, with increased education, the trends are changing and there is an increased rate of employment in formal sectors from the community. People aged between 15 and 24 years from the community are increasingly entering the formal employment sector. However, the rate of employment is still lower compared to non-indigenous communities. It is estimated that about 64 percent of the indigenous communities are now in formal employment. Another factor to note is that though there is increased employment among the community, the pay rate for indigenous people is significantly lower than that of the on-indigenous people (Altman & Nieuwenhuysen 2006, p.31). In addition most of the indigenous people are holding unstable jobs that do not offer any job security. Generally, there is a wide gap between the employment rates between the non-indigenous and indigenous people. The level of income in the Noongar community is also generally low. This can be attributed to the high level of unemployment as well as the low paying jobs held by most people from the community. There is also high level of poverty in the community compared to other non-indigenous communities in Australia. This can be attributed to the high unemployment rates and the low income levels in the community. Impact of the Environment on the Community There are various ways in which the physical environment has impacted the life of the Noongar community. Like the rest of the aboriginal communities, the Noongar community depends entirely on the environment for the provision of their needs. The land occupied by the Noongar community is mainly arid and semi arid. This has impacted on the population of the community in the sense that the community is not densely populated. The people of the community are also scattered in the region, with small groups of the community living around water places. This also impacted on the lifestyle of the community. The community is largely nomadic. The region occupied by the Noongar community is also characterized by a poor transport system. This has negatively impacted on the community in the sense that the poor transport system has derailed easy access to medical services and facilities by the community. The community is isolated from the mainstream communities. The inadequate access to medical services has increased the mortality rates in the community. This has in turn considerably reduced the population of the community. The community has been experiencing considerable amount of safety. This can be attributed to the community cohesion and closeness. The community members always value other people. The physical isolation of the region occupied by the community is also a source of safety in the community because it makes the community not to be influenced by the criminal activities taking place in the mainstream society. Education has also impacted on the Noongar because it has led to a considerable number of the people in the community migrating to towns to seek jobs. This has reduced the population of the community, especially the young people. Health Status of the Noongar Community The health status of the Noongar community is very poor. This has led to high mortality rate in the community, especially among the older people. The prevalent diseases in the community which are responsible for the high mortality rate are diabetes and heart diseases. Breastfeeding rates in the community are high. Studies have found that Noongar mothers take a long time to breastfeed their babies. This accounts for the relatively low infant mortality rate in the community. There is a high immunization rate in the community with the rate of immunization rate almost equaling that of non-indigenous communities in Australia. One of the health behaviors prevalent in the community is smoking. Smoking is common among people from the age of 15 years. It is also common in both genders with women also smoking. This is the main reason for underweight births as pregnant mothers also smoke (. Boyce, Roche & Davies 2009, p.167). There is also underutilization of healthcare services among the Noongar people. This can be attributed to a number of factors which include lack of knowledge about different kinds of diseases and the medical services available, racism where the Noongar are normally discriminated by the mainstream communities, and language barriers which hinder proper provision of healthcare services to the Noongar people. Some of the risk factors responsible for ill health in the Noongar include poor nutrition, lack of physical exercise or activity, risk lifestyles like smoking and alcohol consumption, body overweight, inadequate immunization and lack of exclusive breastfeeding .( Chang, Daly & Elliott 2006, p.45). Though the Noongar community is generally poor health wise, there are a number of factors in the community that impact positively on the health of the people. They include increased health awareness through education, improved diet and increased economic empowerment of the community. There is a number of health services currently provided to the Noongar community. They include illness prevention, health lifestyle advice, health checks, health screening tests, chronic disease management, health care plans, counseling and referrals (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2011). The most disadvantaged people in the community are people with disabilities. This is they face many barriers in trying to have a meaningful as well as being discriminated. For the Noongar people, their priority in fostering good health and wellbeing is their relationship to land. They believe that their physical health and wellbeing is associated with their relationship to the land. To the Noongar people, health and wellbeing does not only imply the physical health and wellbeing of an individual but also the social, cultural and emotional wellbeing of the whole community. As mentioned earlier, the health status of the Noongar community and the aboriginal people in general is poor. This compelled the Australian government to come up with health priorities for community to bridge the gap between the mainstream health status and the status of the aboriginal people. The current priorities include strengthening comprehensive primary health care, addressing the risk factors for chronic diseases which include physical activity, nutrition, child and mental health, and addressing the social and emotional wellbeing (Palmer & Short 2000. P.232). The main health issues identified in the community are the heart diseases and diabetes. These are mainly caused by the poor nutrition and lack of proper medical services. The main health issues in order of importance experienced by the community are diabetes, heart diseases, mental problems, cancer and injury. Data from research shows that diabetes is the main health problem in the community (Moses 2008, p.45). With almost the same prevalence in the community are the heart diseases. These are mainly caused by poor nutrition and smoking. Health Promotion Strategy The main health priority that should be addressed in the health promotion strategy to be developed is the issue of diabetes. This is because diabetes is the main killer in the Noongar community. The health promotion plan to be employed in this case is carrying out of civic education to impart knowledge about diabetes, the risk factors, prevention measures, and how to control the disease. The use of civic education through direct contact with the community is the most suitable approach because most of the Noongar people have no access to electronics like television sets and radios. This makes promotion through the media a challenge. In addition, the lack of education among many of the Noongar people makes promotion of heath awareness through the print media also a challenge. This therefore leaves the civic education as the best option (Jupp 2001, p.231). The outcomes expected from this approach is increased awareness about diabetes among the Noongar people, how to control it and how to avoid the risk factors associated with the disease. It is expected that this approach will help the community members come with strategies and plans that will help combat the disease. The lifestyle of the community members is also expected to change in order to avoid the risk factors associated with unhealthy lifestyles (Eckermann 2010, p.111). This approach is the most effective method of promoting health in the community because it will allow for the employment of the local people who can be used to pass the message to other members of the community. This will ensure that the message intended is relayed in the most convenient way. This method will also provide instant feedback and this will be used to gauge the impact of the message and if whether the message has been understood. For the health promotion program to take place, it requires proper management and the people to drive it. The program could be managed by health workers and the elite in the society. This includes the leaders and the educated people in the society. The whole community should be involved in this initiative because it is meant to assist the whole community (Phillips 2003, p.123). The involvement of the whole community can be achieved through creation of awareness in the community on the importance of the initiative and why should people support. The resources required for this initiative include time for carrying out the education, the venues for convening meetings, and personnel to organize for the events. There are of collaborative partners required for the success of this initiative. They include the government to provide financial support for the initiative, the local leaders to allow for the meetings and campaigns to be carried out in the region and the administration of learning institutions to allow use of their facilities in case the meetings are convened in the schools. Taking into the small number of the people in the region, the expected timeframe for the completion of the exercise is three weeks. Evaluation of the Outcome If the exercise is a success, there are a number of things that are expected to happen in the community. One of the things expected is the change in the lifestyles of the local people. The people are expected to lead a healthy life after learning about how diabetes is related to certain risky lifestyles. Another thing expected from the initiative is a decrease in the mortality rates experienced in the community due to diabetes related complications. This will imply that the education program was successful in the creation of awareness in the community. Another health indicator that will show the positive effect of the program is reduction of diabetes health cases in the community (Murray, Zentner & Yakimo 2009, p.78). Reduction of diabetes in the community will imply that the community members are now aware of the risk factors associated with the condition and required precautions needed to avoid the incident. Possible Challenges The possible challenges that are expected to be encountered while undertaking the health care initiative include lack of funds to fully and comprehensively implement the initiative, poor infrastructure and language problems. The problem of funds can result from an uncooperative government where the government might be reluctant to provide financial support for the program. Insufficient might reduce the effectiveness of the program as it may lead to some areas not being reached due to the high cost of accessing them (Palmer & Short 2000, p.67). The region occupied by the Noongar community has a poor transport network. This might hamper quick movement in the region. Some regions might prove totally inaccessible and this implies that the effectiveness of the program will be compromised. Majority of the Noongar people are illiterate. They do not know the English language. However, there are a number of solutions that can be adopted to remedy the situation. One of the solutions is to involve the local people in the campaign. This can be done through educating the educated young people in the community who in turn can be used to impart the information to the other community members (Murray, Zentner & Yakimo 2009, 91). Since the people in the community are used to their environment, the transport problem can be solved by recruiting the local people to be used as emissaries. This will ensure that the message the inaccessible places. Another alternative is to have focal points where the people meet for the education. This will partly solve the problem of other members of the community not getting the information. In this research, the most rewarding thing has been to understand and appreciate the indigenous people of Australia and their beautiful culture. I have realized that, contrary to common believe that the Noongar people are barbaric and have no social cohesion, the Noongar have a very good social cohesion and brotherhood among them. Their respect for each other and nature has been the source of the peaceful existence in the community. However, the most challenging thing has been getting reliable information on the community. There is little that has been written about the community. This provided a challenge as it forced me to get the information firsthand. This presented another challenge because of the language barrier that exists between the mainstream and the indigenous people. This compelled me to look for interpreters. This also proved to a challenge because of the distortion of the meaning during translation. There are a number of challenges that are likely to be encountered in putting this initiative in practice. One of the challenges could be the unwillingness of the people to turn up for the meetings. This can be fuelled by the strained relationship that exists between the mainstream communities and the indigenous people. Another challenge is the unwillingness of the local leaders and the administrators of institutions in the region to allow for the carrying out of the campaign and the utilization of the local facilities. The completion of the task has enhanced my understanding of the nursing practice in the number of ways. One of the ways is that it has made me understand that there is need to incorporate the culture of people in the nursing profession in order to provide adequate and satisfying health care to the people. For instance, I realized that the Noongar people shunned away from seeking medical services because some practices went against their culture. The research also helped understand the relationship between people’s lifestyles and health issues. Conclusion The Noongar people are culturally rich people. They value everything in existence and nature. They have a strong connection to their land. There are various health issues in the community. They include diabetes, heart diseases, mental problems, kidney diseases, respiratory diseases and injury. The risk factors prevalent in the community include smoking and unhealthy eating. The main health problem experienced in the community is diabetes (Bodley 2011, p.181). Diabetes accounts for the highest number of deaths in the community. Generally, the health status of the community is poor. This prompted the Australian government to formulate national priorities for the health of the community. The best way to educate the community is through carrying out educational campaigns in the community about health issues. Bibliography . Boyce, W. F., Roche, J., & Davies, D. (2009). Adolescent health policy, science, and human rights. Montreal [Que.], Published for the Social Program Evaluation Group, Queen's University by McGill-Queen's University Press. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10424290. . Chang, E. M. L., Daly, J., & Elliott, D. (2006). Pathophysiology applied to nursing practice. Marrickville, N.S.W., Elsevier Australia. Altman, J. C., & Nieuwenhuysen, J. P. (2006). The economic status of Australian aborigines. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2011). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2010 report Western Australia. 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