Health Care Gaps of Australia

For my case study project I am looking at the huge life expectancy gap and health care gap of Aboriginals in Australia. All my blogs and research have been building up to this project, and this will be my last and final blog. Enjoy my findings!!

            All around the world there are very distinct and unique cultures, but what happens when a very unique culture is in the midst of mainstream Australia? In the case of health care it means that they needs of Aboriginals in Australia are grossly under met. According to the 2010-2016 Aboriginal Health Care Plan, life expectancy of Aboriginals today is around 60 years old, that’s twenty years younger than the average Australian of European dissent, but why?

            The Health Care plan goes on to talk about how about 70 percent of early deaths are caused by preventable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease, drugs, STD’s, poor diets, and cancer. So what is stopping proper health care from being attained? The biggest issues are cultural differences between Aboriginals and European Australians, preventative education, and cost. Currently one of the top reasons that Aboriginal peoples do not go for regular preventative checkups are language and cultural barriers. Like any culture there are unique customs, beliefs, and languages, and in many hospitals and doctors’ offices there are very few health care providers who speak the language or understand the culture. The language barrier itself is enough to stop many people from going to the doctor because they can’t verbalize their illness or understand the instructions or diagnosis from the doctor. There is also a very predominate role of the family when it comes to healthcare. Often time’s aboriginal families prefer to go doctors’ offices together and provide support, a practice that many hospitals oppose. There is also very little tolerance for the integration of natural healing practices that are very important and common in Aboriginal families. There is also the problem of remoteness with many Aboriginal families.

Throughout the years Aboriginals have been pushed from the coast into harsh desert climates, often time’s miles from the nearest towns. This makes creating preventable programs and education difficult to provide. Because the life expectancy for Aboriginals is commonly in the 60’s, the majority of the population is very young from their 20’s to 30’s. Because of the age of the majority of the population it is vital that health education is given so that the population can understand how diets, unprotected sex, and health checkups can increase and improve their lives. Their remoteness also makes it difficult for many Aboriginals to get rides to hospitals or receive emergency medical attention. Transportation can be very expensive in both circumstances. According to the 2010-2016 Aboriginal Health Care plan about 26 percent of deaths are accidental deaths where an individual’s is hurt and is unable to receive medical in time. To attempt to fix this the Australian government has sent up a helicopter program to get emergency health care to isolated areas. But the costs of these helicopters are far out of the budget of many Australian citizens. So far the Australian government has attempted to build more hospitals and health facilities to increase availability. They have also put in money to attempt to bring the cost down for many families. But there is more than just the facilities and cost that is keeping Aboriginals from getting proper health care. For many the biggest problems are the cultural and educational barriers. But Australia is not the only country who has many issues when it comes to the declining health care of their indigenous people. American too has many large health care gaps when it comes to their Native American population.