A Letter Of Health Disparities Of The Aboriginal Community

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5250 Vestry St.
Halifax, NS
B3K2N9

April 7, 2014
Virginia Morgan
Health Management Nurse
16 Dentith Road
Spryfield Shopping Centre

Dear Ms. Morgan,

My name is Jennifer Young, I am a registered nurse with the Spryfield Community Health Center for 3 years. I’m writing you to address the growing concern of health disparities of the Aboriginal population I have witnessed in my practice. Specifically, the Aboriginal community’s disproportionately high levels of type II diabetes, suicide, and alcohol abuse have been of great concern to fellow nurses and I. I have found that many factors relate to these disparities and have taken the time to address them with you, including some suggestions for decreasing the gap between Aboriginal health, both mentally and physically.

Education about health is important for the Aboriginal community. Specifically, Health literacy is essential for accessing health care and maintaining health and wellness. The Aboriginal culture views health in a holistic way, pertaining to mind, body and spirit, and including a close relationship with the natural environment. This is very different from our Western biomedicine, which focuses on disease and nurse-patient interactions instead of the community as a whole. Research suggests that clients are more willing to learn about their health when the information provided is relevant to their own personal backgrounds. Because of this, I suggest our clinic approaches teaching Aboriginal clients about health in the same way these clients approach health beliefs; a holistic view that includes the environment and spiritual world. When teaching clients about illnesses and health, our nurses should be aware of the Medicine Wheel, which is an Aboriginal concept of well-...

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...th Aboriginal communities, health professionals and the government to discuss Aboriginal Health Nursing issues and practice.

We need to recognize the limitations of our clinic in addressing the health needs of Aboriginal people and our clinic must advocate for a system that recognizes the root causes of mental health problems in Aboriginals, which stem from residential schooling, colonization, and assimilation practices of the Canadian government. Westernized practices still being used by our clinic need to be addressed and our nurses need to engage in new learning opportunities with people from other cultural backgrounds with the goal of creating an environment that promotes culturally competent nursing by heightening our awareness and understanding of relationships with clients from cultural backgrounds that are different from our own.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Young

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