Historical factors and SDoH

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Recommended: Why Indigenous people in Australia are still disadvantaged with regard to health/ community services

The social disadvantage and poor health of Indigenous Australians is well documented. The barriers to the well-being of Indigenous Australians have deep-seated associations to historical factors and social disadvantage. Health is a reflection of the socio-economic conditions of an individual and their community known as the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) (Marmot, 2010, p. 3). The SDoH are acknowledged as perpetuating social disadvantage and are directly linked to the health inequalities experienced by Indigenous Australians (Baum, Bentley & Anderson, 2004, p.23; Reilly et al., 2011). The invasion by the British in 1788 marked the beginnings of more than 200 years of Indigenous Australian's struggles with a history of oppression, trauma, brutality, dispossession, displacement, marginalisation poverty and poor health. Colonisation and colonialism was detrimental to traditional ways of Indigenous Australian populations with differing world views to those of the Europeans (Broome, 2002, pp. 30-35; MacRae et al., 2013). This paper identifies Indigenous Australian's perspectives on health and explores the continuing impact on health as a result of historical factors, past policies and practices. It will show the implications of the SDoH in relation to the health inequalities experienced by today's Indigenous Australians as a reflection of the past.
The many diverse nations within the Indigenous Australian population have a holistic view of health. This is understood as an interconnection of an individual within the social, emotional and physical well-being of community with a strong spiritual component (Broome, 2002, p.15; Hampton & Toombs, 2013b, pp. 75). "Spirituality connects past, present and future". It is the bonds to 'land ...

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...ehaviours of violence, alcohol and substance abuse (Osborne, Baum, Brown, 2013, p. 23).
The social and health disadvantages of Indigenous Australians is well documented (Marmott, 2005, p.1099; Mathews, 1998). The historical experiences of Aboriginal peoples has been of loss of control and human rights. Dispossession and dislocation has resulted in poverty, loss of identity, culture and spiritual connection, impacting generations of Indigenous Australian's health (Hampton & Toombs, 2013b, p. 79). The combination of SDoH and historical factors has led to poor lifestyle choices and anti-social behaviours with an end result of increased disease such as diabetes and renal disease among contemporary Indigenous Australians (Calma, 2007, Mathews, 1998). ‘Everyone agrees that there is one critical social determinant of health, the effect of colonization’ (CSDH, 2007, p.30)

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