Indigenous Health

This study investigated how the cultural practices of Indigenous Australian ad Torres Strait Islander people impact the perception of their health. The discrepancy between the health status of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people reveals different health needs for each group. The results of this study suggest that increased engagement with cultural practices, including a firm commitment to cultural continuity as well as creating a better future, reduces trauma among Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander people. Thus failure to consider how people relate with their environment, including land, sea and family can create a gap in the delivery of health care.

Key Findings

1 Indigenous Australian people’s perception of healthcare

Such practices include aspects of environmental spirituality, kinship and connection to country (Kingsley et al., 2009). Spirituality is the heart of Indigenous people’s culture as it defines how and why they relate with other elements of the Earth and Universe. The elements of the Earth and Universe include people, plants, animals, landforms, celestial bodies and water bodies among others. Indigenous people also believe that powerful ancestors created the world and laid rules that would ensure the continuity of life. Thus, the concept of environmental spirituality, kinship and connection means that every individual has a responsibility to maintain a healthy relationship with others, the country and the spirits of the ancestors who created the Universe (Kingsley et al., 2009). The analysis of Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander culture led to the conclusion that the quality of their health status is affected when the level of their cultural engagement is compromised. This research paper seeks to investigate how their cultural practices impact on their health

Trauma is associated with historical loss, discrimination, suicide ideation and substance abuse. Indigenous people tend to live better lives when they maintain a high level of engagement with their cultural practices (Grieves, 2009). The culture of Indigenous people provides laws, which guides their behaviours and relationships. Colquhoun and Dockery (2012) maintained that

“Enculturation, it is argued provides resilience by preventing individuals from internalizing stress associated with historical loss and trauma” (p.4)

Pattel (2007) discussed four principles of wellbeing of the Indigenous people, which can be used to understand the relationship between their culture and wellbeing. These principles include wholeness, change and the nature of change and the reality of the physical and the spiritual world. The principle of wholeness portrays the Universe as interconnected. Elements are dependent on each other. Therefore, destroying one element would cause the destruction of the other. The principle of change maintains that the Universe is in continuing change. Human beings are born, they live and die; however, an individual should do everything possible to maintain their lives. Human beings can only fulfill this when they maintain a positive relationship with other elements of the Universe