The health of the Ageing Indigenous Population
Society today is more consistent in how different individual members are perceived and understood compared to in and before the last century. People have tremendously learned to recognize each other’s uniqueness in terms of gender and sexual orientation, social and economic status, race, ethnicity, and physical ability among others. Such a level of acceptance and acknowledgment among people is described as diversity and the people of Australia have done quite a lot to embrace it. This is a reality that people have learned to live with and it has encompassed a wide range of demographic and social structures. Australia is rich in cultures constituting indigenous people and also immigrants and over time, with growth and development in Australia, these people have continued to get to an age where they require special attention and care. Precisely, the provision of healthcare services among the aging population in the Australian cultural structure has over the recent years enhanced courtesy of a growing wealthy cultural diversity.
Such diversity consists of people hailing from the indigenous population and immigrants. The immigrant population in Australia accounts for one of the world’s largest, with almost a quarter of the total population having been born overseas (Daly et al., 2009, p. 3). Indigenous people in Australia consist of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are commonly referred to as the first people of Australia as they were original occupants even before colonization (AIATSIS, 2018). According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2017), the 2016 Census accounted for 649,200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people which were 18% more than the 2011 Census tally. Also, the Aboriginal and Torres people account for 2.8% of the total population and 90.9% of them are aboriginal, 5.0% were Torres and Islanders, and the rest a combination of both (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2017). The World Health Organization defines an aging population as the decline in fertility rate and an increase in people’s life expectancy (World Health Organization, 2010). Therefore, an aging population classifies as one ranging from individuals above the age of 60. When it comes to Australia’s indigenous people, those above the age of 65 years were 4.8% while for non-indigenous people, it was 16% (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2017). Such a number is very significant especially in a society where cultural diversity is an emphasis especially in receiving equal benefits as their non-indigenous counterparts.
These benefits range from economic, social, and even political. However, this case focuses on the social benefit of health more so among the aging indigenous people of Australia. For many years, these people have been disadvantaged in terms of wealth and access to resources hence results such as lower life expectancy (Durey & Thompson, 2012). Furthermore, these groups of people more often than not face issues of mental health issues especially due to the disparities they face, and sometimes it gets harder for them to access the help they need. According to Durey & Thompson (2012), contemporary health policies and practices tend to be standardized in nature such that they fail to capture those marginalized. However, efforts are being applied to address the effectiveness of models meant to reduce health provision disparities among indigenous people.
Access to Health Services for Ageing Indigenous Population
According to Isaacs et al., (2010), mentally related disorders come second after cardiovascular diseases as a cause of disease burden among Australia’s Indigenous people. Despite this fact, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people still have problems accessing mental health services that are proportional to their needs. Recent Census data shows an increasing population of young indigenous people in Australia which shows beside the current high number of such people in their old age, the future consists of even a higher number. Therefore, it poses an implication for a rise in the demand for a range of health and care services which has already started manifesting among the indigenous aging population (Temple et al., 2020). Appropriate access to mental healthcare has for a long time been a burden among the Indigenous peoples especially those in remote areas of Australia.
The conceptualized steps for seeking mental health help including by first recognizing that there is a problem has a lot of barriers among indigenous people to the effect that the steps are more than four as it is among the general population (Isaacs et al., 2010). Accessibility difficulties also are due to factors such as inadequate transport to healthcare facilities, affordability, acceptability, and availability of practitioners and specialists in the mental healthcare field. Research shows that the benefaction of elements of accessibility to health services varies especially with the geographical location of an older person (Van Gaans & Dent, 2018). Furthermore, the cultural background and multi-morbidity levels of these people are factors that vary how accessible mental healthcare is accessible to them.
Promoting and Supporting Mental Healthcare among Ageing Indigenous Population
The Australian people have made good steps in significantly making lasting inroads in the longstanding issue of inequality in matters of health among indigenous people (Australian Human Rights Report, 2005). This and more have to be extended to the aging population among these cultures, especially by mental health professionals. Such can be accomplished through first and foremost bringing into the fold professionals in my field especially those hailing from Aboriginal people into the leadership is meant to alleviate this problem. I would encourage my colleagues to embrace these positions as being there would play a pivotal role in assisting families and within their culture in which they better understand than anyone else from outside (SA Health, 2020, p. 26). I would also work closely with community leaders in understanding the perception of these people regarding bringing mental health care support into their community. I would seek to understand their feelings, help them assimilate into these services in a culturally inclusive and respectful manner. This way the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and more so the older generation would feel part of a positive mental health journey because of an engaging experience (SA Health, 2020, p. 27).
As a mental health professional working among indigenous people, and in any case, I am not well familiarized with these people, I will need to adopt a way to better relate with them to offer effective services. I should realize that many of these elderly people requiring my help still have a notion of a stranger coming to offer “help” but in the end not offer help indeed. I will, therefore, move in with strategies such as working with colleagues from those communities. Also, work with other members of the community closely as they will usefully facilitate communication; provide invaluable insight in community beliefs, dynamics, and residential locations among others (Harris et al., 2019, p. 330). Also, I would make a list of the local places that people gather and going ahead to familiarize themselves with those places and also attending social gatherings there.
Another tool would be to identify the characteristics of the aging population among the indigenous people regarding their various aspects of life to help narrow down to their current mental health status (Harris et al., 2019, p. 334). There are numerous methods to assimilate me into these communities in a gradual but time-sensitive manner with the sole aspect of helping them access this valuable service. It is paramount that as mental health professionals, we observe the sensitivity of the issue of diversity especially when such a problem is mental health under which these communities have strong cultural beliefs counts. Becoming aware of your environment and the significant aspects of your practice are among the first steps into identifying with people from various diversities. A mental health professional plays a role also played by a medical doctor such that they follow a code of conduct that does not have the luxury of discriminating against people based on their cultural background. Studies show that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s mental health and well-being are understood as multifaceted and strongly linked to their identity (Hinton et al., 2015). At the same time, it also provides for good support for example of a mental health professional, a clear pathway to intervene in time before it is too late. Being well equipped and prepared to embrace the diversity that comes with them will give a mental health professional a pathway for leading them to a health center and advising in community-based services (Hinton et al., 2015). Also one would get an opportunity to relate with the elders who in this case are affected while incorporating into their cultural activities and families.
Challenges this topic has on me as a future Mental Health Professional
Mental health problems account for one of the most dangerous factors affecting individuals in the world. Furthermore, looking closely into Australia, it is a nation consisting of one of the most diverse societies in the world. However, mental health problems have in the recent past taken a huge toll on victims especially among the aging population of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. There has been a growing population of young indigenous people but there still is a formidable number of aging people among the indigenous people. For many years, they have been disadvantaged compared to the general population hence left out of benefits emanating from economic, social, and political policies. Such disadvantages and lack of awareness and access to important social benefits such as health have put them in a dangerous situation. As a future mental health professional yearning to offer my services to indigenous people, I recognize the mental health problem among the elderly due to such disadvantages. I recognize that to offer such services, I need to work on familiarizing myself with the diversity of the indigenous people and more so ones I will be working with. Another challenge will be convincing them that they need my assistance and convincing them to accept it without conflicting with their cultural, spiritual, and social beliefs.
References
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