Volume 187 - Issue 4
Indigenous health: reaching beyond rhetoric
Author: Charles Guest
Med J Aust 2007; 187 (4): 247. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb01215.x
Published online: 20 August 2007
Published online: 20 August 2007
Social determinants of Indigenous health
Bronwyn Carson, Terry Dunbar, Richard D Chenhall, Ross Bailie, editors. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2007 (xxviii + 306 pp). ISBN 978 1 74175 1420
Forty years have passed since the 1967 referendum on whether Aborigines should be counted in the census. This anniversary led, yet again, to demands for greater effort and tangible improvement in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. Then, suddenly, a report on the neglect of children in the Northern Territory provoked action by the federal government. Whether this will help is hard to predict, but the matter certainly has national attention. Right now, at least, some politicians have joined the new President of the Australian Medical Association in making Indigenous health priority number one.
Is a text on the social determinants of Indigenous health relevant to this election-year drama? The book is based on a series of courses funded by the Public Health Education and Research Program (an initiative of the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing). It provides introductory material that belongs to the cultural curriculum of modern Australia in general, and medical education specifically.
The authors first explain social models of health and epidemiology, and then move on to topics of more or less immediate importance to health status, including racism, poverty, education, employment, welfare, housing, and human rights. These issues were never more relevant than now.
A second question applies more to the average reader of the Journal, concerned with the provision of medical care. What does this book add to the coverage of Indigenous health topics needed by clinicians? These readers will probably turn to the last chapter, on interventions and sustainable programs. Three examples cover “healthy lifestyle”, with a focus on diet, exercise, and smoking cessation; injury prevention and safety promotion; and the measurement of the impact of alcohol and drug treatment programs. The key elements identified are not surprising, including governance, accountability, and appropriate staffing. Any clinician can get involved by contributing to the provision of health services. These examples show that it is possible to reach beyond the current rhetoric of disgrace.
Decolonising Indigenous Health Research Requires Redefining Sex, Sexuality and Gender
Shakara Liddelow-Hunt, James H. L. Hill, Kate Daglas, Kaiwarr Clancy, Madi Day, Alistair Ott
Beyond Structural Neglect: Using Evidence to Strengthen Primary Health Care Systems, Policies and Programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Men
Kootsy Canuto, Celina Gaweda, James Smith, Karla J. Canuto
Costs of Delivering the Hep B PAST Model of Care in Remote Australia: A Retrospective Pre–Post Study
Hoa Nguyen, Anh Le Tuan Nguyen, Paula Binks, Melita McKinnon, Emily Vintour-Cesar, Karen Wills, Nicola Stephens, Benjamin Cowie, Joshua S. Davis, Yuejen Zhao, Peter Nihill, Julie A. Campbell, Andrew J. Palmer, Jane Davies, Barbara de Graaff
Epidemiology and Quality of Care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Treated by Emergency Medical Services for Stroke in Victoria, Australia: Retrospective Analysis of Linked Data
Candice Menezes, Ziad Nehme, Luke J. Burchill, Tegwyn McManamny, Angela Dos Santos, Michelle Crilly, Luke P. Dawson, Benjamin Clissold, David Anderson, Emily Nehme
Hepatitis C Among First Nations Australians: A Rethink Is Required to Meet the 2030 Elimination Target
James Ward, Emily Pegler, Kellie Stacy, Stephen Harfield
Sovereignty and Survival: Understanding Lung Cancer Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in Australia, a Case–Control Study
Alice R. T. Bergin, Luc te Marvelde, Roger L. Milne, Benjamin J. Solomon, Kris Ivanova, Peter Savas, Stephen J. Luen, Jay Hamann, Andrea Casey, Nicole Watt, Sue M. Evans, Gail Garvey, Sherene Loi