WHY ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDERS PEOPLE ARE VULNERABLE TO CHRONIC ILLNESS?

We all know that the Australian popularity comprises only a tiny proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) population. This is mainly because ATSI people are more prone to chronic illnesses as compared to non-indigenous population.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders also have a lower life expectancy rate and a higher rate of morbidity. This blog would talk about the reasons why this happens and also throw some light on the various aspects associated with the health of the ATSI community.

Chronic diseases are mostly responsible for causing potentially avoidable deaths. These diseases can only be avoided with effective care and timely treatment and include screening, preventing diseases, initiatives by healthcare institutions, access to primary hospital care and more. This has been a substantial and continuing problem for Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia. Though these diseases occur at a young age, these have an ever-lasting impact for a lifetime.

High Prevalence Of Chronic Illness Among Indigenous

There exists a substantial gap in the life expectancy of the Aboriginal population as compared to the rest of the Australian population. As per the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), it is 12 years for males and 10 years for females.

As per our nursing assignment writers, the most impactful factor which contributes to this gap among adults is chronic illness.

Below is an infographic which clearly displays facts about the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander community in Australia.

Now, let us look at the reasons that foster chronic illnesses among the ATSI community:

• Ischaemic heart diseases

Ischaemic heart diseases contribute about 22% in the gap of mortality rates between the indigenous population and others. Obesity is the major cause of heart diseases, which is prevalent in the majority of ATSI people.

• Diabetes mellitus

Diabetes has always been one of the major contributors to chronic illness in Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. This contributes about 12% towards increasing the gap between the mortality rates.

• Liver Diseases

Substance use disorder has always been a potential trigger for mental illness in indigenous people. In this situation, this community gets addicted to alcohol and drugs which are harmful to their livers. This results in fostering the diseases regarding liver in them. The diseases that fall under this category contribute about 11% to the gap between ATSI and other people.

• Various other types of heart diseases

There are numerous other types of heart diseases such as heart failure and cardiomyopathy that have influenced the chronic illness in Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders community. About 6% of people in this community suffer from these diseases.

• Chronic lower respiratory diseases

  Cerebrovascular diseases

Cerebrovascular diseases pose a lot of threat to this community and about 5% of the people in the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islander community suffer from these disorders. In addition to these, our nursing assignment writers have also noticed several other contributors like cancer in different organs to be one of the major factors for this.

Current Health Conditions of the ATSI Community

Now that we know the major factors that foster chronic illness in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, it is time for us to talk about the current trends in the health conditions of the indigenous people in Australia.

1. There is a large gap between the health conditions of ATSI and the rest of the population in Australia. For instance, there exists an approximate difference of 17 years in the life expectancy between them. Talking about the death rates, the death rates of the ATSI population is much more as compared to the rest of the population.
2. The indigenous community is denied equality in healthcare facilities. This is why the ATSI community is at a greater risk of environmental health risk factors.
3. As per our nursing assignment helpexperts, there has been a little progress towards fulfilling this gap over the past decade.
4. The main reason why Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders are experiencing inequality is because of systematic discrimination.