HSC 203 Assignment: Indigenous Health Perspectives

Task

A critical analysis examines an article or other work to determine how effective the piece makes an argument or point. These reviews are usually applied to articles or books, but you can also analyse films, paintings, and in this case – media items. Your focus for a critical analysis should be on the overall ability and effectiveness of the article..

Prepare by reading all material thoroughly. Understanding what you have to analyse is crucial. As you read, make notes of the following: Identify the author’s argument. What are they arguing for/against? Identify the context of the argument. Why are they arguing this? Do they offer a solution to the problem(s) they raise? Does it seem plausible? Note any supporting evidence and all of the main ideas. How does the author support their argument? What kind of appeals does the author make in order to persuade the reader? Note your responses. HSC 203 Assignment: Indigenous Health Perspectives

How to:

1.Identify the author’s thesis. Determine what the author is arguing for or against.

2.Note all main ideas. Identify the main ideas of the work in order to analyse its structure

3.Research unfamiliar material.

4.Describe the work in your own words One option is to make an outline of the work, while the second is the write a brief summary. An especially thorough reading of the work will include both.

5.If writing a summary of the work, it only needs to be one or two paragraphs. Try to phrase the summary in your own words as much as possible.

6.Identify any approaches used

7.Evaluate how well the author conveyed meaning

Introduction:

Low Birth Weight is a situation in which babies are born weighing less than 2500 grams. Babies with low birth weight looks smaller than babies of normal birth weight, and  have higher risks of long term health conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiac problems, pulmonary complications and renal diseases. Higher risks of various types of infections such as chickenpox, toxoplasmosis and rubella is associated with low birth weight (Ghahfarokhi et al., 2018). Additionally, low birth weight can also cause developmental disorders among the children and fetal growth restrictions due to which the infants are not able to gain weight normally and they grow up to be underweight children and adolescents. Studies show that the low birth rates can increase the risks of long term developmental outcomes and neurodevelopment problems (such as Autism and ADHD) which can reduce their overall health and wellbeing (Dudova et al., 2014; Franz et al., 2018).

In Australia, significant number of children born in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities with a low birth weight, compared to non indigenous Australians. According to statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 11.2% of live born singleton babies born in the Indigenous Australian Communities were of low birth weight (as of 2011) which was 2.5 times higher compared to child births from Non indigenous communities (4.6%) (aihw.gov.au, 2014; Martinson & Reichman, 2016).  Additionally, according to Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2017 Report, the rates for low birth weights among Indigenous Mothers were at the top of the list in the most remote areas (12.1%) and remote areas (11.7%) and the mean birth weights of babies (3217 grams) born to Indigenous mothers were found to be lesser than babies born to non indigenous mothers (3356 grams) (pmc.gov.au, 2017; Sayers et al., 2017). This information clearly shows that the problem of low birth weight among Indigenous Children is significantly higher compared to Non Indigenous children, making them more prone to health conditions in later life (Kildea et al., 2017; Dossetor et al., 2017).

The aim of this study is to analyze four media articles which discusses the problem of low birth weight among indigenous Australians and how the articles relate to the modules and topics taught during the learning sessions. HSC 203 Assignment: Indigenous Health Perspectives

Discussion:

Media Item 1:

Maguire, G., & Robson, B. (2016). Aboriginal – M?ori: how Indigenous health suffers on both sides of the ditch. The Conversation [Parkville]. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/aboriginal-maori-how-indigenous-health-suffers-on-both-sides-of-the-ditch-48238

Summary To Key Issues:In this article written by Maguire and Robson (2016), titled “Aboriginal – Maori: how Indigenous health suffers on both sides of the ditch”, published on The Conversation on April 21, 2016, the authors points out that the health gap between the Indigenous and Non Indigenous people in Australia and New Zealand still keeps on expanding and the Indigenous people are seen to suffer more compared to Non indigenous people. The authors have studied the life expectancies, infant mortality rates, birth weight, maternal mortality rates, nutritional status and educational status of both Indigenous and Non Indigenous people, comparing the statistics in both Australia and New Zealand to understand the drawback related to health between the  Non Indigenous and Indigenous communities in there two countries. From the studies the authors concluded that across all the measures (mentioned above) the Indigenous people fared less than the Non Indigenous people thereby showing a significant health disparity between these people.

One of the biggest disparity have been found to be in the birth weight, with more Indigenous babies being born under the weight of 2500 grams, making them underweight and increasing their risks to different health conditions compared to non indigenous children. Moreover, the health discrepancies are further increased due to lesser accessibility to proper education, and have higher risks of the babies born with low birth weight towards mental health issues and exposure of high levels of alcohol consumption and different communicable and chronic diseases (Saigal et al., 2016). According to their studies, the life expectancies of Indigenous children (69.1 years for males and 73.7 years for females) were significantly less compared to non indigenous children (79.7 years for males and 83.1 for females). Similarly, risks of diabetes and suicide rates were also higher among the indigenous people. According to Maguire and Robson, these higher risks of mortality and health risks were significantly contributed by the low birth weight among the Indigenous babies (Martinson & Reichman, 2016). HSC 203 Assignment: Indigenous Health Perspectives

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Links to Models, Approaches & Current Debates:

A complex interplay of various determinants of health can be related to the health discrepancies between  Non Indigenous and Indigenous people (Corpeleijn et al., 2016). This complex interaction of different determinants creates a challenge to address the health discrepancies, which have been discussed through the learning outcomes covered in the first topic of Module 1. In the topic various factors or social determinants of health such as access to proper education, poverty and unemployment were discussed and how its interplay can affect the health and wellbeing of the Indigenous people. Through the studies were able to learn how these factors can lead to Indigenous people living in below standard housing, lave limited access to proper nutrition and healthcare and also reduce accessibility to proper education among the youth, increase risks of addiction related problems, which moreover can reduce employability rates and thus their socioeconomic standards (Kader & Perera, 2014; Rahman et al., 2015; Demelash et al., 2015). The lack of access to healthcare also reduces effective prenatal and antenatal care for the indigenous mothers, thereby increasing the risks of low birth weight for their children.

These studies support debates which argue that the lack of prenatal and antenatal care among the indigenous mothers would result in the continuance of the physical health discrepancies between the non Indigenous and Indigenous children, and would result in the prevalence of high mortality rates, lower life expectancies and higher risks of infections and chronic health conditions, increasing the health related drawback between the Non Indigenous and  Indigenous Australians (Xaverius et al., 2016; Martinson & Reichman, 2016).

Personal Reflection:Reflecting upon the above findings and opinions of the authors, it can be stated that in order to reduce the health discrepancies between indigenous and non indigenous Australians, it is vital to improve their accessibility to healthcare, especially towards prenatal and antenatal care and steps must be taken to reduce the incidence or prevalence of indigenous mothers giving birth to children with low birth weight. I believe that by improving access to prenatal and antenatal care, the vicious cycle of low birth weight, poor health outcomes and socioeconomic conditions can be broken and the wellbeing of the indigenous people improved. HSC 203 Assignment: Indigenous Health Perspectives

Media Item 2:

Aubusson, K. (2018). Aboriginal children healthier than ever but generations behind peers. Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/aboriginal-children-healthier-than-ever-but-generations-behind-peers-20180621-p4zmxm.html

Summary To Key Issues:

In this news article titled “Aboriginal children healthier than ever but generations behind peers” by Kate Aubusson in the newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald on June 21^st, 2018, the author points out towards an improvement in the health of the Indigenous children from the Aboriginal Australian communities over the last few decades. The author however shows concern that the health of the Indigenous children still lags behind their Non Indigenous peers, and thus there still exists a health discrepancy between the Indigenous and Non Indigenous populations (Delany et al., 2018). According to the authors, even though the rates of teenage pregnancies and rates of smoking among pregnant Indigenous women have reduced over the years, these rates are still more than six times higher compared to Non Indigenous people, showing that the improvement in the health and wellbeing of the Indigenous people are not at par with the improvements seen among the non indigenous population, and thus the health gap is not being overcome. The report also shows that the disadvantage faced by the indigenous pregnant women were more than the non indigenous pregnant women, due to which the rates of low birth weights for Indigenous children have not reduced since 2012 and one in every three indigenous children have developmental vulnerabilities (Ghahfarokhi et al., 2018; Mitrou et al., 2014).

Links to Models, Approaches & Current Debates:

During the topic one of module 3, it was discussed how the poorer health outcomes for Indigenous neonates are caused due to several risk factors and social determinants of health which compromises the cultural, social as well as emotional wellbeing of the indigenous people, and low birth weight is one of these determinant which impacts the overall health and wellbeing of these people (Lee et al., 2018). Due to this, it is vital that an immediate intervention be implemented to address these social determinants and strategies to address the problem of low birth weight among Indigenous neonates be identified as soon as possible to prevent further widening of the health gap and health discrepancies between the Indigenous and Non-Indigenous people (Mitrou et al., 2014). Discussion about the Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision report, it was clearly understood that necessary precautions were not being implemented and proactive measures were not taken to address the existing disparities in health between the Indigenous and Non Indigenous people, especially in the context of higher rates of low birth weights among indigenous neonates compared to non indigenous neonates, due to which the health discrepancies still exist (directory.gov.au, 2017). This have also been supported by studies that show that a lack in maternal and childcare programs for Aboriginal and Torrest Strait Islanders is one of the biggest contributors in the incidence of premature births and babies born with low birth weights (Delany et al., 2018; Grant & Greenop, 2018).

The article clearly supports the discussions made during the different modules on how the social determinants of health such as access to healthcare as well as teenage pregnancies and incidence of smoking among pregnant women can increase the risks of adverse health effects for the children (Blakely et al., 2015). Additionally, although the report supported the view that the wellbeing of the Indigenous people have improved over the last few decades, the rate of improvement have not been at par with that of the non indigenous people, as a result of which the health related drawback between the non- indigenous and indigenous people still exist in Australia (Greenwood et al., 2015). HSC 203 Assignment: Indigenous Health Perspectives

Personal Reflection:

I believe that no excuse can exist for the maintenance of such health gaps and health discrepancies between the people living in the same country. This health discrepancy still shows that the Indigenous people are still not over the historic inequalities faced by them through the history of Australia.

Media Item 3:

Wahlquist, C., & Davidson, H. (2017). Drop in birth weights and school attendance could be linked to NT welfare restrictions. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/dec/08/drop-in-birth-weights-and-school-attendance-could-be-linked-to-nt-welfare-restrictions

Summary To Key Issues:

The article titled “Drop in birth weights and school attendance could be linked to NT welfare restrictions” by Wahlquist and Davidson, posted on The Guardian on December 8^th, 2017, discusses about how the Northern Territory welfare restrictions have resulted in a drop in the birth weights as well as attendance is schools. The authors pointed out that between September 2007 to October 2008, attendance in schools from approximately 73 Indigenous communities in Australia have dropped by almost 4% along with a proportional increase in the incidence of birth of children with low birth weights from these communities. The authors have argued that these were interring related outcomes, since the low birth weight increases the risks of health problems among the children, due to which their attendance in schools gets lowered. It has also been pointed out that inappropriate welfare strategies is one of the most significant causes of financial stress among the indigenous people living on state support (Kallankari et al., 2015).

The inadequate welfare, which only covers their ‘basic’ expenses which are disbursed fortnightly have led to an increase in conflicts in households, while poor implementation and income management strategies have effectively rendered the welfare support systems ineffective to address the health discrepancies. According to the authors, these financial stresses among the indigenous people have increased the incidence of smoking and alcoholism especially among the Indigenous mothers, which also a significant risk factor for the low birth weight (Serido et al., 2014). The financial problems and incidence of domestic stressors have also resulted in the reduction in school attendance among the indigenous children, which additionally affects their educational levels and also employability rates, thereby causing the maintenance of the financial stressors. The authors pointed out that the strategies to restrict the welfare of the people by allocating them fortnightly instead of a large sum at one time can prevent the incidence of smoking in the communities (Zhao et al., 2015).

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