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Introduction

Over the years, there are different definitions of health which have evolved from society-changing conditions, technological advancements and the changes in stages of diseases (Green, 2017). The redefinitions of health are mostly based on previous definitions. The definitions of health range from the empirical, philosophical, technological, psychological, cultural, and even the social, national policies (Green, 2017). The World Health Organization [WHO] (2017), defined health as ‘a state of complete mental, social, and physical well-being which is not merely the absence of infirmity or diseases’ since 1948. In the same way, indigenous communities understand health as having ‘harmony amongst individuals, the universe, and communities’ (WHO, 2007). In all parts of the world, health includes both the traditional healing systems and western biomedical care. Australian Government (2013) and The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation [NACCHO] (2016) noted that the Aboriginal health is the cultural, social, and emotional well-being of the entire community, in which each aspect reaches themaximum potential thus giving the total-wellbeing of the community. Similar to the aborigines, the native Americans believe that health is a combination of different aspects of life,including mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional aspects (Go et al., 2014). As a result, illness in individuals results from the inability to balance between the external and internal bodies.

Native Americans’
Health, Disease Prevention, and Treatment

The Native Americans are one of the
original peoples of the North, Central, and South America who still maintain their
cultural origin (Torre, 2016). Though they are diverse and geographically
dispersed, these people have a commonality in economic disadvantage. The Native
Americans have diseases patterns that are associated with adverse consequences
ofpoverty, culture, inadequate education, employment, and limited accessibility
to health services (Moore et al. 2015). Compared to other Americans these
groups have unhealthy lifestyles and therefore a higher mortality due to
lifestyle diseases such as tuberculosis, alcoholism, homicide, injuries, among
other substance users (Go
et al., 2014).

The health of the Native Americans can
be described in the following categories. The first type is the structural or
community factors which directs that the health issues of an individual are
dealt with using those of the whole community (Torre et al., 2016). Though the community
depends on the modern health researches, they mostly use their indigenous
knowledge when it comes to health. Additionally, these people are geographically
isolated from the other communities, and that is why they have passed their knowledge
about sustainability from one generation to the next (Grant, 2016).  The cultural factors show that the Native
Americans take health as a holistic issue and therefore will use their
traditional knowledge before visiting any modern healthcare system. As a
result, chronic diseases such as cancer, HIV, and other long-term conditions
end up affecting them (Go et al., 2014). These people rarely go for screening
and thus will never know whether or not they have the chronic diseases.  Surprisingly, women are more traditional and
will not give in to visiting the healthcare facilities for screening such as
the Pap test putting them at higher risks of cervical cancer(Moore et al., 2015).
On the other hand, traditional practices such as drug abuse, alcoholism,
dancing put these people at more risks of unhealthy lifestyles (Grant, 2016).

On the contrary, there are individual
mortality and morbidity factors that constrain the health of the population (Torre et al., 2016).
These factors include the loss of heritage and land. Such factors have made the
Native Americans to adopt unhealthy lifestyles that can be a source of disease
progression and harmful outcomes. Specifically, according to the National
Cancer Institute (NCI) (2017), the Native American population has the lowest
5-year survival rate despite being the community within America with the most
probability of contacting the disease.The exposure is attributed to many factors
such as geographic isolation, late detection stage, poverty, lack of healthcare
access, and treatment underutilisation. Similarly, the National Institute of
alcoholism and alcohol abuse (NIAAA) stated that their epidemiological data
shows that the Native Americans are more likely to start drinking early, and
they are heavy drinkers (Department of Health and Human Services, 2017).  The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
shows that majority of the population is addicted to drugs,putting them to
riskier behavior that cause drug-related difficulties such as infection with
the HIV infection, child abuse, suicide, among other risky behaviors(Department
of Health and Human Services, 2017).On the other hand,
the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) showed that
the Native Americans is one of the populations with the most oral diseases and
issues (Jamieson et al., 2013).
These problems include oral cancer, untreated decay, dental caries among other
oral problems.

Aborigines Health,
Disease Prevention and Treatment

Browne,
Adams, & Atkinson (2016), noted that before colonization, the aborigines
had a relatively better standing as regards the social, cultural, and physical
well-being. However, due to issues such as food insecurity, and other nutritional
problems, these people are ranked first when it comes to chronic diseases.
Neumayer (2013), claimed that the health outcomes of the aborigines are not
only weak but of low standards when compared with others aboriginals in other
countries such as New Zealand and Canada. Furthermore, the author argued that
the aboriginals have a twice lower life expectancy compared to the
non-indigenous people, which is a fact that has not changed since 2002. The
Australian aboriginals have a thrice possibility of going to the hospital due
to self-harm compared to the other people (Australian Government,2013). Moreover, these people are
associated with health issues such as obesity, poor maternal health, diabetes,
infectious diseases, heart diseases and even higher levels of smoking. Despite
these facts, some laws and regulations ensure all Australians get equitable
healthcare (Australian Indigenous
HealthInfoNet, 2017). One of these statutes is the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (1948), which is Article 25.1, stating that all individuals
have the rights to adequate health. In short, health is recognized as a fundamental
right internationally. 

The
aborigines had been part of the Australian community for a very long time
approximately 45,000 to 50,000 years (Parker & Milroy, 2014). Further
ethnographic evidence shows that the aborigines that survived infancy were
incredibly fit and also disease-fit (Phillips et al., 2014). Additionally,
these people are known for eating nutritious and balanced diets of vegetables
and proteins, minerals, and vitamins that contain low fat, salts, and sugars
(Parker & Milroy, 2014). As a result, the aborigines maintained a healthy
lifestyle. When it came to mental health, these people had reinforcing factors
such collective sense and intimate connection to their life aspects, culture,
country, community and even spirituality. Nevertheless, due to the colonial
history and other socioeconomic inequities, the aborigines are unable to
maintain a healthy lifestyle (Brown et al., 2016).Furthermore, these people
live in the remote areas which are characterised by poor infrastructure and unhealthy
eating habits (Browne et al., 2016). Another critical factor is the fact that
these aborigines have low income; on average, the majority of the Aboriginal
gross salary in a week is less than $250.

Moreover, it is noted that nearly 80% of deaths in the indigenous
communities are treatable chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, kidney failure,
and cardiovascular diseases, etc. (Browne, Adams & Atkinson, 2016). Evidently,
treatable chronic diseases are linked to nutrition, and therefore eating the
right food can reduce the risk of developing these diseases. Additionally, the
aboriginals are associated with dietary factors and obesity which contribute to
the high prevalence of Australia diseases (Australian Indigenous HealthInfo Net, 2017). In short, the health
issues of aboriginals in Australia are mostly connected to diet and thus can be
completely altered if the country provides its people with the right food.

Moreover,
Nicholson et al. (2015) observed that smoking constraints native of Australia
health. Accordingly, 94% of the daily Aboriginal smokers did not know that the
smoking causes lung cancer, decreased birth weight, and diabetes. Additionally,
90% did not know that smoking affects nonsmokers, while 91% causes asthma. In
short, these people lack the awareness of the health hazards that are caused by
cigarette intake.

Comparison between
Native Americans and Aborigines

Evidently, these countries have a common
background that is they were all British colonies. However, there are
fundamental differences in the ways that they recognise and handle their
indigenous populations (Grant,
2016).  The USA and the Australia have used inclusive
approach when it comes to registration of the population statistics and the
death for more than forty years now(Moore et al., 2015). In both the USA and Australia,
there is a need for identifying the mortality rate of the indigenous population.
Additionally, both of these countries were driven to annihilation by the
invaders (Grant, 2016). All these populations watched as their children were
taken to boarding schools thus causing acculturation. Just like the Native
Americans, the Aborigines make up a small percentage of the total population.

Furthermore, both of these communities
are the poorest, most disadvantaged and the unhealthiest(Jamieson, 2013). The
governments of Australia and the USA have spent a substantial amount of money
in pursuit of housing, community programs, hospitals, and educational reforms
amongst other activities on these populations (Moore et al., 2015). These policies seek
to ensure that these residents improve their living conditions, accessibility
to health services and quality of life.

Both of these communities have issues
with the child abuse and alcohol abuse among other substances abuse (Grant,
2016). Interestingly, these issues with alcoholism and child abuse among the
indigenous populations are linked to the problems that they suffered when they
were taken to the national boarding schools. All these people learned the
behaviors from the colonisers, and they have carried on with them despite the
changes in generations (Grant,
2016).
Furthermore, Hollins
(2015) noted that the racism and other social exclusion areas are the reason
behind most of the mental illnesses among the indigenous populations. Notably,
racism and other social mistreatments are associated with psychological
distress, leading to behaviors such as alcohol abuse. A majority of the people
engaged in an unhealthy lifestyle to cover what they are feeling. 

 In both countries, there has been the
introduction of strict rules and regulations that seek to protect the
indigenous populations from child abuse and the use of hardcore drugs (Grant,
2016). However, these rules have led to the disruption of the Native Americans
and Aborigines since they are enforced without consultation. These communities
fight for recognition, and it has taken some deaths to justify their mission.During
the colonisation, the indigenous communities have remained second best or even
worse due to the pre-accepted religious beliefs on races (Jamieson et al., 2013).
Therefore, even after the end of colonisation, these original races in both
countries continue to struggle with every aspect of their lives including
health.

Critique of a Health
Program

The National Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Close the Gap Health Plan

The Close the Gap Campaign started in
April 2007 by the Australian human right bodies, indigenous, non-indigenous, and
the non-governmental organisation (Neumayer, 2013). Furthermore, Neumayer (2013) argued that the
ideology emerged from the Social Report Justice in 2005,required that the
health is made a right for everybody. 
The campaign aims to increase the life expectancy and the health of the
aborigines to the same levels as those who are non-aboriginals by 2031. In
addition, Browne,
Adams, & Atkinson (2016) claimed that the campaign about health equity
began as early as 2006 and mostly focused on closing the gap of life expectancy
between the two population groups by concentrating on solvin issues that were strongly
impacting the health of the indigenous population.

Amongst
the issues that were found affecting indigenous health, improving the health of
the aborigines through right food choices and healthy diets were the main
focuses. In this case, the Council of Australian Government (COAG) promised to
let the aborigines to buy a standard health food basket at a cost of less than
25% of their incomes (Phillips et al., 2014). Australian Government (2013)
noted that the Close the Gap campaign had six specific targets to mitigate the
issues which disadvantaged the aboriginals in Australia.  The objectives were to halve the gap of the
indigenous student’s education by 2018, to close the life expectancy gap, to halve
the mortality rates of the aboriginal kids below five years within a decade, to
halve the unemployment levels between the indigenous and other populations, and
the people aged 20-24 in Year 12 attainments rates.

Evidently,
the issues of health inequality are still rampant among the indigenous and
non-indigenous populations in the Australia(Jamieson, 2013).The government needs to implement
more policies and develop programs that are bound to ensure that the aborigines
achieve adequate health (Browne et al., 2016). Some of the recommendations to
create equality amongst the Australian populations are;

The government should incorporate indigenous
culture into university curriculums, allowing students to gain a better
understanding of indigenous people and their culture and beliefs, eventually
minimizing discrimination, prejudice and mistreatment in the society.
Additionally, the government should
provide the natives with more job opportunities to increase their income,
subsequently their socioeconomic status and quality of life. The government
should also provide vocational training programs to the aboriginal populations,
which allows them to become more skillful and competent.
Thirdly, the government should
create settings-based interventions to help the aboriginals improve their health
status, especially on childhood services and other sports clubs.

Conclusion

Evidently, the
definition of health goes beyond the absence of illness. Just like the WHO, the
aborigines and Native Americans believe that health is more of physical,
emotional, social, spiritual, and cultural well-being.  The report shows that the indigenous
communities suffer similar health issues. Most of the health problems are
associated with colonization and racism. As a result of social mistreatment,
these indigenous communities have led to risky behavior such as drug abuse and
neglect of visiting the modern health systems thus constraining their health
even more. Additionally, racism has put these communities into stressful
situations such as low income which restrict their access to health services and
standard diets.  Both governments have
undertaken different measures to ensure that the disparities between the
indigenous population and the other groups are reduced. Unfortunately, the
Australian Close the Gap Campaign has been unsuccessful. Therefore, there is an
urgent need for the Australian government to develop more measures and
undertake different interventions to improve the quality of life and health
outcomes of the indigenous population.

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