scholarly journals The Impact of COVID-19 on First Nations People Health Assessments in Australia

2021 ◽  
pp. 101053952110110
Author(s):  
Ross Robertson ◽  
Mustafa Mian ◽  
Subhashaan Sreedharan ◽  
Phyllis Lau
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Nations People ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Health Assessments ◽  
First Nations People ◽  
The Impact

The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic has the potential to worsen existing health inequalities faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia. We aimed to assess the impact of the pandemic on First Nations people health assessments using an interrupted time series model utilizing data extracted from the Australian Medicare Benefits Schedule database. Additive triple exponential smoothing was used to model health assessments undertaken between January 2017 and December 2019. The model was used to predict health assessments between January 2020 and June 2020 with 95% confidence ( P < .05). There was no significant difference between observed and predicted First Nations people health assessments in January, February, and June 2020. However, we found a statistically significant decrease in health assessments in March (16.5%), April (23.1%), and May (17.2%) 2020. The proportion of total health assessments delivered via telehealth was 0.5%, 23.6%, 17.6%, and 10.0% for March, April, May, and June 2020, respectively. The decrease in total First Nations people health assessments compounds the risk of poorer health outcomes in this population already vulnerable due to a high burden of chronic disease and considerable social, economic, and health inequalities. Strategies to improve the delivery of telehealth for First Nations people must be considered.

scholarly journals Loss of Trust Among First Nation People: Implications when Implementing Child Protection Treatment Initiatives

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 50-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Thibodeau ◽  
Faye North Peigan
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Nations People ◽  
First Nations People ◽  
The Impact

Social workers and other health care providers have been asked to develop and implement innovative and culturally sensitive treatment initiatives in First Nation communities. However, because of traumatization and oppression, many First Nations people face troubling psycho-social issues which have resulted in a diminished capacity to trust. If this loss of trust is not dealt with skillfully, it can impede the ability of social workers to implement initiatives. Through a process of person-centred interviewing, 36 participants identified four levels of trust that have been diminished among many First Nations people. The impact of this phenomenon on the development and implementation of community based initiatives is discussed in this article.

Country Is Yarning to Me: Worldview, Health and Well-Being Amongst Australian First Nations People

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 944-960
Author(s):  
Mareese Terare ◽  
Margot Rawsthorne
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Social Determinant ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Creation Story ◽  
Nations People ◽  
First Nations People

Abstract Health inequalities experienced by Australian First Nations People are amongst the most marked in the world, with First Nations People dying some ten years earlier than non-Indigenous Australians. The failure of existing responses to health inequalities suggests new knowledges and questions that need to be explored. It is likely that these new knowledges sit outside of western research or practice paradigms. Through the Indigenous practice of yarning, the importance of worldview and Country emerged as an under-acknowledged social determinant of Australian First Nations People well-being. Yarning is a process of storytelling that involves both sound and silence. It requires embodied deep listening through which stories emerge that create new knowledge and understanding. We anchor our learning by re-telling John’s creation story, a story of healing through discovering his Aboriginal Worldview through reconnecting to Country. Country for First Nations People is more than a physical place; it is a place of belonging and a way of believing. We argue for the recognition of trauma, recognition of diversity and the use of yarning in social work practice. We conclude that reconnecting to Aboriginal Worldview provides hopeful insights into the well-being of Australia’s First Nations People and the social determinants of health.

Putting Indigenous Harm Reduction to Work: Developing and Evaluating “Not Just Naloxone”

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Medley ◽  
Sarah Levine ◽  
Alexa Norton
Keyword(s):  
Harm Reduction ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Access To Health Services ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Local Leadership ◽  
Train The Trainer ◽  
Nations People ◽  
Training Materials ◽  
First Nations People ◽  
The Impact

First Nations people and communities have long been championing the provision of holistic, self-determining, culturally safe, and responsive health care. In April 2016, a catastrophic rise in illicit drug overdose deaths in the province of British Columbia (BC), Canada, led to the declaration of a public health emergency. Due to the compounding historical and ongoing impacts of colonialism, including trauma and inequitable access to health services, First Nations people in BC are disproportionately impacted by this crisis. In response, the First Nations Health Authority created Not Just Naloxone (NJN), a train-the-trainer workshop designed to build Indigenous harm reduction knowledge and skills within First Nations communities. This article describes the NJN program and presents the results of a follow-up evaluation of 37 participants from six NJN workshops held between December 2017 and October 2018. Core strengths of the training included an Indigenized approach and the opportunity to build networks of support. Respondents reported increased knowledge and confidence presenting about harm reduction and feeling more prepared to respond to overdoses. Areas for improvement included maintaining up-to-date training materials and navigating emotional triggers for participants. Trainees went on to train over 2,400 community members in naloxone and Indigenous harm reduction, and reported that communities’ awareness and attitudes around harm reduction began to change. Challenges providing community trainings included buy-in from local leadership and persistent abstinence-based beliefs. This evaluation demonstrates the impact of holistic, culturally safe harm reduction training and the need for a connected community of Indigenous harm reduction champions.

scholarly journals Release of the National Scheme’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety Strategy 2020-2025; the impacts for podiatry in Australia: a commentary

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Gerrard ◽  
Shirley Godwin ◽  
Vivienne Chuter ◽  
Shannon E. Munteanu ◽  
Matthew West ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Cultural Safety ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Torres Strait Islander Health ◽  
Safety Strategy

Abstract Background Developing since colonisation, Australia’s healthcare system has dismissed an ongoing and successful First Nations health paradigm in place for 60,000 years. From Captain James Cook documenting ‘very old’ First Nations Peoples being ‘far more happier than we Europeans’ and Governor Arthur Phillip naming Manly in admiration of the physical health of Gadigal men of the Eora Nation, to anthropologist Daisy Bates’ observation of First Nations Peoples living ‘into their eighties’ and having a higher life expectancy than Europeans; our healthcare system’s shameful cultural safety deficit has allowed for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child born in Australia today to expect to live 9 years less than a non-Indigenous child. Disproportionately negative healthcare outcomes including early onset diabetes-related foot disease and high rates of lower limb amputation in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples contribute to this gross inequity. Main body In 2020, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority released the National Scheme’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety Strategy 2020–2025 - empowering all registered health practitioners within Australia to provide health care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples that is inclusive, respectful and safe, as judged by the recipient of care. This recently released strategy is critically important to the podiatry profession in Australia. As clinicians, researchers and educators we have a collective responsibility to engage with this strategy of cultural safety. This commentary defines cultural safety for podiatry and outlines the components of the strategy in the context of our profession. Discussion considers the impact of the strategy on podiatry. It identifies mechanisms for podiatrists in all settings to facilitate safer practice, thereby advancing healthcare to produce more equitable outcomes. Conclusion Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples access health services more frequently and have better health outcomes where provision of care is culturally safe. By engaging with the National Scheme’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety Strategy, all registered podiatrists in Australia can contribute to achieving equity in health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

scholarly journals Cultural safety for First Nations people in aged care

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Linda Michelle Deravin ◽  
Judith Anderson ◽  
Nicole Mahara
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Aged Care ◽  
Cultural Safety ◽  
Nations People ◽  
First Nations People

Estimating risks from exposure to methylmercury: Application to first nations people in Canada

1997 ◽  
Vol 97 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 107-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Hoover ◽  
Ryan Hill ◽  
Tom Watson
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Nations People ◽  
First Nations People

First Nations’ Survivance and Sovereignty in Canada during a Time of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-100
Author(s):  
Robyn K. Rowe ◽  
Julia Rowat ◽  
Jennifer D. Walker
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Healthcare System ◽  
Scarlet Fever ◽  
Nations People ◽  
Vulnerable People ◽  
History Of ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
First Nations People

First Nations people in Canada have demonstrated and continue to demonstrate persistent and resilient cultural, linguistic, and traditional endurance: survivance. The devastation resulting from centuries of health pandemics such as smallpox, influenza, cholera, tuberculosis, measles, and scarlet fever reinforce the ongoing resilience of First Nations people, cultures, and traditions in Canada. Despite the history of pandemic-related trauma and a myriad of social, political, environmental, and health challenges, as well as the added burden that COVID-19 is placing on the healthcare system in Canada, First Nations’ organizations and leadership are enacting their inherent rights to sovereignty and governance. While First Nations are bracing for the expected negative impacts of COVID-19, they are doing so in ways that respect and honor their histories, cultures, languages, and traditions. First Nations are acting to protect some of the most vulnerable people in their communities including elders, knowledge keepers, and storytellers who carry with them irreplaceable traditional and cultural knowledges.

The Terms of Our Surrender: Colonialism, Dispossession and the Resistance of the Innu

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Cassell
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Land Ownership ◽  
Fiduciary Duty ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Nations People ◽  
Natural Land ◽  
First Nations People ◽  
Indigenous Land

Based on extensive fieldwork and oral history, The Terms of Our Surrender is a powerful critical appraisal of unceded indigenous land ownership in eastern Canada. Set against an ethnographic, historical and legal framework, the book traces the myriad ways the Canadian state has successfully evaded the 1763 Royal Proclamation that guaranteed First Nations people a right to their land and way of life. Focusing on the Innu of Quebec and Labrador, whose land has been taken for resource extraction and development, the book strips back the fiduciary duty to its origins, challenging the inroads which have been made on the nature and extent of indigenous land tenure—arguing for preservation of land ownership and positioning First Nations people as natural land defenders amidst a devastating climate crisis. It offers a voice to the Innu people, detailing the spirituality practices, culture and values that make it impossible for them to willingly cede their land. The text is intended to bridge the gap in knowledge between legal practitioners and those working at the intersections of human rights, social work and public policy. The book offers a potent template for how we can use the law to fight back against the indignities suffered by all indigenous peoples.

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