You need to write a policy for advocacy. You should choose a community or health organisation and then decide upon the health issue you are advocating for, and the specific population in which this issue occurs.
It is evident that improving the health conditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities has been a major challenge for the Australian government for a long time. In this regard, the Australian Human Rights Commission has taken favorable steps for the purpose of improvising the health status of Aboriginal communities to a large extent (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2018). It is noteworthy to mention here that, from the beginning the Australian Human Rights Commission has aimed to investigate into the underlying concepts and challenges of advocacy from the perspective of communities suffering from health-related issues (Fisher et al., 2016). In this regard, the Commission has developed various objectives of its own for the purpose of developing and at the same time exploring the importance of policy advocacy at an international and state level by keeping n view the principles of law, policy and practice (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2018). However, the main objective of the Australian Human Rights Commission is concerned with the identification of the common challenges as well as the appropriate actions that would be applicable in enhancing services of advocacy for aboriginal people suffering from health issues (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2018).
It is worth mentioning that it is important to involve commitments in policies for the purpose of reducing the factors contributing towards cancer among the Aboriginal communities (Stoneham, Goodman & Daube, 2014). It is evident that incremental approach will not provide appropriate solution in reducing the health disparities existing between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Hunt et al., 2016). It is worth examining that the Australian Human Rights Commission has initiated the implementation of various policies for the purpose of reducing cancer within the Aboriginal communities (Khoury, 2015). In recent era, it can be observed that cancer is the main disease that has been affecting the health conditions of the Aboriginals (Fisher et al., 2016). In this context, it is worthwhile to refer here that the objectives of health equality of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander can be achieved by seizing opportunities which are in existence through the new policies made on the Indigenous affairs at both state and federal levels (Malla et al., 2016). Therefore, the Commission aims to capitalize on the overall healthy economic condition of the country for the purpose of improving their health standards so that they could maintain a life of dignity.
The poor health conditions of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are not a new issue. It is evident that from the very beginning, various government and human rights organizations have been working together for the purpose of securing the health conditions of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia (Fisher et al., 2015). The aim of these human rights organization was to provide active support to the Australian governments in improving the health and life expectation quality for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia (Khoury, 2015). It is important to state that the health conditions of the people of Australia have significantly changed over the last five years as a result of major advances in the medical standards and rising prosperity (Worrall-Carter et al., 2016). However, it is worth noting that in spite of various developments, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities did not receive any benefits regarding health care facilities.
The main form of disease which is prevalent among the Aboriginal and the people belonging to Torres Strait Islander is cancer (Pockett & Beddoe, 2017). In this regard, it is noteworthy to mention here that, the health problems are mostly faced by the women population belonging to the Aboriginal communities (Love, Moore & Warburton, 2017). It is worth mentioning that according to recent reports the most common disease which is prevalent among the Aboriginal communities is cancer (Stoneham, Goodman & Daube, 2014). However, women belonging to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander are more prone to cancer as a result of their lifestyle and poor nutrition (Sayers et al., 2017). In this regard, it is worth mentioning that primary health care services are concerned with the prevention of diseases from occurring in the first place. The objective of primary health care services is to involve in the detection of various diseases at the early stage (Baum et al., 2014). As a result of inaccessibility to primary health care services, the diseases which could be prevented at early stages become chronic issues. In the same way cancer is a disease which if treated in the early stage can be cured however; if it is left untreated then it will definitely result into death (Macniven et al., 2017). It is worthwhile to refer here that apart from the availability of adequate primary health care services, the presence of poor quality housing facilities and overcrowding in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have contributed negatively to the health standards of such community (Munns et al., 2016).
|
Causes of Death |
Percentage |
|
Cancer |
20% |
|
Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders |
9.5% |
|
Respiratory Diseases |
7.7% |
|
Injury and Poisoning |
17% |
|
Digestive Diseases |
5.8% |
Figure 1: Causes of death among Aboriginal people in Australia from 2011-2015.
Source: [Created by the Author].
From figure 1, it can be observed that the most common cause of death among the Aboriginal communities of Australia is cancer. However, other diseases are contributed equally to the death percentage of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
From Figure 1, it is evident that, the most malicious disease from which the communities of the Aboriginal and Torres Islander communities are suffering is cancer. Though cancer can be treated however; the risk is high in case of Aboriginal communities as they do not get access to adequate health facilities (Stoneham, Goodman & Daube, 2014). It can be observed from recent reports that, the most common form of cancer that causes death among the Aboriginal and Torres Islanders are lung cancer (Munns et al., 2016). This is due to the reason that, the people belonging to the Aboriginal and Torres Islander communities are involved in smoking (Pockett & Beddoe, 2017). However, other risk factors such as drinking alcohol and poor eating habits contribute towards the causation of cancer. It is important to emphasize upon other factors which efficiently contribute towards the causes of cancer among the people of Aboriginal and Torres Islander communities which is also the major cause of their death (Sayers et al., 2017). These factors can be undermined as-
The cancers which are likely to cause death are lung cancer and liver cancers are more prevalent among such community as a result of poor nutrition (Malla et al., 2016).
Even if the form of cancer among such community has been detected in the early state, due to lack of access to health facilities, it contributes towards death (Worrall-Carter et al., 2016).
Optimal treatment is not granted to them form the health care centers.
The poor health conditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are a common fact. As a result of substantial inequalities existing between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous communities of Australia that in relation to lung cancer, throat cancer and liver cancer, created unfavorable impact upon the infant health and life expectancy of both men and women (Pockett & Beddoe, 2017). Various government and non-governmental organizations have implemented policies for the purpose of addressing the issues faced by the Aboriginal communities in relation to health issues caused by cancer (Sayers et al., 2017). The Australian Human Rights Commission has made commitments in order to address the existing inequalities in health services and has accompanied incremental funding procedures (Baum et al., 2014). In this regard, the Commission has developed strategies and various policy frameworks by engaging the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities for the purpose of acknowledging that health care centers should take favorable steps in determining the cause of cancer among such community and in such process steps should be taken in order to provide adequate treatment (Love, Moore & Warburton, 2017). It is worthwhile to refer, here that, in spite of several attempts on the part of the Australian Human Rights Commission, recent reports have shown that there has been relatively slow improvements in the areas of health services and in some areas there has been no improvement at all (Worrall-Carter et al., 2016). In recent era, few improvements have been made by the government authorities towards the improvement of indigenous communities however; the gains experiences by these indigenous communities are relatively low compared to that of non-indigenous communities (Pockett & Beddoe, 2017).
It is noteworthy to mention here that, there are many ways in which advocacy can be conceptualized. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that, from the very beginning the aims and objectives of policy advocacy is not limited to the number of decisions made on the part of both government and non-governmental organizations (Sayers et al., 2017). It is worthwhile to refer here that in every sphere of life, policy advocacy has a significant role to play. In order to make appropriate changes regarding the health-related issues faced by the aboriginal communities, policy advocacy has an important role to play (Hunt et al., 2015). It is worth stating that in order to address the issues of child malnutrition, funding for family planning clinic and inaccessibility to health care programs within the organization, policy advocacy has proved to be beneficial in achieving such goals (Khoury, 2015).
It is important to note here that health policies has been implemented for the purpose of governing rules regarding health problems, health services and safety conditions. On the other hand policy change is a sudden shift in the rules and regulations which provides opportunities for doing things in a new way (Baum et al., 2014). Therefore, advocacy can be considered as a way to change the rules and regulations of health policies and at the same time allocating the decisions of both the government and health organizations (Worrall-Carter et al., 2016). It is worth noting that the Australian Human Rights Commission has implemented long-term goals for the purpose of reducing health-related issues by improving quality of life (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2018). From the very beginning, the Commission has been involved in developing well-structured and well-executed advocacy plan for the purpose of achieving desired objectives (Munns et al., 2016). It is evident that an efficient policy advocacy helps in responding to the identified needs by building trust and opportunities and at the same time overcoming barriers to comprehensive control of health problems (Stoneham, Goodman & Daube, 2014).
The various aims and objectives of the policy for advocacy can be emphasized as follows-
To increase healthcare awareness among the communities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and the general public as well.
To reduce fear of various dangerous diseases among the people belonging to low socio-economic groups of the Aboriginal communities (Baum et al., 2014).
To involve in the progressive expansion of advocacy groups which would include community volunteers and various patients groups belonging to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities (Sayers et al., 2017).
Maintaining the involvement of decision and policy-makers regarding the implementation of health-care facilities for the purpose of addressing future challenges (Love, Moore & Warburton, 2017).
For the purpose of achieving efficient health standards within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, it is important that the government authorities should implement new plans and policies (Worrall-Carter et al., 2016). In this regard, the following steps can be recommended to the government for the purpose of improving health care services of the Aboriginal communities.
References:
Australian Human Rights Commission |. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.humanrights.gov.au.
Baum, F., Lawless, A., Delany, T., Macdougall, C., Williams, C., Broderick, D., … & Popay, J. (2014). Evaluation of Health in All Policies: concept, theory and application. Health promotion international, 29(suppl_1), i130-i142.
Fisher, M., Baum, F. E., MacDougall, C., Newman, L., & McDermott, D. (2016). To what extent do Australian health policy documents address social determinants of health and health equity?. Journal of Social Policy, 45(3), 545-564.
Fisher, M., Baum, F., MacDougall, C., Newman, L., & McDermott, D. (2015). A qualitative methodological framework to assess uptake of evidence on social determinants of health in health policy. Evidence & Policy: A Journal of Research, Debate and Practice, 11(4), 491-507.
Hunt, L., Ramjan, L., McDonald, G., Koch, J., Baird, D., & Salamonson, Y. (2015). Nursing students’ perspectives of the health and healthcare issues of Australian Indigenous people. Nurse education today, 35(3), 461-467.
Khoury, P. (2015). Beyond the biomedical paradigm: The formation and development of Indigenous community-controlled health organizations in Australia. International Journal of Health Services, 45(3), 471-494.
Love, P., Moore, M., & Warburton, J. (2017). Nurturing spiritual well?being among older people in Australia: Drawing on Indigenous and non?indigenous way of knowing. Australasian journal on ageing, 36(3), 179-185.
Macniven, R., Elwell, M., Ride, K., Bauman, A., & Richards, J. (2017). A snapshot of physical activity programs targeting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 28(3), 185-206.
Malla, A., Iyer, S., McGorry, P., Cannon, M., Coughlan, H., Singh, S., … & Joober, R. (2016). From early intervention in psychosis to youth mental health reform: a review of the evolution and transformation of mental health services for young people. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 51(3), 319-326.
Munns, A., Toye, C., Hegney, D., Kickett, M., Marriott, R., & Walker, R. (2016). The emerging role of the urban-based aboriginal peer support worker: A Western Australian study. Collegian, 23(4), 355-361.
Pockett, R., & Beddoe, L. (2017). Social work in health care: An international perspective. International Social Work, 60(1), 126-139.
Sayers, J. M., Cleary, M., Hunt, G. E., & Burmeister, O. K. (2017). The role of the mental health worker in a Housing and Accommodation Support Initiative for Indigenous Australians. Perspectives in psychiatric care, 53(4), 307-312.
Stoneham, M., Goodman, J., & Daube, M. (2014). The portrayal of Indigenous health in selected Australian media. The International Indigenous Policy Journal, 5(1), 1-13.
Worrall-Carter, L., Daws, K., Rahman, M. A., MacLean, S., Rowley, K., Andrews, S., … & Arabena, K. (2016). Exploring Aboriginal patients’ experiences of cardiac care at a major metropolitan hospital in Melbourne. Australian Health Review, 40(6), 696-704.
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