Overview of the Health Concerns among Aboriginal Women

Discuss about the Health Promotion through Website development for Aboriginal Women living with Diabetes.

The Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders are the dominant indigenous tribe that occupies Western Australia (Andersen, Edwards, & Wolfe, 2017). The total number of this tribe in Australia according to the census of 2011 is 7113600 (Biddle, N., & Crawford, 2015). However, the number of Aboriginals occupying West Australia is 93778 (Biddle, N., & Crawford, 2015). Therefore, the population of the indigenous group is 13.1% and 3% of the total Australian population (Biddle, N., & Crawford, 2015). According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, a third of the Aboriginals reside in the major cities (Biddle, N., & Crawford, 2015). The largest category of the population that has ages 0-4 is the aboriginals (Biddle, N., & Crawford, 2015). Their community mostly consists of young individuals below the age of 30 years old.

The total number of deaths of Aboriginals in 2015 was 3088 (Biddle, N., & Crawford, 2015). However, in Western Australia, 511 Aboriginals died in that year (Wallis et al., 2015). The life expectancy for women is 70 years while that of men is 65 years old (Phillips, Morrell, Taylor, & Daniels, 2014). The infant mortality rate is higher among the indigenous population as compared to the natives (Chen et al., 2015). The significant causes of death among the Aboriginals include heart complications, cancer, suicide, diabetes, dementia and accidents (Henley, & Harrison, 2015). In the case of the infants, the causes of death are trauma, labor pains, and growth disorders (Henley, & Harrison, 2015). Moreover, delivery and pregnancy complications contribute to infant deaths (Henley, & Harrison, 2015). The aboriginal women lack access to quality medical hospitals making them encounter numerous difficulties (Henley, & Harrison, 2015).

The primary health scare among the women of the aboriginals is the heart complications (Henley, & Harrison, 2015). The disease occurs as a result of alcoholism, smoking, and hypertension (Henley, & Harrison, 2015).  The lack of physical exercise and depression also leads to cardiovascular complications (Al-Yaman, 2017). A majority of the Aboriginal women are at a higher risk of contracting cancer (Al-Yaman, 2017). The population is ignorant about the remedies for the disease making it one of the killer diseases. They believe that the condition is a curse hence they do not seek medical attention in case of infection. Respiratory complications are also rampant among the Aboriginal women with 27% reporting such cases yearly (Al-Yaman, 2017).

Health Promotion Strategies for Diabetes Management

The women also encounter Sexual Transmitted Infections (STIs) such as HIV/AIDS, syphilis, and Gonorrhea (Al-Yaman, 2017). The statistics show that 13% of the young women are affected by the STI (Al-Yaman, 2017).  The individuals have a firm belief in the traditional medicine hence affecting their search for the new medical attention. The population requires thorough sex education to minimize the mortality rates as a result of STIs. The Australian government should construct more health facilities and deploy more specialists to attend to the Aboriginals. The health practitioners should also enlighten the indigenous population about the essence of modern medical treatment.

The social determinants of health among the Aboriginals are physical, social, and individual behaviors (Kolahdooz, Nader, Yi, & Sharma, 2015). A significant physical determinant is overcrowding with 23% of the Aboriginal women inhabiting overcrowded areas (Kolahdooz et al., 2015). Respiratory diseases are rampant in crowded areas. Individual determinants are the cultural beliefs, and ignorance of the population (Kolahdooz et al., 2015). The women do not believe in modern medicine hence increasing the mortality rate. Social factors such as unemployment make it difficult for the women to afford quality education (Kolahdooz et al., 2015). This paper will focus on Diabetes since the disease is one of the killer infections among the Aboriginal Women. 

The goal of the project is to develop a website on diabetes management.  The site will explore health promotional strategies in the management of Diabetes among the Aboriginal women.  The promotion campaign and the development of a website are in line with the Ottawa Chatter on health promotion (WHO, 2016). The clinicians will carry out a solid awareness campaign to emphasize on the contents of the website. Diabetes is one of the health challenges that the women face (Chamberlain et al., 2015). Moreover, the mortality rate as a result of diabetes is higher compared to other diseases. The disease affects all ages of Aboriginal women as it results from defects in Insulin production (Chamberlain et al., 2015). The first promotional strategy is sensitization of the community through various activities (Clifford, McCalman, Bainbridge, & Tsey, 2015). The Aboriginals require an awareness of the lifestyle changes that will minimize the spread of diabetes amongst them (Clifford et al., 2015). The awareness team should encourage them to walk to their workplaces as a means of physical exercise.

The other promotional strategy is through dancing competition. The fete enables the Aboriginal community to be active and reduce the chances of diabetes (Clifford et al., 2015). The awareness team should encourage the members of the community to pick the berries as another way of staying fit. Moreover, the city should shift from buying fruits to gardening to enable them to get fresh fruits and also exercise their bodies. Fresh fruits are free of chemicals hence reduces the chances of diabetes in the population (Quinn et al., 2017). The practitioners should organize the community into various classes and encourage them to prepare traditional meals. The team should also promote the removal of fast food and drink joints in schools. The processed food contains toxic chemicals that endanger the life of the students.

Creating Community-Based Campaigns

 The project has strengths and weaknesses. The media is essential in broadcasting the awareness campaign hence ensuring a comprehensive coverage. Additionally, the press covers the promotional event free of charge (Woods et al., 2017). However, the media still advertise snacks and the chemically processed foods which go against the campaign (Markovic et al., 2016). Not everyone is ready to join the exercise class. The enforcers of the project have difficulty in convincing the elderly to join the ranks. The cooking classes expose the members of the community on the techniques of preparing traditional foods (Schembri et al., 2016). Chemically processed food interferes with the secretion and activity of insulin hormone (De Souza et al., 2015). The educational programs are essential, but the high level of illiteracy is slowing down the process. Additionally, the programs have little impact due to the firm belief that the Aboriginals have on their cultural heritage.

The project is about promoting an awareness that assists in minimizing the spread of diabetes among the Aboriginals. We are going to carry out a community-based campaign to sensitize the Aboriginals on ways of reducing diabetes. The awareness will also inform the community on their culture and steps to stop the spread of diabetes. We will conduct dancing competitions and award the best dancers. Dancing is a way of exercising as it makes the community to be fit from infections. We will encourage the individuals to walk to their workplaces instead of boarding automobiles. We will also help them to prepare traditional foods instead of buying processed food which has harmful chemicals. The individuals will get encouragement to garden and pick cherries as a means of exercise. The team will persuade the head of schools to remove snack canteens as the fast foods are harmful to the health of the students. The information is on the website.

The first objective is raising awareness of the lifestyle changes. The health stakeholders will visit the Aboriginals and train the people on lifestyle changes. The knowledge will also include training on the causes of diabetes. The awareness campaign team will comprise of twenty professionals per square kilometer. The contents of the practice will be on the website.

The second objective is to manage the levels of glucose in the patients. The team of experts will carry the relevant glucose measurement tools. The group of experts will develop a website to contain the information on management of glucose. The control of glucose process will take a month. The exercise requires thirty clinicians per square kilometer. 

Lifestyle Changes and Physical Exercise

The third objective is to manage the weight of the indigenous tribe. The team will advise on the physical exercise strategies that will reduce the weight. Moreover, the experts will recommend on the food to avoid and those to take to regulate pressure. The process will take two months and involve every specialist in the field. This information is also available on the website.

Establish the identity of the stakeholders. The exercise involves identifying with the Aboriginals and creation of the partnership with them. Update the community on the various stages of the diabetes management process. Additionally, inform the population of the progress and the duration of the launch and implementation of the process.

Get a competent web designer and language translator. The expert can be from the native Australian tribes or an Aboriginal. In case of an Aboriginal, the expert should be able to translate the contents of the website from English to the traditional languages.

Research on the Aboriginal community and find services that can help in the development of the website. Establishment of contacts and relationships with the stakeholders; a proper understanding propels the implementation process.

Upload the all diabetic information on the website, the technical details and the management of diabetes to be included in the website. Prepare hard copy materials of the diabetic information. Translate the content from English to the Aboriginals language. Print the hardcopy and produce many copies for distribution.

Quickly establish social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to lead individuals to the secure website.  Update the social media pages to match with the new information added from time to time.

Plans will involve the formation of charity organizations and the development of an Aboriginal Bank and accept financial contributions through the website. 

Ongoing Costs

Timeline Estimates

The health promotion strategies took place both through the stakeholders and through the website. The community turned out in large numbers to learn more about diabetes and the management strategies. When asked about what they learned, a majority of them admitted that they had learned a lot about diabetes. That means that the process was a huge success. The participants enjoyed the lessons as they left the classes and the conferences with a smile on their faces. A majority of them were asking to come back again to carry out the awareness. Half of the participants had cut weight following the strategies and the information on the portal.

Web Development: Information on Diabetes Management

Working in partnership with others

The physicians, clinicians, nurses, website experts, translators, and village volunteers participated in the project. The health practitioners pocketed $ 5698 per day. The Information technology experts earned $ 4500 after the conclusion of the project. The community health centers provided the equipment for gauging the sugar levels. The Aboriginal health organization provided accommodation facilities for the experts. The project will help to reduce the mortality rates in the women and the Aboriginals as a whole.

Sustainability

After the evaluation, the experts concluded that the government should avail more funds for the health promotion. The health facility should avail a bus to ferry the experts to Western Australia. A gym is also necessary to enable the Aboriginals to cut weight.

References

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Andersen, C., Edwards, A., & Wolfe, B. (2017). Finding Space and Place: Using Narrative and Imagery to Support Successful Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in Enabling Programs. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 46(1), 1-11. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/previous/ottawa/en/

Biddle, N., & Crawford, H. (2015). The changing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population: Evidence from the 2011 Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset. CAEPR Indigenous Population Project. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/previous/ottawa/en/

Chamberlain, C., Joshy, G., Li, H., Oats, J., Eades, S., & Banks, E. (2015). The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in Australia: a systematic review and meta?analysis. Diabetes/metabolism research and reviews, 31(3), 234-247. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/previous/ottawa/en/

Chen, L., Xiao, L., Auger, N., Torrie, J., McHugh, N. G. L., Zoungrana, H., & Luo, Z. C. (2015). Disparities and trends in birth outcomes, perinatal and infant mortality in Aboriginal vs. non-Aboriginal populations: a population-based study in Quebec, Canada 1996–2010. PloS one, 10(9), e0138562. Retrieved from https://dfat.gov.au/about-us/publications/Pages/health-for-development-strategy-2015-2020.aspx

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