Adams, K 2009 'Diabetes epidemic: implications for nursing practice', Australian nursing journal (July 1993), vol. 16, no. 7, pp. 37. Australian bureau of statistics 2012, Underlying Causes Of Death, Australian Government, viewed 4th June 2013, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/20C8E41D310D0B35CA257ABC000CD2D9?opendocument> Blyton, G 2009 'Healthier times?
Indigenous people in Australia have higher mortality rates than non-Indigenous Australians, poorer health, lower housing standards, lower employment rates, and lower standards of education. The Indigenous life expectancy is far below the Australian average and the age is lowered again by the amount of disease amongst Aboriginal people, which is more often than not caused by socioeconomic disadvantage (Pink and Allbon, 2005). For the period of 1996–2001, the life expectancy at birth for Indigenous males was estimated at 59 years and 65 years for Indigenous females. The life expectancy for Non-Indigenous Australians was 77 years for males and 82 years for Non-Indigenous females (Trewin and Madden, 2008). In 2007 The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the most chronic conditions among Aboriginal people were: diabetes, cardiovascular disease and kidney disease, with each of which being a preventative disease, delayed or mitigated.
Social practices and certain beliefs are constantly affecting our health and wellbeing from the day we are born right up until the day we die. When dealing with Australian Aboriginal health and comparing it to the rest of the Australian population there are many differences that become apparent and need to be taken into account. Some of the strong differences include the influential connection between people and food, their basic lay understandings and perceptions of health and illness in their society (Nettleton 2006, p.1). Indigenous Australian communities carry a huge burden of preventable chronic diseases such as Non Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus. There is currently a 17-year age difference between the life expectancy of an Indigenous
The leading causes of this dilemma are cardiovascular diseases, cancer (in various forms, and accidents or injury). Although there are a lot of reasons why this health threats are targeting Indigenous Australians, the most reported factors that are contributing to the their present health status of are
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (2012) HER Electronic Health Record, Retrieved on May 29, 2012, from www.himss.org/ASP/topics_ehr.asp Kingsbury, K. (2008). Medical Records Go Digital. Time Magazine. Retrieved May 29, 2012, from
NewsRx Health & Science, 22 May 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2012.
Studies show that, low income home energy assistance program benefits seem to reach families at the highest social and medical risk with more food insecurities have higher rates of low birth weight children (Frank, 2006). The reason behind this is that the money for food is spent on the electric bill when no assistance is provided. In result many children are born with a low birth weight and some even experience a life line of hospital visits. Some children even have a hard time focusing in school because of the lack of energy. Children are blocked from living a somewhat normal life all because the household could not get the financial assistance needed in order to help with their electricity
A) True B) False 3. Majority of weight gain should be in the 1st and 2nd trimesters, with very little gain in the 3rd trimester. A) True B) False 4. Women may gain as much as 10 pounds of fluids during pregnancy. A) True B) False 5.
There are a number of reasons for this. Low nutritional stores | | Newborn infants, particularly those born before term, have poor stores of fat and protein (Fig. 12.1). The smaller the child, the less the calorie reserve and the shorter the period the child will be able to withstand starvation (Fig. 12.2).
Due to media exposure most of us are to some extent aware of the health disadvantages of Third World populations and their relation to sociological issues like poverty, lack of proper food and nutrition and inadequacies of health care. Yet the average person might not realise and would be shocked to find that vast differences in health outcomes and age expectancy also exist within affluent countries where access to proper nutrition and healthcare is generally taken for granted. In Australia, for example, the average life expectancy for indigenous Australians is between 17-19 years less than for their non-indigenous counterparts (Cunningham & Paradies, 2000, as cited in National Health and Medical Research Council [NHMRC], 2000), and the incidence of low birth weight amongst babies born to indigenous mothers is up to twice that found amongst non-indigenous births (National Health and Medical Research Council [NHMRC], 2000). According to the World Health Organisation ([WHO], 2008) such drastic differences in health status seen within a country are unfair and avoidable, and addressing these is not only a matter of social justice but also a human rights obligation (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2005). By focusing on the social determinants of health within a population, i.e.