Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

ihateusednames t1_ix6d34m wrote

117

candlesandfish t1_ix6kgsk wrote

A bit of all of those, and distance. Aboriginal communities tend to be a long way from the cities where the hospitals are, and it makes follow up hard. This is improving with things like dialysis clinics in the communities or a hub local to a few communities, because kidney disease is very prevalent in the indigenous population.

It’s also likely that they miss out on preventative medicine before they end up in the ICU too, again due to distance/mistrust so the condition is likely to be more severe than if it was caught earlier.

149

ihateusednames t1_ix78hme wrote

Great bit about the distance, so lack of infrastructure as well. I wasn't satisfied with what I had suggested so I do appreciate your thoughts into this.

Found a pretty good journal article about it pretty easily they seem to think it's about distance as well https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1471-2458-12-281

Aboriginal and non-aboriginal people had similar 365-day rates going to the same long-distance hospitals. Conclusion: They need better hospitals.

25

sonyka t1_ix7m3gj wrote

Exactly, all signs to point to indigenous communities needing more local healthcare providers/facilities than they've got. Not an expert but I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess their HCPs-per-mile rate is a lot lower than in non-indigenous areas. Per the link they're coming sicker and younger than non-indigenous patients. Apparently follow up care compliance isn't great. Add in a cultural reluctance to travel… it almost explains itself. If they don't have clinics within their radius they don't go.

What to do? Maybe a program to incentivize HCPs to set up shop in or near rural areas (the US does this; it helps… some). Even better, one to assist/encourage more indigenous community members to become HCPs.

8

ihateusednames t1_ix7n4io wrote

Encouraging growth of HCPs in indigenous communities is an interesting idea, might take some time to pull off because they are far from other forms of infrastructure there is also the issue of medical education.

I completely understand why follow-up care compliance is low, I'd have a difficult time arranging that much travel / time spent doing this and I have a flexible schedule + a working car / efficient highway system.

First step is convincing people that this is an "everyone" problem.

3

IAMCRUNT t1_ixa19ar wrote

The reason that state governments pour money into development in capital cities and deny applications for commercial developments in country towns is because there is more instant profit to be made for their mates. This not only leaves people outside capital cities with less opportunities, low population growth and attracts less medical professionals, it also makes city living unaffordable for healthcare workers. It is lose lose for all the people they are supposed to represent except for the money..

1

yoda_jedi_council t1_ix8u7sz wrote

> kidney disease is prevalent in indigenous population.

Now I'm curious.

1

stewartm0205 t1_ixb3zgs wrote

I would guess dietary and lack of preventative care. Too much salt and starch. And no regular blood pressure and blood sugar check.

1

wotmate t1_ix7z0j4 wrote

>While the risk of death a year after their admission was similar for Indigenous and non-Indigenous patients, the researchers say the risk became higher for Indigenous people once factors including age, illness severity, socio-economic status and remoteness were taken into account.

1

chesterbennediction t1_ix8b22k wrote

Physical distance probably.

1

swiftcleaner t1_ixfipj9 wrote

I don’t know if I interpreted your comment wrong but what do you mean by physical distance. Like, indigenous people are very common throughout cities and all over the world, they usually just fall under the latino community.

1

chesterbennediction t1_ixg36i8 wrote

in Australia half of the people that live in very remote areas and 18 percent in semi remote areas are aboriginal which is high considering they only make up 3 percent of the total population. this means that many aboriginals live in remote areas and are less likely to follow up with healthcare needs since the hospital is further away or has less specialized resources.

1

Debbiesatramp t1_ix6dj1x wrote

Considering how racist Australians are, probably bad treatment. These studies replicate themselves all over the West. People of colour die or receive far more negative consequences from hospital stays because of racism

−84

JJisTheDarkOne t1_ix6kucr wrote

Not true at all. Our health system doesn't discriminate. Actually, it does. It does in the way that Aboriginal People have their own specific health system on top of the normal public system. https://www.wa.gov.au/service/aboriginal-affairs/aboriginal-health-services

Apart from that straight up discrimination based on race, the health system treats everyone the same, regardless of race.

Most of the Aboriginal health problems are caused directly because of Aboriginal people causing the issues themselves.

34

VVllCCAA t1_ix6yq6a wrote

You're having a laugh mate if you think level of care doesn't differ depending on a variety of factors, whether that be race, gender etc. Even if it's not an actively conscious bias, there's still unconscious bias at play in everyone's day to day life

4

Debbiesatramp t1_ix79emy wrote

A lot of white people just cannot stand when you point out institutional racism and unconscious bias. Rather than humble themselves and listen, they cover their ears and scream, IT’S NOT TRUE! WHITE PEOPLE ARE NOT RACIST! The ego and superiority complex behind it all!

It’s very funny that this is the science sub and it is full of emotionally immature people refusing to follow basic scientific principles of logic and rationality.

−1

KarizmuH t1_ix7qk72 wrote

I would say based on your logic and generalization you sound racist yourself. That's some real unconscious bias there eh. Some scientist you must be.

3

dr_Octag0n t1_ix7tlfw wrote

Isn't making broad generalisation based on skin color rasist?

3

Haquestions4 t1_ix7ex02 wrote

TIL that Australians are white.

−1

hiddenstar13 t1_ix7k20x wrote

… yes? Is this is a real TIL or a sarcastic one? I believe white people are a majority in Australia.

7

ihateusednames t1_ix78198 wrote

It might not directly. I can't get too much into it without getting anecdotal / sifting through databases but even the best medical systems in the world discriminate, it's kind just something people do. Even if they addressed race, you could go to a hundred trainings to not discriminate against aboriginal people, unless the program had a wide scope you might see someone obviously poor walk into the ER in pain and be more inclined to mark them down as drug-seeking.

That doesn't even get into what r/candlesandfish brought up, you could consider not building enough capable hospitals in areas where aboriginals tend to live a form of discrimination.

Discrimination by race is craftier than a sign painted "No Aboriginals", very often it is subconscious, and even if there is a special health system designed to bridge the gap (happy they're trying at least) without infrastructure and funding to back it up it's a band-aid solution.

4

Frontrunner453 t1_ix7nd9v wrote

>Most of the Aboriginal health problems are caused directly because of Aboriginal people causing the issues themselves

Couldn't even wait a full paragraph before saying something racist, eh?

−2

dr_Octag0n t1_ix8emmk wrote

Alcohol abuse is a huge problem facing many indigenous Australians. Depression and self harm behaviours also play a huge role. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/indigenous-health-and-wellbeing The number one cause of death for indigenous Australians aged 5 to 17 is suicide according to this report. A very sad state of affairs.

3

Frontrunner453 t1_ix9kwnk wrote

Sure is! Deaths of despair, which all of these fit into, are also very common in marginalized communities in the US, and I'd wager around the world, and none of them are solely due to individual choices.

1

dr_Octag0n t1_ix9l5hj wrote

More due to lack of choices in many cases.

2

JJisTheDarkOne t1_ixamfs6 wrote

What one of the major issues here is: It's a generational issue.

Aboriginals abusing drugs and alcohol, not caring about the environment where they live. No pride in anything etc. Then they have kids.

The kids are left to their own devices and end up running amok. Since the parents aren't looking after them and guiding them in life they hang around, get into trouble and ultimately end up abusing drugs or alcohol and acting the same way their parents did... and the circle completes and continues on.

It doesn't matter what I say, people are going to just pull the "racist card" on me. It's not all Aboriginals, and it's a higher percentage than any other ethnic group. The ones why break that cycle are normal people just like everyone else.

2

dr_Octag0n t1_ixbyahz wrote

You are totally right unfortunately. I was trying to give the individual who called someone rasist more information. Online, knee-jerk reactions are all to common. The individual calling someone out is an American and unfortunately many individuals there equate criticism with racism. I've seen groups of aboriginal kids at servos sniffing petrol at Moree. Many under the age of 10.

1

JJisTheDarkOne t1_ixalv66 wrote

It's not racist to call out things exactly as they are. Just because you personally get upset over it doesn't mean it's racist.

If you want to forgo pulling out the "racist card" and want some debate and facts on the situation then I'm happy to discuss.

0