Chronic respiratory illness and pneumonia are major cases of respiratory disorders contributing to higher rates of mortality among the indigenous population, more than the general population. Research, through the National Health Survey suggests that one-third of the indigenous people; mainly the Aboriginal peoples of Canada and the Torres Strait Islanders of Australia, experienced long-term respiratory illness. Chronic respiratory illness such as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis are caused by cigarette smoking, climate and air pollution. Pneumonia is a respiratory condition characterized by an infection of the lung caused by bacteria and viruses in the air. Respiratory disorders and pneumonia were the fourth most causes of death among the indigenous people, affecting the young and middle aged. Poverty, nutrition, smoking and limited access to health services are some of the key factors contributing to ill-health experience by indigenous people. As a remedy, there has been the introduction of indigenous health care workers in community health care programs.
Role of Indigenous health workers and communities
The use of the Indigenous Health Care workers (IHCWs) who have diverse skills and responsibilities, which include health promotion, education and leadership skills, proved to be strategically and economically efficient. Supplementing of health professionals through employment of health workers from the community has drastically reduced the cost of health services. The IHCWs partner with non-indigenous health professionals such as nurses to improve the health care and minimize the impacts of communication barriers in the performance of their duties. This partnership has improved medical services such as; immunization, cervical screening, wound and chronic disease management (Giblin 12). Provision of health services among the indigenous population is most likely to be facilitated by a provider’s indigenousness, and as such, IHCWs being indigenous, are of great importance to the health system. They provide a sense of security in areas such as emotional support and problem identification.
In respect to communication barriers, IHCWs act as liaison between professional and local health languages and customs. This is vital in the understanding of the community’s health beliefs. IHCWs are actively and credibly involved in the life of a client due to the shared commonality, hence fostering a favorable relationship between the provider and the client (Giblin 18). Although during the past thirty years the use of IHCWs has been in an in and out fashion, there has been major improvements in the levels of health care provided in the rural areas. Survey shows that, improved health programs in the indigenous society have decreased the levels of mortality. Specifically, reports of deaths caused by respiratory disorders and pneumonia have been on the lower side. Through proper identification of symptoms and proper communication, which has been facilitated by the use of IHCWs, cases of deaths due to negligence and ignorance has reduced. Therefore, a positive result of the use of IHCWs has been established. For instance, in a study involving 113 people, there was improvements in the patient’s and parent’s asthma skill and knowledge score, notable also, was the reduction in the number of days missed from school by children under the care of an indigenous health care worker.
Conclusion
The roles of the IHCWs were greatly encouraged by the client’s perception of an IHCW as being like themselves. The current focus on increasing IHCW training opportunities and the need to recognize IHCWs as core health professionals and equal members of the health care team is presented. While some successes are evident, failures in areas of clarity, inactive participation in program management and financial problems was also reported.
Work Cited
Giblin, Paul. Effective Utilization and Evaluation of Indigenous Health care workers. Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, 3901 Beaubien: Detroit. 1989, Vol 104, No. 4 361. Web.