Vulnerable Group

There are many persistent problems which have had a significant impact on the health of the Aboriginal people. Roughly 400 Indigenous people have poor health in the world. Some of the contributing factors to poor health of the Indigenous people are racism, loss of language, loss of connection to the land, environmental deprivation, and mental disconnectedness. From my point of view, the social determinants of health that put the Aboriginal people most at risk are poverty, education and access to health care. These health disparities arise when the Aboriginal people experience discrimination because of their differences in social status which negatively impacts their health.

Take poverty as an example, this is one of the contributing factors for there being a health gap between the Aboriginal community and “Canadians”. Many of the Canadian Aboriginals and there decedents live on reserves which they were restricted to. The unorganized set-up of the reserves in relation to the deterioration of tradition resulted in impoverishment for those in that environment. There were many Aboriginal people on the reserves that died due to the lack of food, health care, shelter and money. The provision of adequate housing, clean food and water supplies are limited amongst the people on the reserve. Having proper shelter was a significant issue among the Indigenous people. Many families lived in inadequate homes that needed major repairs or replacement but due to the circumstance that they were involved in these conditions were not able to be addressed. Many of the reserves do not have the resources or funds that would assist in raising the standards of living. Due to the fact that majority of the Aboriginals on the reserve were poor, they could not afford to purchase suitable nutrition for their families or appropriate resources for sanitation. The prices of food on the reserve were extremely expensive and not everyone could afford to buy food to supply their household. Not being...