Influences on food and lifestyle choices for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians: an Aboriginal perspective
Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Influences on food and lifestyle choices for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians: An Aboriginal perspective The care and management of chronic diseases and comorbidity impose a substantial burden on the Australian government, Aboriginal Medical Services (non-government primary health care organisations) and mainstream health services and systems. Nowhere is this burden more felt than upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian individuals, their families and communities. Most health research studies that have measured the burden of chronic disease tend to take only a partial view of the socio-economic consequences, focusing on measuring the burden on the health system of responding to an illness rather than apply a holistic perspective of the overall historical, political, social, cultural and emotional wellbeing (psychological distress) that impact upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their families and communities. The analytical framework applied in this thesis used mixed methods of research, study design, data collection and analysis in order to provide a holistic assessment of the population, socio-economic and cultural burden of disease. Research was undertaken in a number of different settings; including Aboriginal Medical Services and the Eora (TAFE) College. Responses provided by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants in the 45 and Up longitudinal cohort study were analysed. The framework incorporated features to assess the key dimensions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and incorporated a holistic definition of Aboriginal health: “Aboriginal health is not just the physical well-being of an individual but refers to the social, emotional and cultural well-being of the whole community in which each individual is able to achieve their full potential as a human being, and thereby contributing to the total well-being of their Community. It is a whole-of-life view that includes the cyclical concept of life-death-life”. (NACCHO 2013) The findings of all these studies highlight that there is a need to investigate further the resilience factors, relationships and psychological distress, which influence Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s food choices, diet patterns, risky behaviour and lifestyle choices.
Author: Christopher Grant Lawrence
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W17320350