Improving Indigenous health through better medication management: an overview

This paper outlines the background and progress to date of a project to improve the coordination of care for Aboriginal people with mental health and/or alcohol and other drug problems living in the Eyre Peninsula region of South Australia. The project responds to recommendations from previous research by this team in this area, and has been running since 2004. Working with a wide range of health and human service providers, we explored issues that improve or hinder coordination of care and identified useful strategies. Some of these have already been implemented through the project: e.g. interagency cross-disciplinary training in response to shared needs, and lobbying for after-hours telephone help. Other strategies are still in progress: e.g. implementing a uniform triage and referral system and improving information sharing within Port Lincoln Aboriginal Health Service. The paper reflects on our experience of conducting Aboriginal health service research using a participatory action oriented approach, and discusses the challenges in providing effective and well coordinated rural and remote mental health/alcohol and other drug care in the context of complex health and social needs of Aboriginal people.

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Māori Men and the Indirect Procurement and Sharing of Prescription Medications

Hodgetts

Nikora

Rua

2011

AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples

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Māori men have higher rates of many diseases and lower life expectancy than other population groups in New Zealand. The general consensus is that these health inequalities are due to the inequitable distribution of the social determinants of health; for example, education, employment, income and housing, and were largely driven by colonization and the social and economic marginalization of Māori. Health care factors, including reluctance to consult doctors or late presentation, are part of this equation, but do not fully explain the disparities in health between Māori men and other population groups. As part of our ongoing work in this area, we draw on a focus group discussion with seven Māori community health workers to provide a preliminary analysis of how some Māori people access and use medications. Particular attention is given to the emergent practice of Māori women presenting to general practitioners (GPs) with proxy symptoms to obtain medications for their male partners. This practice exemplifies a range of strategies that some whānau (family) have developed to navigate the health system and overcome the reluctance of some men to engage with the medical profession. The practice raises issues relating to the nature of “primary” and “whānau” care, accessibility of medical services and medications, adherence to medication regimes and the dynamics of doctor–patient relations.

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Improving Indigenous health through better medication management: an overview

Cited by 5 publications

References 12 publications

Better medication management for Indigenous Australians: findings from the field

Better medication management for Indigenous Australians: findings from the field

Improving coordination of care for Aboriginal people with mental health, alcohol and drug use problems: progress report on an ongoing collaborative action research project

Māori Men and the Indirect Procurement and Sharing of Prescription Medications

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