Drug Addiction in Aboriginal Men

Question: Disucss about theDrug Addiction in Aboriginal Men. Answer: It is surprising to find out that many people still do not understand the reason on why or how individuals end up being addicted to drugs. However, it is important for us to ask ourselves why drug addiction or rather substance abuse is a health problem among the Aboriginal men living in Australia. These men form up part of the indigenous race in Australia where the incidences of severe health concerns such as diabetes as well as kidney diseases are rampant. For the Aboriginal men, the first decision to venture into drugs is made voluntarily without any kind of coercion. Sadly, drug addiction is a health problem that has become a concern for Australia since it has led to brain changes among indigenous Australians that later result in challenging the self-control of men. According to the literature written by Bruce Alexander (2008), drug addiction which involves the smoking of cannabis, as well as tobacco, has resulted in increased cases of the Aboriginal men being admitted to hospital s whereby their issues are linked to drug use. According to Bruce, it has become well known in Australia that the native people who use drugs compulsively have mental health challenges since smoking, as well as the use of injections, disrupts the normal functioning of the brain tissues. This paper identifies as well as discusses the social determinants of health for drug addiction or substance abuse and later identifies the potential stakeholders that one can partner with to address drug addiction and substance abuse among the aboriginal men. According to a post by WHO, social determinants of health refer to the settings that revolve around the way in which people live. Education is a social determinant of health which forms a crucial alleyway that contributes to the eligibility to snatch employment opportunities. It is through employment that people can bolster their living standards. According to the research done by the Australian Bureau dealing with statistics in 2007, it was found out that the rates of job retention for indigenous individuals stood out to be around ten, twenty, and thirty percent in years ranging from ten, eleven, and twelve respectively than that of the non-indigenous counterparts (De Crespigny et al., 2006). Similarly, in 2006, it was found out that the Aboriginal people who are aged fifteen years and above were less than half likely than the non-indigenous to have finished schooling until they reach the twelfth year. This is in comparison to twice as much as those likely to have dropped out of sch ool. Here, the inability of the Aboriginal men to access education just because they are living in rural areas makes them vulnerable to the extent of using drugs to make one feel comfortable in a stressful world. As such, the indigenous people in Australian rural areas suffer the risk of acquiring poor health since the unavailability of appropriate knowledge is a major contributor (Song et al., 2011). When education lacks aptness, there is a high chance that individuals may be made to explore the smoking of bhang and tobacco. It is evident that the Aboriginal men do not prioritize education because of the dominance of their culture and their inflexibility towards embracing western education. A couple of studies have been conducted to explore the connection existing between the outcomes of education and drug addiction. For example, a study of the Aboriginal and Torres communities in Arnhem Land brought to scholars attention that the current consumers of cannabis emerged to be less li kely to take part in education (Lee et al., 2008). Precisely, the lack of proper education is a social determinant of health for the aboriginal men that make them continue with drug or substance abuse since it is evident that those people who defected from being educated were twenty-three times more likely to become polydrug users when aged between eight and seventeen years. The Aboriginal communities are well known for living in a house where there are as many as twelve people. For this case, housing is a social determinant of health because it is hard for an Aboriginal man to leave in overcrowded houses where there are smokers and other drug users without being hooked up to indulge. Mainly, overcrowding is a factor that is associated with the broad range of health outcomes. The results are inclusive of the increased rates of smoking as well as the drinking of alcohol at dangerous levels. In 2006, data indicated that close to 25% of the Aboriginal community were at that year staying in overcrowded conditions (MacRae Hoareau, 2016). Evidently, more than one-fifth of Aboriginal households housed more than five resident people. It is common doing that when people stay together in a room for long with smokers, there is a high likelihood that an individual can be lured to start the excessive use of drugs just for social and emotional gain. This is the same for the Aboriginal men where their health has been deteriorated with drug addiction. As such, the Aboriginal men are made vulnerable to drug dependence or substance abuse due to overcrowding in houses. Even though there is nothing wrong with living communally, the rates of smoking tend out to be higher in such conditions than when one or two people live in a house. Various studies reveal a consistent and definite relationship that exists between the level of an individuals' income and the level of mortality and morbidity, whereby those with a lower standard of income have the highest degrees of morbidity as well as mortality. It was found out in 2006 that the average income of Aboriginal men only made up 56% of the equivalent revenue for non-indigenous Australians (Markwick et al., 2014). In such a way, the existence of income inequality in Australia has a link to the eruption of health problems among the Aboriginal men because stress plays a role in luring people to indulge in drug misuse. For the other countries in the world including the United States of America, the connection between a persons health status and income has been contested as low as up to the community level, which is the reverse for Australia (McBride et al., 2009). For the Aboriginal men, the long-term social exclusion by the non-indigenous communities is the reason for the increased injuries and hospitalization due to drug abuse and alcohol consumption. Income, being the social determinant of health is generally concomitant with other determinants such as employment because individuals must be employed to earn an income. Based on this argument, the lower income for the Aboriginal men is one of the stressors that leads them to drug addiction and in due course causes the eruption of various chronic health problems. One of the primary potential stakeholders that I would need to cooperate with to address drug addiction or substance abuse is the government. The Australian government is responsible in many ways for the enforcement of policies that makes illegal the use of various drugs with the capability of causing the deterioration of its citizen's health statuses. First of all, education is a sector that is controlled directly by the Australian government. As such, it can ensure that measures are put in place to enhance full cooperation of the native male population in education (Lee et al., 2013). Providing high quality and subsidized education will make it possible to reduce the rates of drug use among men, only for appropriate education that delves in this health problem. The collaboration with the government through the ministry of health will see to it that grants are provided to rehabilitate those who are already addicted to drugs. Besides, the government is responsible for the policies. A s such, collaboration with National Drug Strategy organization will increase the efficiency in which this matter is addressed both locally and globally. The policies foster the provision of national frameworks embodying various actions to cause a reduction of harms related to drug abuse in Australia using appropriate action plans. Since the regulations focus on the entire country, exercising them more on the Aboriginal men than the non-indigenous communities will work correctly in redressing drug addiction, which is a chronic disease affecting this portion of the Australian population (Robertson et al., 2012). It is important that the National Drug Strategy was designed to minimize illicit drug use by Australians as it forms a collaborative venture with the government where an emphasis is laid on drug's supply, demand, and harm reduction. Similarly, The AIHW, which stands for Australian Institute of Health as well as Welfare, is the other potential stakeholder to assist in redressing this health problem among the Aboriginal men once and for all. The role of this body is to conduct and publish the strategies to research on drug abuse by using surveys in Australia (Heffernan et al., 2016). Collaboration with this body will result in the exploration of Australians perception and opinions regarding drug addiction in general and the extent in which the addicts have been affected healthily. AIHW is concerned with an individuals approval of drug handling and the overall impact of substance abuse on mortality and the community. In addressing this health issue, the cooperation will help in shedding light on Aboriginal men's insights on tobacco and alcohol and their associated health risks. As well, the leaders of the Aboriginal community can contribute to holding campaigns directed towards achieving a reduction of drug use, wh ereby campaigners will enlighten the Aboriginal men and the community as a whole on the issues of health that erupt due to drug addiction or substance abuse (Johnson et al., 2007). It is essential to note that people believe more on those who have refrained from using drugs and are therefore ready to testify to the community on the hazardous health problems they went through while they were hooked up to the drug. As such, this will form an excellent forum where people can share their perceptions as well as opinions on the matter, which in the long run contributes to a reduction in substance abuse among the aboriginal men and the reduced incidences of suicide. In conclusion, this paper has identified and appropriately discussed the social determinants of health for drug addiction or substance abuse. It also identified the potential stakeholders that an individual or a non-governmental body could collaborate with to address this health issue among the Aboriginal men. In sum, the Aboriginal men are well known to be heavy smokers of bhang and tobacco that have a long-term impact on their health by causing chronic diseases such as kidney failures and diabetes. The SDHs which contributed to their actions includes poor education, lower level of income than non-indigenous communities, and overcrowding in households. Unemployment is also a social determinant that is linked to an individuals income as it brings with it setbacks such as stress. To address this issue, the collaboration with the government, AIHW, National Drug Strategy, and the Aboriginal community will work out to reduce this health problem. References Alexander, B. K. (2008). The globalisation of addiction: A study in poverty of the spirit. Oxford: Oxford University Press. De Crespigny, C., Kowanko, I., Murray, H., Wilson, S., Ah Kit, J., Mills, D. (2006). A nursing partnership for better outcomes in Aboriginal mental health, including substance use. Contemporary Nurse, 22(2), 275-287. Heffernan, E., Davidson, F., Andersen, K., Kinner, S. (2016). Substance use disorders among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in custody: a public health opportunity. 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