Mental distress can be a temporary reaction to life stress, or the beginning of a serious mental illness. It’s important to choose strategies and supports that work best for the individual.
Building safer workplaces requires leaders who understand how years of resource constraints, unhealthy work environments, abuse from patients and a pandemic have contributed to overwhelming burnout and job dissatisfaction among workers.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
The future of our health system depends on recruiting and retaining passionate and highly skilled health-care workers. It’s essential to build work environments where they feel supported and safe.
At the time Australia needs it most, there is a crisis in the workforce of psychologists trained to assess and treat brain and mental health conditions.
A recent report has found First Nations children in Victoria have better health outcomes, however culturally appropriate research can better highlight what’s going well for First Nations kids’ health.
The Northern Territory has had alcohol restrictions since 2012. These restrictions are going to be lifted in July of this year, despite concerns expressed by First Nations people in the community.
Flooding is an ongoing problem for NSW residents. Here Cabbage Tree residents prepare to evacuate their home during flooding in 2017.
Tracey Nearmy/AAP Image
Australia’s east coast flooding is forcing people to confront challenges such as evacuations and loss of property. However, Aboriginal people are being left to find their own way through this crisis.
People take a selfie after receiving a COVID vaccine at an Aboriginal vaccination Hub in Whalan, west of Sydney.
Dan Himbrechts/AAP Images
There have been many barriers for Aboriginal communities to access the vaccine during the pandemic. Despite this, communities are taking the lead in ensuring everyone gets vaccinated.
Indigenous community members receiving a Covid-19 vaccines at a pop-up vaccination clinic at the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence in Redfern.
Dan Himbrechts/AAP Image
Predominantly white perspectives in health practice and policy development can exclude First Nations people in some health services. This is proving evident during the COVID-19 global pandemic.
The town of Wilcannia in the far outback of New South Wales on the banks of the Darling river.
shutterstock
The COVID-19 crisis in Wilcannia demonstrates how entrenched neglect has led to a community devastated by the global pandemic.
Measures to combat COVID-19 have affected sexual and reproductive health care around the globe, including maternal and newborn care, birth control and access to abortion.
Université de Sherbrooke, Centre interdisciplinaire de développement international en santé (CIDIS)
The exceptional measures deployed around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic have impeded access to urgent services like birth control, abortion and maternal and newborn care.
A still from the animated Heart Foundation video encouraging Aboriginal people to get a heart check.
Author provided
Indigenous people in Australia experience poorer health outcomes than non-Indigenous Australians. So it’s crucial health messaging is delivered in culturally appropriate ways.
Getting a referral to palliative care can be a complicated process.
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Palliative care is about living well and meeting patients’ goals, but referral can be more complex than access to medical assistance in dying (MAID). Palliative care should be as accessible as MAID.
Inuit in the Qikiqtaaluk (Baffin) region must travel long distances south to receive specialized health-care services.
(Janet Jull)
Inuit living in their traditional territory must travel long distances — often with no personal support — for specialized health-care services like cancer care, obstetrics and dialysis.
Schizophrenia has been identified as a significant risk factor for dying of COVID-19.
(Canva)
People with schizophrenia are almost three times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those without the serious mental illness, making it second only to age as a risk factor for mortality.
Premier Scott Moe speaks after a media tour of the COVID-19 mass immunization clinic and drive-thru immunization space in Regina on Feb. 18, 2021. The province also has mobile immunization vehicles to distribute the vaccine to remote communities.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michael Bell
One important metric by which we can measure the success of our public health system: Ensuring everyone has access to immunization in their community.
While people with certain disabilities are already at higher risk for severe COVID-19, that risk is increased by elements within the health-care system.
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People with disabilities are overlooked for COVID-19 vaccine distribution and triage protocols. We need to make this group a priority and address issues that put them at risk.
With more health resources devoted to COVID-19, non-COVID patients may have unmet health-care needs, which predict poorer health in the future.
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With COVID-19 placing heavy demands on the health-care system, non-COVID patients may struggle to access care, putting women, people in poor health and those without a regular doctor at risk.
Afrobarometer Project Manager for Francophone West Africa, based at the Institute for Empirical Research in Political Economy (IREEP), African School of Economics
Professor, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology and Director, Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit, University of Saskatchewan
Avocat, enseignant et chercheur associé en droit et politiques de la santé / Lawyer, lecturer and research associate in Health Law and Policy, Université de Sherbrooke
Professor of Health, Safety and Environment, Queensland University of Technology and Professor of Practice in Environmental Wellbeing, Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Indigenous Strategy and Services) and Honorary Professor (School of Geosciences), University of Sydney