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BlackLivesMatter in Healthcare: Racism and Implications for Health Inequity among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in Australia

Author

Listed:
  • Kathomi Gatwiri

    (Center for Children & Young People, Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University, Gold Coast, QLD 4225, Australia)

  • Darlene Rotumah

    (Gnibi College, Southern Cross University, Gold Coast, QLD 4225, Australia)

  • Elizabeth Rix

    (Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University, Gold Coast, QLD 4225, Australia)

Abstract

Despite decades of evidence showing that institutional and interpersonal racism serve as significant barriers to accessible healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, attempts to address this systemic problem still fall short. The social determinants of health are particularly poignant given the socio-political-economic history of invasion, colonisation, and subsequent entrenchment of racialised practices in the Australian healthcare landscape. Embedded within Euro-centric, bio-medical discourses, Western dominated healthcare processes can erase significant cultural and historical contexts and unwittingly reproduce unsafe practices. Put simply, if Black lives matter in healthcare, why do Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples die younger and experience ‘epidemic’ levels of chronic diseases as compared to white Australians? To answer this, we utilise critical race perspectives to theorise this gap and to de-center whiteness as the normalised position of ‘doing’ healthcare. We draw on our diverse knowledges through a decolonised approach to promote a theoretical discussion that we contend can inform alternative ways of knowing, being, and doing in healthcare practice in Australia.

Suggested Citation

  • Kathomi Gatwiri & Darlene Rotumah & Elizabeth Rix, 2021. "BlackLivesMatter in Healthcare: Racism and Implications for Health Inequity among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-11, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:9:p:4399-:d:540204
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ford, C.L. & Airhihenbuwa, C.O., 2010. "Critical race theory, race equity, and public health: Toward antiracism praxis," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(S1), pages 30-35.
    2. Yin Paradies, 2016. "Colonisation, racism and indigenous health," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 83-96, March.
    3. Yin Paradies, 2016. "Erratum to: Colonisation, racism and indigenous health," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 197-197, June.
    4. Bastos, João L. & Harnois, Catherine E. & Paradies, Yin C., 2018. "Health care barriers, racism, and intersectionality in Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 209-218.
    5. Kathomi Gatwiri & Leticia Anderson, 2020. "Boundaries of Belonging: Theorizing Black African Migrant Experiences in Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-13, December.
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