HEALTH outcomes for Indigenous people could be drastically improved by increasing access to cultural medicines through Medicare and the PBS, according to Southern Cross University researcher and Truwulway woman, Dr Alana Gall (pictured), and pharmacist Mike Stephens of NACCHO.
Cultural medicines, also called bush medicines, can include specific foods or plants as medicine, traditional healers, ceremonial or spiritual practices, or connecting with Country.
New research led by Dr Gall highlights the need to "decolonise healthcare" by including cultural medicines in Australia's mainstream healthcare, key to closing the gap.
The findings are based on an expert review of 52 national health policies that guide the practice of registered health professionals, Aboriginal health workers and Indigenous liaison officers.
"My community at large is either using or wants to use our cultural medicines, but access is low," said Dr Gall, pointing out that 90% want to access it but cannot.
"Our cultural medicines connect us back to our culture from the beginning of time, having clear impact on the cultural determinants of health.
"We need to look at increasing our access to it."
Dr Gall said the Australian healthcare system follows a biomedical approach to health, which has seen cultural medicines "largely and conspicuously absent" from policies that guide practice.
"A lack of national leadership and of clear definitions mean there is also a disproportionate onus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healthcare workers to be the keepers of knowledge about cultural medicines, which is often not practical nor appropriate," Dr Gall said.
Stephens, a pharmacist and Director of Medicines Policy and Program at the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), said policy and practice need to change.
"Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the first doctors and pharmacists of this country," Stephens said.
"The healing and wellbeing that can be derived from these practices and medicines should not be understated or forgone in conversations around healthcare."
Dr Gall said better training and information on this issue is needed for all healthcare professionals, on a national level.
"By including cultural medicines in Medicare and even the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, we could empower both Indigenous and non-Indigenous professionals while also protecting the Indigenous knowledge associated with the medicines," she concluded.
The paper was published today in First Nations Health and Wellbeing - The Lowitja Journal - see HERE. KB
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