The negative influences of colonialism still exist today. Broome (1994 pg 23) states; "the meeting of two people from different cultures is bound to be marked by misunderstanding". The nature of exchanges and responses of Europeans and Indigenous Australians happened as a gradual process throughout the early 1800's. The processes of colonisation had such an impact on those already here. It is on

As mentioned earlier, it is important to recognise Aboriginal health from social view. A social view of health is embedded within the Primary Health Care philosophy. It alters its focus to recognise the environment in which a person lives. The social view of health recognises that if people are poor, are living in an unhealthy environment or have no power over their lives, they will continue to get sick, no matter how many hospitals are built.

While Aboriginal people in Australia have been setting a benchmark in Aboriginal medical services, other people throughout the world have been looking at different ways to provide health care. They have been realising that health services were only providing adequate care for those people who had power and money. Millions of poor, homeless or powerless people throughout the world were sick or dying because their needs were not being met.

Reed and Trompt, 1991, The Health Of Aboriginal Australia, Harcourt

In 1989 the National Aboriginal Health Strategy was released and endorsed by all health and Aboriginal Affairs ministers. It was the biggest and most comprehensive report into Aboriginal health that had ever been undertaken. Its overall aim was to work towards increasing the access of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People to health services by the year 2000. It strongly supported the role of Aboriginal Health Workers and the development of Primary Health care services in Aboriginal communities. The report recognised that the most successful services are those that are controlled by the community rather than by government departments.

To understand the impact on ones health, it's important to conceptualise the meaning of health and what it means to have a 'healthy lifestyle'. The Macquarie Dictionary (1993 pg 189) defines the meaning of health as (1. ' Soundness of body; Freedom from disease or ailment') or (2. 'The general condition of the body or mind'). Western medicine tends to use a disease model for treating patients with more activity centred on a particular illness or focus on a part of a body that is abnormal. The World Health Organisation defines health as; "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". In other words, it is not just the absence of sickness and disease, but a complete state of physical, mental, social wellbeing'. One could argue that this definition does not cover the aspect of spiritual wellbeing.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)