There is Nothing that Identifies me to that Place’: Indigenous Women’s Perceptions of Health Spaces and Places

Abstract

Indigenous women are more likely to suffer from poor health than non-Indigenous women, usually with one long term condition or several chronic diseases at once.  High psychological distress, asthma, eye problems, diabetes and heart disease are common and we are ten times more likely than non-Indigenous women to have kidney disease. Our life expectancy is sixty-three years compared to non-Indigenous women’s mortality rate of eighty-three years.  The delivery of inclusive health services is thus an important part of improving our life chances. However, even when such services are provided Indigenous women are reluctant to use them. In this article I discuss some of the impediments to the use of such services by considering how Indigenous women configure space and place in their everyday encounters within a health provision context.