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

Main Article Content

Bronwyn Fredericks

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.

Article Details

Section
Critical Indigenous Theory (Peer Reviewed)
Author Biography

Bronwyn Fredericks, Queensland University of Technology

Bronwyn Fredericks is an NH&MRC Post-Doctoral Research Fellow with Monash University; Queensland University of Technology; the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO); and the Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (QAIHC).