Rural Aboriginal Communities Research Articles

Chagas' disease in Aboriginal and Creole communities from the Gran Chaco Region of Argentina: Seroprevalence and molecular parasitological characterization

Most indigenous ethnias from Northern Argentina live in rural areas of “the Gran Chaco” region, where Trypanosoma cruzi is endemic. Serological and parasitological features have been poorly characterized in Aboriginal populations and scarce information exist regarding relevant T. cruzi discrete typing units (DTU) and parasitic loads. This study was focused to characterize T. cruzi infection in Qom, Mocoit, Pit'laxá and Wichi ethnias (N=604) and Creole communities (N=257) inhabiting rural villages from two highly endemic provinces of the Argentinean Gran Chaco.DNA extracted using Hexadecyltrimethyl Ammonium Bromide reagent from peripheral blood samples was used for conventional PCR targeted to parasite kinetoplastid DNA (kDNA) and identification of DTUs using nuclear genomic markers. In kDNA-PCR positive samples from three rural Aboriginal communities of “Monte Impenetrable Chaqueño”, minicircle signatures were characterized by Low stringency single primer-PCR and parasitic loads calculated using Real-Time PCR.Seroprevalence was higher in Aboriginal (47.98%) than in Creole (27.23%) rural communities (Chi square, p=4.e−8). A low seroprevalence (4.3%) was detected in a Qom settlement at the suburbs of Resistencia city (Fisher Exact test, p=2.e−21).The kDNA-PCR positivity was 42.15% in Aboriginal communities and 65.71% in Creole populations (Chi square, p=5.e−4). Among Aboriginal communities kDNA-PCR positivity was heterogeneous (Chi square, p=1.e−4). Highest kDNA-PCR positivity (79%) was detected in the Qom community of Colonia Aborigen and the lowest PCR positivity in two different surveys at the Wichi community of Misión Nueva Pompeya (33.3% in 2010 and 20.8% in 2014).TcV (or TcII/V/VI) was predominant in both Aboriginal and Creole communities, in agreement with DTU distribution reported for the region. Besides, two subjects were infected with TcVI, one with TcI and four presented mixed infections of TcV plus TcII/VI. Most minicircle signatures clustered according to their original localities, but in a few cases, signatures from one locality clustered with signatures from other village, suggesting circulation of the same strains in the area. Parasitic loads ranged from undetectable to around 50 parasite equivalents/mL, showing higher values than those generally observed in chronic Chagas disease patients living in urban centers of Argentina. Our findings reveal the persistence of high levels of infection in these neglected populations.

Metal mixtures in urban and rural populations in the US: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and the Strong Heart Study

BackgroundNatural and anthropogenic sources of metal exposure differ for urban and rural residents. We searched to identify patterns of metal mixtures which could suggest common environmental sources and/or metabolic pathways of different urinary metals, and compared metal-mixtures in two population-based studies from urban/sub-urban and rural/town areas in the US: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) and the Strong Heart Study (SHS). MethodsWe studied a random sample of 308 White, Black, Chinese-American, and Hispanic participants in MESA (2000–2002) and 277 American Indian participants in SHS (1998–2003). We used principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis (CA), and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to evaluate nine urinary metals (antimony [Sb], arsenic [As], cadmium [Cd], lead [Pb], molybdenum [Mo], selenium [Se], tungsten [W], uranium [U] and zinc [Zn]). For arsenic, we used the sum of inorganic and methylated species (∑As). ResultsAll nine urinary metals were higher in SHS compared to MESA participants. PCA and CA revealed the same patterns in SHS, suggesting 4 distinct principal components (PC) or clusters (∑As-U-W, Pb-Sb, Cd-Zn, Mo-Se). In MESA, CA showed 2 large clusters (∑As-Mo-Sb-U-W, Cd-Pb-Se-Zn), while PCA showed 4 PCs (Sb-U-W, Pb-Se-Zn, Cd-Mo, ∑As). LDA indicated that ∑As, U, W, and Zn were the most discriminant variables distinguishing MESA and SHS participants. ConclusionsIn SHS, the ∑As-U-W cluster and PC might reflect groundwater contamination in rural areas, and the Cd-Zn cluster and PC could reflect common sources from meat products or metabolic interactions. Among the metals assayed, ∑As, U, W and Zn differed the most between MESA and SHS, possibly reflecting disproportionate exposure from drinking water and perhaps food in rural Native communities compared to urban communities around the US.

Closing the Gap: the need to consider perceptions about drinking water in rural Aboriginal communities in NSW, Australia

A crucial objective of the Australian Government's Closing the Gap program is to improve Aboriginal health, and to achieve morbidity and mortality rates similar to those for non-Indigenous Australians. Reducing public health risks due to drinking water of unknown quality will help to close the gap. Factors such as hardness, taste, colour and odour of water may influence perceptions of risk and quality. Increased contact and familiarity with a hazard is associated with individuals becoming desensitised and habituated to its presence, so that their risk judgements may reflect their behavioural experiences. Consumption of water of unknown quality, such as rainwater, instead of treated town water in Australian Aboriginal communities may be a community norm, a part of a community's culture or a result of lack of trust in government water suppliers. Partnerships between service providers and communities can ensure that the service is responsive to community needs, is conducted in a culturally appropriate manner and is beneficial to the community. Governance of drinking water in Aboriginal communities cannot be comprehensive without active engagement of the communities involved, and greater understanding of cultural issues, perceptions and behaviours towards drinking water quality. This Perspective article reviews the literature to shed light on the need to consider New South Wales (NSW) Aboriginal perceptions about drinking water and its acceptability. We urge more dialogue and research, and a policy focus that includes partnerships with discrete NSW Aboriginal communities to develop a deeper understanding of perceptions of drinking water and encourage consumption of safe water.

Cattle Marketing Social Network among the Rural Native Community, Sarawak, Malaysia: A Qualitative Research

Social network is a very important aspect for the farmers to find the customers, finding a good offer price, finding a wide market and dominates the local market of their products. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to examine the types of social network used by these farmers in finding market. This study was conducted at District of Serian, Sarawak, Malaysia. This research employed abductive research strategy where the types of social network are constructed by the cattle farmers themselves based on their own experience and knowledge after being involved in cattle farming for 10 years. Data were collected using in-depth interviews and non-participant observation. Most of the interviews carried out took between two to three hours; however, some of the interviews took quite a long time. Sample size in this research was determined based on data saturation. Therefore, a total of nine people were chosen as informants in the study using purposive sampling and snowball sampling. Validity and reliability of the research data were determined using member check approach. All the interviews was transcribed and formatted to be entered into the Nvivo database and will be used to create categories and to index the data. Findings of the study showed that seven types of social network were used by the cattle farmers in the rural areas in marketing their livestock, namely through networks of family ties, friends, friends of friends, advertisements, radio, type of language and wholesalers. The seven types of social network are viewed to have helped them in maintaining their status quo as successful cattle farmers. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n5s1p269

Aboriginal Policing in Rural Canada: Establishing a Research Agenda

Canada’s First Nations Policing Program (FNPP) provides the funding and programmatic structure for policing 535 rural Aboriginal communities. After two decades and almost three billion (CA) dollars in expenditures, however, there has been comparatively little scholarly assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of this approach to policing. This study highlights the current state of the FNPP and we find that most government funded research has focused upon the administrative goals of the FNPP while relatively little government or scholarly attention has been paid to program outcomes. We identified three broad needs for Aboriginal policing research in Canada, including; (a) developing a research based inventory of best practices in rural and Aboriginal policing; (b) examining the efficacy of plural policing; and (c) how the study of Aboriginal policing can inform organizational theory. Each of these issues has implications for the development of research, practice, policy, and theory, and ultimately, ensuring just and fair outcomes concerning public safety for Canada’s Aboriginal peoples.

Prospective Evaluation of Unmet Needs of Rural Cancer Survivors: Comparison between Rural Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Communities

Prospective Evaluation of Unmet Needs of Rural Cancer Survivors: Comparison between Rural Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Communities

Perceptions of the Environment and Health Among Members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

Indigenous cultures perceive the natural environment as an essential link between traditional cultural practices, social connectedness, identity, and health. Many tribal communities face substantial health disparities related to exposure to environmental hazards. Our study used qualitative methods to better understand the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) members' perspectives about their environment and its connections with their health including views on environmental health hazards. Three 90-minute focus group sessions with a total of 27 participants were held to elicit opinions on meanings of health and how the environment interacts with health. A systematic text analysis was used to derive themes across focus groups. Participants expressed a holistic view of health that included environmental, physical, mental, spiritual, and social components. A healthy natural environment was identified as an essential component of a healthy individual and a healthy community. Participants also described many environmental health concerns including second-hand smoke, outdoor smoke, diesel exhaust, mold, pesticides, contaminated natural foods, and toxic wastes from the Hanford nuclear site and methamphetamine labs. Many believe the identified environmental hazards contribute to diseases in their community. The natural environment is an important resource to CTUIR members and plays an integral role in achieving and maintaining health. Knowledge about the values and concerns of the community are useful to the tribal and federal governments, health professionals, environmental health practitioners, and community members who seek to achieve sustainable and healthy rural Native communities.

Food scarcity, not economic constraint limits consumption in a rural Aboriginal community

To determine whether food scarcity or economic constraint is more strongly associated with purchasing patterns in a rural Aboriginal community. Store receipts were collected to determine money spent in the community shop across a four-month period from January to April 2006. Variability in expenditures is then studied using measures of food scarcity (days since shop loading) and economic constraint (days since payday). Parnngurr Outstation in the Western Desert of Australia. Daily gross and per-household gross expenditures at the community shop. There is a significant association between food scarcity and money spent in the shop (-42.89, confidence interval -62.62 to -23.18, P < 0.001). There is no association between economic constraint and money spent in the shop. In rural and remote communities, reliable access to food is critical to food security. Circumstantial constraints such as seasonal flooding and political insecurity can augment food access problems and put Aboriginal people at risk of malnutrition and other dietary harms.

Representations as practices: producing a native space in Sarawak, Malaysia

The study looks at historical and contemporary representations of rural native communities in Sarawak, East Malaysia. Through the analysis of representations, the study underlines the production of a distinct space for native rural communities in Sarawak and highlights its material implications. The first part of the paper focuses on representations deployed by the colonial administrations to govern native populations of Sarawak. The consequences of specific representations that produced native territorial communities based on codified customs and ethnic presuppositions are identified. Second, the paper focuses on representations deployed to support a corporate agricultural development project on customary land referred to as the Konsep Baru. It demonstrates that these representations reify essential characteristics of the native space as it was produced by colonial regimes and position native rural communities in duality with modern society. In turn, the scrutiny of representations produced by native land rights advocates in response to problematic forms of rural development in Sarawak highlights the dualisms portrayed in specific accounts and stresses their links with colonial constructions of the native space. Overall the paper suggests ways to reflect on the implication of representations about native communities in Sarawak, as representations are intertwined with development practices.

Anatomy of a closing window: Vulnerability to changing seasonality in Interior Alaska

Alaska is among the fastest warming places on Earth, and the Interior region is warming the most statewide. Significant regional-scale ecosystem services disruptions are affecting Alaska Natives’ subsistence hunting and harvest success. The well-being of rural native communities is still highly dependent on access and ability to harvest wild foods such as salmon and moose ( Alces alces gigas) among many others. Over the last decade communities in the Koyukuk-Middle Yukon (KMY) region of Interior Alaska report an inability to satisfy their needs for harvesting moose before the hunting season closes, citing warmer falls, changing precipitation and water levels, and the regulatory framework as primary causes. Through the integration of ethnographic methods to record indigenous observations and understanding of climate (IC) with analysis of meteorological data, we provide a comprehensive picture of vulnerability to recent warming trends in the Koyukuk-Middle Yukon region of Interior Alaska, one that captures more than statistical analysis of “norms” can provide. We will demonstrate how low exposure resulting in a small shift in seasonality has truly socially significant effects to people “on the ground” when community sensitivity is high because of the convergence of multiple social–ecological stressors. In this case, a seemingly small climatic exposure when combined with high social–ecological system sensitivity results in vulnerability to this climate change-related seasonality shift because of: (a) the effects on moose and the social–ecological dynamics of the system, and (b) the importance of this time of the year to meeting annual subsistence needs.

Extending Business Education Beyond Traditional Boundaries: A Case Study in Negotiated Problem Resolution in a Remote Regional Indigenous Community in Australia

It is widely accepted that the concepts and practices of management can only be of benefit when they are anchored to the contextual architecture of people, processes, structures, and technologies. The challenge of establishing a bridging program for providing managerial competencies to Australian Indigenous people has become a serious one for multinational mining companies. As the wings of globalization interact with the long-ignored reality of marginalized local milieu, a need for an innovative management education system has become a major imperative compelling multinational mining companies to work collaboratively with the government, educational institutions, and Indigenous communities. The article outlines a specific decision-making dilemma in an Indigenous context, while explaining the imperatives for educators, who have the challenging task of instructing potential graduates how to manage the unique contextuality of rural Australian Aboriginal communities. The article presents implications for large-scale modern multinationals as they move to geographically remote regions of the world where large number of marginalized local people need to be drawn into the workforce not only as an act of a social responsibility imperative, but also as sound business pragmatism.

The meaning of cancer for Australian Aboriginal women; changing the focus of cancer nursing

Aim: The purpose of the study was to explore why Aboriginal women participate in cancer screening programs but appear reluctant to following-up results, or accept medical advice about treatment. Methods: Interpretive ethnography, a qualitative methodology, was used to explore Aboriginal women’s perception of cancer, and the cultural context in which meaning was constructed and influenced treatment decision. Data collection, which occurred over two years, involved fieldwork, participant-observation, face-to-face interviews and focus groups, in two rural Aboriginal communities. Forty eight interviews were recorded from a cross section of the communities, including cancer survivors and patients, family members, health care providers and other women from the community. Results: Key findings were that Aboriginal women’s had a fearful and fatalistic attitude toward cancer, doubted the efficacy of treatment and carried an enduring ambivalence toward the authority of whiteman’s medicine. The women faced a dilemma of wanting access to cancer treatment options but feared entering hospital or clinics not attuned to their cultural needs. Conclusion: The findings highlight the need for a culture-centred approach that decentres the authority of conventional services and instead gives prominence to Aboriginal cultural values as a focal point in cancer control. It should be the responsibility of cancer nurses and others to engage with their local Aboriginal communities to build relationships that foster an exchange of learning about cultural differences that make a difference to how cancer control is practiced.

The Affects of Language Assessment Policies in Speech-Language Pathology on the Educational Experiences of Indigenous Students

The role and significance of speech-language pathology (SLP) is not often considered in studies of language planning. SLP has tended to be considered more as an issue for health policy than for language policy. However, the health focus of SLP does interact with language planning especially in education where SLP assessments have implications for language-in-education planning in local contexts and in the development of literacy programmes and educational interventions in schools. It is in the case of assessment in educational contexts in which the concerns of SLP and language planning come closest together. This paper will discuss the implementation of language assessment policies within one rural Aboriginal community school in Australia. These policies have had the effect of medicalising non-standard language systems and increasing existing power imbalances between the Aboriginal people and the non-Aboriginal education system. This has resulted in significant detrimental impacts being experienced by the individual children who have been tested in accordance with these language assessment policies.

Identifying psychosocial mediators of health amongst Indigenous Australians for the Heart Health Project

Objective. The Heart Health Project is an ongoing community-directed health promotion programme encompassing the collection of health-related data and interventions promoting cardiovascular health. Following research which has emphasised the importance of psychological factors including mastery, or personal control, in mitigating cardiovascular health outcomes, this qualitative study explored whether such constructs were relevant from Indigenous perspectives, or whether there were other, more meaningful and relevant psychosocial factors identified by participants that should be incorporated into models of Indigenous health and which could be effective targets for change. Design. The study fits within the broader participatory action research design of the Heart Health Project. Data comprised 30 in-depth interviews with members of a rural Aboriginal community in south-eastern Australia to identify psychosocial factors relevant to their health. Interviews were semi-structured and carried out by two interviewers, one Aboriginal and one non-Aboriginal. Qualitative analysis using QN6 software resulted in a number of salient themes and sub-themes. These are summarised using extracts from the data. Results/Conclusions. Five major themes and 15 sub-themes emerged from data analysis. The findings indicated that while a sense of control may be one factor impacting on health and health behaviours, there were other factors that participants spoke about more readily that have specific relevance to the social and cultural context of Indigenous health. These included history, relationship with mainstream and connectedness. These may be worthy of further empirical investigation and are likely to assist in the design of community health promotion interventions for Aboriginal people.

The Affects of Language Assessment Policies in Speech-Language Pathology on the Educational Experiences of Indigenous Students

The role and significance of speech-language pathology (SLP) is not often considered in studies of language planning. SLP has tended to be considered more as an issue for health policy than for language policy. However, the health focus of SLP does interact with language planning especially in education where SLP assessments have implications for language-in-education planning in local contexts and in the development of literacy programmes and educational interventions in schools. It is in the case of assessment in educational contexts in which the concerns of SLP and language planning come closest together. This paper will discuss the implementation of language assessment policies within one rural Aboriginal community school in Australia. These policies have had the effect of medicalising non-standard language systems and increasing existing power imbalances between the Aboriginal people and the non-Aboriginal education system. This has resulted in significant detrimental impacts being experienced by the individual children who have been tested in accordance with these language assessment policies.

Addressing Aboriginal Mental Health Issues on the Tiwi Islands

This paper provides an overview of the services developed in response to the unique mental health needs of a remote Aboriginal community. We describe an evolving service on the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory and the challenges that need to be addressed if the community is to continue to take a leading role in dealing with mental health issues. The Tiwi Mental Health Service demonstrates that community members are able to identify needs and respond accordingly if they are provided with the relevant information and supported in their decision-making process. The establishment of social governance mechanisms and the long-term commitment by a change agent to facilitate the empowerment process are important keys to success. The main challenge in establishing services in rural Aboriginal communities is to identify and support community strengths, including leaders and cultural practices.

The Observation, Documentation, and Shared Reflection Process: Preparing Early Childhood Educators to Teach in Alaska Native Communities

The eight early childhood educators who participated in this study were admitted into a 60-credit statewide distance-delivered Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree program at the University of Alaska. All eight educators were women of Alaska Native ancestry who lived and worked in remote and rural Native communities. Seven of these teachers were employed by Head Start programs and one taught preschool for a rural school district. A major goal of the statewide distance-delivered AAS program is that participants will become skilled observers of children and learn to use observation to make decisions that foster developmentally appropriate and culturally responsive services. All the course work in our AAS degree program involves actively doing and using observations of children. This study is based on a principle that intrinsic changes can occur in program management, curriculum development, and teacher practice when teachers learn how to use observation of children rather than external evaluation to make decisions about their programs.

Improving access to medicines in urban, regional and rural Aboriginal communities - is expansion of Section 100 the answer?

The poor health of Indigenous Australians is highlighted by the fact that their life expectancy is 17 years less than that of non-Indigenous Australians. The cause of this health disparity is multifactorial, and includes the under use of health services and medications. Distance, cost, and embarrassment, or fear of seeking help from culturally inappropriate services have all contributed to the reduced health status of Indigenous Australians. The introduction of Aboriginal medical services (AMS), Aboriginal health workers, and Section 100 (S100) of the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) have been important steps towards improving Aboriginal access to health services and medications. Despite this, spending on pharmaceuticals under the PBS per capita among the Indigenous population remains significantly lower than that of the non-Indigenous population. Because Aboriginal people from all areas experience similar barriers in their access to medicines, it has been suggested that the S100 scheme be made available to all AMS. Ensuring quality use of medicines needs to be addressed because patient counselling is carried out by the clinic staff, rather than the pharmacist and, therefore, in this case the pharmacist's role converts to one of training and providing information to the AMS. This expansion of S100 services may lead Indigenous health down a path of separation from mainstream services, which in turn would require nearly no adjustment by pharmacies and pharmacists to meet the needs of Indigenous people. Unfortunately, for no known reasons, previous suggestions to improve Aboriginal people's utilisation of mainstream health services and pharmacies have not been actioned.

Partnership approach to Indigenous primary health care and diabetes: a case study from regional New South Wales

Partnership approach to Indigenous primary health care and diabetes: a case study from regional New South Wales

A community‐based sports massage course for Aboriginal health workers

To pilot a community-based and owned sports massage course for Aboriginal health workers (AHWs). Descriptive, pilot educational intervention study. Rural, Indigenous Australian community. AHWs working in a rural community. Cultural and logistical acceptability of the program to AHWs. The course was delivered within a culturally acceptable framework with applicability for the evaluation of sports massage skills and knowledge changes in a larger sample. The sports massage course demonstrated its applicability in this rural Aboriginal community and it has the potential to be adapted and adopted in other similar settings.