“That Heart Sickness”: Young Aboriginal People’s Understanding of Rheumatic Fever

Alice G. Mitchell; Suzanne Belton; Vanessa Johnston; Wopurruwuy Gondarra; Anna P. Ralph

doi:10.1080/01459740.2018.1482549

“That Heart Sickness”: Young Aboriginal People’s Understanding of Rheumatic Fever

Alice G. Mitchell^*, Suzanne Belton, Vanessa Johnston, Wopurruwuy Gondarra, Anna P. Ralph

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

High rates of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Australia predominate in young Aboriginal people highlighting underlying racial and equity issues. This article focuses on the perceptions of the disease among young Aboriginal people living in remote Australia. Participant understanding was constrained by clinicians’ use of language rooted in biomedicine and delivered through English, a second language for all participants. Clinicians’ communicative competency is a social determinant of Aboriginal health. We recommend that the use of Aboriginal languages be prioritized in health services caring for Aboriginal people and that biomedical dominance in the services be relinquished.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-14
Number of pages	14
Journal	Medical Anthropology: Cross Cultural Studies in Health and Illness
Volume	38
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2018.1482549
Publication status	Published - 2 Jan 2019

Access to Document

10.1080/01459740.2018.1482549

Cite this

@article{75452ac5ccd84dfeb1eeb848fac34e66,

title = "“That Heart Sickness”: Young Aboriginal People{\textquoteright}s Understanding of Rheumatic Fever",

abstract = "High rates of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Australia predominate in young Aboriginal people highlighting underlying racial and equity issues. This article focuses on the perceptions of the disease among young Aboriginal people living in remote Australia. Participant understanding was constrained by clinicians{\textquoteright} use of language rooted in biomedicine and delivered through English, a second language for all participants. Clinicians{\textquoteright} communicative competency is a social determinant of Aboriginal health. We recommend that the use of Aboriginal languages be prioritized in health services caring for Aboriginal people and that biomedical dominance in the services be relinquished.",

keywords = "Aboriginal languages, communicative competency, medical dominance, rheumatic fever, rheumatic heart disease, social determinants",

author = "Mitchell, {Alice G.} and Suzanne Belton and Vanessa Johnston and Wopurruwuy Gondarra and Ralph, {Anna P.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018, {\textcopyright} 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.",

year = "2019",

month = jan,

day = "2",

doi = "10.1080/01459740.2018.1482549",

language = "English",

volume = "38",

pages = "1--14",

journal = "Medical Anthropology: Cross Cultural Studies in Health and Illness",

issn = "0145-9740",

publisher = "Taylor and Francis Ltd.",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - “That Heart Sickness”

T2 - Young Aboriginal People’s Understanding of Rheumatic Fever

AU - Mitchell, Alice G.

AU - Belton, Suzanne

AU - Johnston, Vanessa

AU - Gondarra, Wopurruwuy

AU - Ralph, Anna P.

PY - 2019/1/2

Y1 - 2019/1/2

N2 - High rates of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Australia predominate in young Aboriginal people highlighting underlying racial and equity issues. This article focuses on the perceptions of the disease among young Aboriginal people living in remote Australia. Participant understanding was constrained by clinicians’ use of language rooted in biomedicine and delivered through English, a second language for all participants. Clinicians’ communicative competency is a social determinant of Aboriginal health. We recommend that the use of Aboriginal languages be prioritized in health services caring for Aboriginal people and that biomedical dominance in the services be relinquished.

AB - High rates of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Australia predominate in young Aboriginal people highlighting underlying racial and equity issues. This article focuses on the perceptions of the disease among young Aboriginal people living in remote Australia. Participant understanding was constrained by clinicians’ use of language rooted in biomedicine and delivered through English, a second language for all participants. Clinicians’ communicative competency is a social determinant of Aboriginal health. We recommend that the use of Aboriginal languages be prioritized in health services caring for Aboriginal people and that biomedical dominance in the services be relinquished.

KW - Aboriginal languages

KW - communicative competency

KW - medical dominance

KW - rheumatic fever

KW - rheumatic heart disease

KW - social determinants

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85052083718&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/01459740.2018.1482549

DO - 10.1080/01459740.2018.1482549

M3 - Article

SN - 0145-9740

VL - 38

SP - 1

EP - 14

JO - Medical Anthropology: Cross Cultural Studies in Health and Illness

JF - Medical Anthropology: Cross Cultural Studies in Health and Illness

IS - 1

ER -

“That Heart Sickness”: Young Aboriginal People’s Understanding of Rheumatic Fever

Abstract

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this