I’ve always been interested in looking at the health status of minority groups in any population, particularly the Aboriginal populations of North America and Australia. This summer I did some work experience in a rural hospital, run by 4 GPs, in an area of Canada called Port McNeill. The population there is mainly Caucasian Canadians, with a small minority of Aboriginals living in remote areas and in reserves. Here, I came across the term “acculturation” – cultural and psychological change when two cultures clash. I learned of Residential Schools back in the 60s, where 20,000 indigenous children were forcibly fostered into Caucasian middle class families or placed in residential schools. They were barred access to their families and medical histories, which negatively impacted their physical and psychological health. This acculturation has massive ramifications today in rural healthcare, with young adults especially turning to drugs and alcohol (of course its tax free on the reserves!) as their only vice. Rates of depression, STIs and suicide are massively increased in this group. The two studies below highlight the prevalence of alcohol use in the Aboriginal population, and the targeting of this acculturation to reverse the tide of such deep routed psychological issues.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22152642
http://jbd.sagepub.com/content/28/6/495.abstract
Would be interesting to hear David's thoughts and experiences?