Three methods of measuring the health of the Australian population and Essay

Three methods of measuring the health of the Australian population and use these to compare the health status of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian adults - Essay Example the indigenous people are defined â€Å"as an individual of Torres Strait Islander or Aboriginal origin that identifies as a Torres Strait Islander or Aboriginal and is accepted as such by the society in which he or she lives.† They were the first inhabitants of Australia. They have a less population compared to that of non- indigenous persons. Australias aboriginal population was estimated to be 669,900 people in 2011, which was 3% of the total population (ABS, 2013). There is an extensive gap between the health of the indigenous and the non- indigenous persons that’s contributed by various factors leading to the inequalities between them. The indigenous group is more disadvantaged as compared to the non-indigenous as stipulated by the AIHW (Australian Health 2014). The importance of this essay is to identify and describe three methods that can be used to measure the health status of both the indigenous and the non-indigenous populations in Australia. It will also help make a comparison between the two Australian groups. The methods will bring out the inequalities that exist between the two groups their differences. The three methods for the measurement of the health status in Australia that will be described in this essay are mortality and life expectancy, circulatory disease, and health risk factors. Life expectancy is an arithmetical measure of how long an organism or person may live. The statistics are obtained from mortality patterns and give information on the well-being of the community. It is given in terms of the number of years one is expected to live too but not the years of the remaining life (AIHW, 2012). In Australia, the indigenous group has a lower life expectancy as compared to the non-indigenous group across all the age groups (AIHW 2011). The death rates for the adults are higher in an indigenous group than in the non-indigenous Australians. They are vulnerable to illnesses that eventually lead to their death. Most of the indigenous deaths