Literature review

Submitted to Kate Puls

On 11/11/11 Due Date 18/11/11

JOHN C JOHN

ID NO 08529

Literature Review
Introduction: Indigenous people of Australia experience inconsistent troubles of ill health due to the harmful intake of volatile substances like alcohol, kava etc .Volatile substances are a type of psychoactive drug. Psychoactive drugs are drugs taken for satisfaction that act on the brain to alter the way we think, feel or act. The authors Urquhart B Thomson N.Midford, Maclean and Wilson M Steame try to depict the killing effect of volatile substance abuse. KAVA is a psychoactive substance that is very widely used in the northern territory of Australia by the indigenous population. The review of the Use of KAVA among Indigenous Population gives focus on the legal issues like banning the importation of KAVA and discusses about the advantage and disadvantage of KAVA in Australia. The author of the journal, the harmful use of alcohol amongst indigenous Australians try to explains the social and health problems experienced from alcohol abuse. Also describes the steps to make aware the public about the deteriorating after effects of alcohol consumption and interventions to minimise risk factors. The author looks into the historical aspect of alcohol abuse. And the author states that not all alcohol use is misuse. And finally the Review of Volatile Substance Use among Indigenous People portrays some of the common drugs misused. Author gives emphasis to illustrate the volatile substance causes wreckage in home-grown population. It also points up the misuse and its impact on the individual. And the review initiates The Council OF Australian Governments to bring about dramatic changes to have a healthy community ahead. Volatile substance abuse and alcohol abuse and its delirious effect on the society is very relevant in the nursing field as it gives a scaffold to show miracles by transforming individuals through their immense knowledge in health education. Analysis of the journals The peer reviewed journal on volatile substance use among indigenous people go over the main points obtained from research and study that make it more reachable to individuals engaged in indigenous health in Australia. The reports are authored by Peter d Abbs and Sarah Maclean. At room temperature these chemical compounds produce smoke. These inhalants are central nervous system depressants. The deliberate consumption this alters the level of consciousness. The after-effects of the inhalation of volatile substance like medical effects, long term effects or chronic effects and usage during pregnancy affects the unborn baby very badly.
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In a global point of view VSU is a renowned problem. Some of the reasons for VSU are marginalisation and scarcity. Among the majority of aboriginals VSU has become an act of attainment of pleasure and excitements. In remote areas petrol sniffing or chroming is most prevalently in use. The pinnacle age of getting addicted to VSU is 12. Not only the user is affected by VSU its a wider community get influenced. They may be family of user, local community, and even the whole society is indulged very seriously. Authors put forward certain steps to reduce the VSU. The first action to curb VSU is the modification of product by substitution of harmful compounds with more compassionate options. A study in UK found that reformulating the chemicals reduced mortality rate. And another one is to limit the sale of product. Many awareness programmes are introduced to alleviate VSU. They are Healthy Aboriginal Health Team (HALT), Petrol Link-up And the Central Australian Youth Link-up Services (CAYLUS), Makin Tracks, Cairns Inhalant, Action Group and Education Recreation And Training programs. Many measures taken were in futile. The outcome of treatment given is very poor. Certain parameters were put forwarded by The Victorian Department of Human Services. One of the pivotal guidelines is to make aware the volatile substance users about the deteriorating effect of VSU. The review on the harmful use of alcohol amongst indigenous Australians illustrates the patterns of alcohol abuse, levels of alcohol abuse, mortality rate and causes for alcohol consumption. It is said that aboriginals pass away earlier than other due to harmful intake of alcohol. The author says that the lifestyle makes an individual to consume alcohol. Many interventions are put in practice to develop a safe and healthy drinking practice in Australia. In primary prevention the goal is to educate individuals, parents and community. Another plan to achieve success was to restrict the supply of alcohol. And the secondary prevention aims at educating aborigines on the harms of alcohol abuse. The intervention is to just reduce harm. Finally tertiary intervention is to reduce the harms from consuming alcohol. The journal also describes about certain measures that can be taken to reduce alcohol consumption. The review on the use of kava among indigenous people depicts the use and abuse of kava, its impact on health, social and emotional wellbeing and restriction on the use of kava. Heavy users of kava experienced shortness of breath, loss of body weight etc. The researches on kava reveal that it affects temporary motor functioning and often causes seizures. In view of the fact that kava use is extremely to a large extent component of daily culture and existence, persuading people to alter their manners and kava consumption is a major responsibility.
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Responsibilities of nurse: The nurse deals with alcohol misuse should have the competency standards. The core competency standards needed to work with adults are health and safety, continuing professional development, principles of care, communication skills and psychology. And For those functioning with children and juvenile, the mainstay competencies are child and adolescent progress, preservation children and uphold wellbeing, effective communication and commitment towards obligations. The concerned nurse should have the basic awareness on the signs and symptoms of volatile substance abuse. The nurse has to be well competent enough to refer people suffering from volatile substance abuse problems to the proper channel. Nurse has to realise the threats of VSA to the family of the individual and community. He/she should have basic knowledge to perform assessment and plan intervention and also one should well competent to take proper decision on final treatment. And moreover one should be knowledgeable about the use and abuse of volatile substances. The significant role of the nurse is to give health education to the people on the prevalence of VSA, the ways VS gets abused and the products, the after-effects of VSA, the signs and symptoms of VSA, probable motivations for abuse, handling of emergency situation and knowledge on legislation in the country. Nurse should act accordingly to alleviate the use of alcohol, kava and any other kinds of volatile substances among the indigenous population to have better future free of substance abuse. Conclusion: The interventions taken by the governments or other authorities were not that successful at all times. The authors of the three journals are very much concerned about adverse effects of the substance abuse. They put forward many significant suggestions to diminish the alcohol abuse among aboriginals. To put it in a nutshell, the entire humanity has to go hand in hand to find a solution for this life threatening habits. A large number of legislations have been introduced by the Australian government to make down the social and health harms linked with substance abuse. William M mentions in his journal that the implementations taken by the concerned authorities are not put in action. The steps taken should have socio-economic advantages for each of the individual.

Reference
Journal on volatile substance use among indigenous people, retrieved from, http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/health-risks/volatile-substance
Journal on the use of kava among indigenous people, retrieved from,

http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/health-risks/illicitdrugs/publications/kava
Journal on the harmful use of alcohol amongst indigenous Australians, retrieved from,

http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/health-risks/illicit-drugs/plainlanguage/review-of-illicit-drug-use-among-indigenous-peoples