Social Democracy and Health Care, and What About the Indigenous

The social democracy perspective believes in many attributes, a few of them being: the common or collective good is primary, the nation-state’s role is to regulate the economy a belief in levelling out society’s social and economic inequalities, and protect the environment, and also equality of condition as a social goal (Mullaly, 2007, p.123). All these aspects of social democracy contribute to Canada’s health care policy in that it is universal, and free. In this way, Canadian health care policy emphasises that health care is for the common good of society, and universal health care gives everyone a equal chance to have health care services and an equality of condition. Despite these efforts at equality, there should be more done to help Indigenous people especially, because of their declining health compared to the majority of the Canadian population.

A health survey was done in randomly selected reserves to gather data on the health of Indigenous people in Canada. The results of the survey concluded that, on average, Indigenous people’s health quality is much less then the average Canadians. The author states that, “the rates of chronic health conditions were generally higher among First Nations adults compared with the NPHS-O [National Population Health Survey – Ottawa]” (Faries et al., 2003, p.170). With Indigenous people’s health declining, more must be done to help Indigenous people and their health with more access to programs, funding, and institutions.

            In conclusion, although health care in Canada is universal and free, Indigenous people’s health is not in the same condition as the average Canadian. Indigenous people do not have equal living and quality of life conditions, and something must be done to correct the situation Indigenous people are facing.  

Desapriya, E. (2010). First Nations Health Data. Canadian Medical Association. Journal, 281. Retrieved from http://sfxhosted.exlibrisgroup.com/umanitoba?sid=sfxit.com:citation&id=doi:10.1503/cmaj.110-2028

MacMillian, H.L., Walsh, C.A., Jamieson, E., Wong, M., Faries, E.J., McCue, H., et al. (2003). The health of ontario first nations people. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 94(3), 168-168-72. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/220177307?accountid=14569

Mullaly, B. (2007). The New Structural Social Work. Canada: Oxford University Press.

-Kerri