This system will be able to better integrate and coordinate the primary health care in local communities. The Australian health system is under strain. As we have heard from the AGPN, Australia has a large amount of users in the Tertiary sector and a large percentage of these have resulted due to a lack of correct intervention and management. With a 3 tiered health system, made up of primary, secondary and tertiary levels it has been shown that consumers are experiencing disconnected and fragmented care, under not just one system but many. This lack of continuity has been shown to lead to poorer health outcomes, as a result of late intervention, focusing on illness rather than wellness and as well as being frustrating to patients and their care providers it increases costs.
For example, in Australia and New Zealand indigenous people in both countries that consistently has an experience due to very poor health condition. With the increasing of people in the population that affected by the diseases in indigenous population, it will lead to the inequalities in healthcare such as the minority groups will have an unequal access to resources for health that they need to improve their health in healthcare, such as a healthy food, a good housing, medicine and others. It also impact on health whether in psychological and social condition which can damage their health. For an example, in Australia, a low income and unemployment that occur in the aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander can lead to social isolation and exclusion that influence to their health status. According to the article (Victorian Health Promotion Foundation 2005), these situations can influence whether people
The link between socio-economic status (SES) and health begins at birth and continues through life, but the strength of the relationship varies at different life stages. Studies have revealed that, in Australia: * higher socioeconomic groups have a lower infant mortality rate * higher socioeconomic groups are better educated about their health — that is, lower education is associated with higher levels of blood pressure in both sexes, higher LDL (low-density lipoproteins) cholesterol levels in women and a higher body mass index in both sexes * The decline in heart disease death rates is greater in higher socioeconomic groups * Smoking prevalence is twice as high for low SES people than those of high SES * Low SES take part in risky alcohol taking more than high SES. * lower socioeconomic groups make less use of preventative health services such as immunisation, family planning, dental checkups and Pap smears * People living in areas of relatively low socioeconomic status (SES)
The Australian government should consider significant investment in culturally sensitive Indigenous health care. Maternal health care is a social determinant for health and should be addressed in a bid to bridging the gap between Australian peoples (Evans and O’Connor, 2009, p 111). There exists new evidence suggesting an improvement in maternal and child health (Willis, Reynolds and Helen, 2008, p 12). Although significant reduction in child mortality rates have reduced in Australia, Indigenous peoples still have a higher infant mortality rate as compared to other
Nursing outcomes can be affected also: dissatisfaction, burnout, stress, injury/illness, absenteeism, turnover and vacancies. There can also be negative affects financially: unproductive workforce expenditures, lower productivity, turnover costs, agency costs, absenteeism costs, worker’s comp claims, unnecessary patient care cost, longer
Those who identify as Aboriginal maintain a lower health status than non-Aboriginal individuals, as they are more likely to suffer from depression, disease, and injury. As a result, Aboriginal individuals also have a lower life expectancy than other Canadian citizens. “According to Health Canada, in 2001 the average life expectancy for First Nations men was 70.4 years, compared to 77.1 for the general population; the corresponding figures for women were 75.5 versus 82.2” (Kirmayer & Valaskakis, 2009). The fundamental cause of these health inequalities and discrepancies can be attributed to social determinants of health. As Mikkonen and Raphael (2010) explain, simply identifying as Aboriginal has negative implications on ones health.
Sociology is playing an important role in the alarming health disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Although statistics are slowly improving, currently Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people endure much poorer health outcomes than non-Indigenous Australians. For the 2005–2007 period, life expectancy at birth was estimated to be 67 years for Indigenous males and 73 years for Indigenous females, representing gaps of 11.5 and 9.7 years, respectively, compared with all Australians. In 2008, almost one-third of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (aged 16–24 years) had high or very high levels of psychological distress. Indigenous young people died at a rate 2.5 times as high as that for non-Indigenous young people Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0–14 years died at more than twice the rate of non-Indigenous children.
“A majority of the Aboriginal people living in Victoria live well below the poverty line,” and their life expectancy is a lot lower than that of the average non-indigenous Victorian. The general health status of these people is indeed much poorer than that the rest of the Victorian population. A person or a group of peoples’ life expectancy refers to the predicted number of years they are expected to live. This is determined statistically by factors such as, General Health, living conditions and nutrition. For example the average life span/life expectancy for an aboriginal man living in Victoria is 59 years and for woman it would be 65, This is a lot less compared to the non-indigenous Victorians as the average man is predicted to live to 76 and a woman is predicted to live till 82.
Introduction Despite the progress that has been made in recent years in the quality of healthcare for the Indigenous people of Australia, there is still a considerable need for further improvements. Indigenous Australians currently endure more poor health, disability and injury than other Australians.They also die at a younger age compared with non Indigenous Australians. The socioeconomic disadvantages experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people puts them at a higher risk of exposure to behavioural and environmental health risk factors as does the higher proportion of Indigenous households that live in conditions that do not maintain good health. Many of the Indigenous people also do not have equal access to primary health care and basic medical facilities . 1.
Vulnerable Populations: The Developmentally Disabled By: Sheri Dos Santos April 24, 2011 BSHS302 Mary Ann Little Developmentally Disabled The population of the developmentally disabled is a distinct group of people that range from the mild to severely mentally challenged and physical afflictions that include; down syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, spinal bifida, and seizure disorders such as epilepsy that affect the person’s ability to perform everyday living activities of communicating, learning, tending to one’s personal needs, and living on their own. The treatment and socialization of the developmentally disabled although not perfect, has come a long way since deinstitutionalization in the 1970’s.