Health Priorities in Australia Flashcards
Define Health
Complete physical, mental and social well-being free from illness and disease
Define Epidemiology
Study of patterns/trends of illness and disease in a population
Define Mortality Rates
Death rates in a population at any given time
Define Morbidity Rates
Disease/illness rates within a population
Define Infant Mortality Rates
Number of infant deaths in the 1st year per 1000 live births
What is the role of Epidemiology
- identify disease risk factors
- determine extent of disease/illness in community
- identify groups affected
- draw conclusions/determine if problem exists
- recommend interventions/reduce risks
- evaluate prevention strategies
- suggestions for public policy
- identify suspected causes of ill health
Who uses Epidemiology
- Nsw Health
- Hospitals
- Doctors
- NSW Department for Education
- Pharmacy
- Dep Health and Ageing
- Local Gov
- Health Promoters
- Organisations
- Anyone
Define Social Justice
Aim decrease/remove inequity from population by encourage and supporting enviro for all and promote diversity
Social Justice Principles
Hint: PPCP
- Priority Population groups (PPG)
- Prevalence of condition (POC)
- Cost to individuals/community (CIC)
- Potential for prevention and early intervention(PPEI)
What is Priority Population Groups (PPG)
Identifying groups at risk or are more generally affected by illness/death
e.g. Indigenous Aus, SocioDisadv, Aus born overc’s, elderly, peep w/ disabilities.
What is Prevalence of Condition (POC)
Number of cases in disease in pop at specific time, helps identify priority areas e.g. CVD
What is Costs to individuals and Community (CIC)
- Direct cost: hos and med xpnses, pharmaceuticals, money spent on rsrch, prevention prgs and edu
- Indirect cost: not related to health syst e.g. lost productivity, burdn carers/family, lost quantity/quality of life (emotional)
Groups experiencing health inequities
Abbo and Torres/SocioEcoDis
Determinants of health
Hint: SSE
- Sociocultural
- Socioeconomic
- Environmental
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
- Reduced quality of life
- 2.5% of the total Australian population
- Younger than the total Australian population, with 57% under the age of 25
Life expectancy for Aboriginals
Males Females
Indigenous Australians
67 73
Non-Indigenous Australians
79 83
Nature and extent of Aboriginal Problem
• Poor dental health
• Poor mental, social and emotional wellbeing
o Twice as likely to report high or very high levels of psychological stress
• Higher infant mortality rate – decreasing
• High blood pressure (1.5 times)
• Diabetes (3 times)
• Renal (kidney) disease (30 times)
• Cervical cancer (2 times)
• Cancer of the lung mouth and throat
• Injury and poisoning hospitalization (men: 1.8 times; females: 2.4)
• Bronchitis (2 times) and asthma (1.5 times)
• Syphilis (61 times)
• AIDS and HIV (60 times)
• Hospitalised due to infectious and parasitic disease (2 times)
Aboriginal Health Determinants
Sociocultural
• Lower life expectancy
• Language barrier: leads to lack of understanding and their education and literacy levels
• Aboriginal culture: hobbies and activities they take part in are known to be possibly risky behaviours
eg. smoking
Socioeconomic
• Poor education: will not learn how to read and write, which is a critical part of life
• Low levels of completed education (year 12): affect the capacity of people to use health information
• High unemployment rate: less money is being earned by them to spend on their health and buy everyday goods and services
• Poor income: reduces the accessibility of healthcare and medicines; fewer opportunities
• Poor infant diet: associated with poverty and chronic diseases later in life
• Poor diet: due to low income, it may affect their food choices.
Eg. takeaway is cheaper; no education on how to make a healthy meal
• Smoking and high-risk behaviour: low income, means less money and more money would be spent on smokes, which means it will leave less money for necessities. No education=unknown of the dangers of smoking.
Environmental
• Location: limited access to healthcare
• 25% live in rural or remote areas, therefore less access to healthcare facilities and infrastructure
• Poor transport: need to catch public transport (eg. bus, train), which may limit their distance and access to services
• Overcrowded and run-down housing is associated with poverty and contributes to the spread of communicable disease.
Role of Individuals in helping Aboriginals/Torres
- Empowerment of individuals by increase knowledge through education
- ATSIS elders work with community
Role of Communities in helping Aboriginals/Torres
- Local support group meetings (in community hall)
- Scholarships for education to private schools
- Opportunity to learn about the culture and cultural skills
Role of Governments in helping Aboriginals/Torres
Australian government health for life program to enhance primary health care
- 2008, Rudd government apology speech ‘Closing the Gap strategy’
- The Australian Government National 2009 preventable health task force Australia- the healthiest country by 2010
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Nature and Extent
- Have a higher infant mortality rate
- Less educated than higher socioeconomic groups
- Reduced life expectancy
- More likely to die from cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and lung cancer
- Higher levels of blood pressure
- More likely to smoke
- More often generally sick, and tend to avoid health/medical help or vaccinations
