State and territory governments manage and own public hospitals, over the last decade there has been an annual 3.7% increase in hospitalisations.
The World Health OrganisationWorld Health Organisation-WHO directs and coordinates international health within the United Nations’ system. defines acute care as:
“Acute services including all promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative actions, whether orientated towards individuals or populations, whose primary purpose is to improve health and whose effectiveness largely depends on time-sensitive and frequently, rapid intervention.”Public Hospital treatment in Australia is free.
This costs taxpayers around $57 billion per year and employs around 330,000 full time staff.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) provides an interesting outline of current statistics for the care provided at Australian hospitals.
http://aihw.gov.au/hospitals/
Proportion of hospitalisation by type of care
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Social determinants such as lifestyle, location of residence, culture, gender, education level and income all influence how healthy the community is.
Good health promotion and education resources influence communities and individuals to think about their everyday lives and habits and what they can do to keep healthy
The highest mortality rates in Australia are attributed to chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Mortality due to these diseases is highly preventable. Effective preventative measures can reduce mortality rates and ease pressure on our healthcare resources.
Current preventative campaigns aim to reduce smoking, alcohol consumption and sedentary behaviour, whilst increasing physical activity and improving diet.
Historically, Australia’s focus has been on acute hospital and emergency care. The focus is now changing with funding being re-orientated from acute care to primary health care. A strong and efficient health care service is now seen to be vital to maintain healthy populations.
Primary healthcare is a multidisciplinary area focusing on health promotion, education, prevention, screening, treatments, community rehabilitation and early intervention.
Populations in rural and remote areas are reliant on primary health care, as they are likely to be restricted in accessing the services of health professionals compared to those living in central areas.
Our primary health care providers work together to address Australia’s biggest health concerns such as chronic disease, an ageing population and workforce challenges. A particular concern is the disparities in health of Australia’s First Nations People, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The government has initiated a program called Health Care Homes to coordinate patient centric care within primary health care networks.
Find out more at:
http://health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/health-care-homes-professional
Preventative models of care
Identify the modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors present for the nine health priority areas
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In modern health we can still look at the effects of Colonisation in relation to the social disadvantages faced by Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders such as powerlessness and poverty, as well as ongoing effects of tobacco and alcohol. Consider that before colonisation cardiac disease and diabetes were not part of the health concerns for Indigenous populations.
These health services are referred to as Aboriginal Controlled Community Organisations or ACCHO’s and National Peak Body for Aboriginal Health Care Centre or NACCHO’sThe National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) is a living embodiment of the aspirations of Aboriginal communities and their struggle for self-determination
The primary health care focus aims to reduce the health disparities in the Australian Indigenous Populations. The disparities include closing the gap to life expectancy, reducing chronic kidney disease and diabetes and youth suicide rates.
Successes of the ACCHO’s include: lower death rates from circulatory and respiratory diseases, declining infant mortality rate and reduced smoking.
Guiding principles as outlined by NACCHO’s are based on the Ways Forward Report (Swan & Raphael 1995).
They are:National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) (2017) About NACCHO.
http://www.naccho.org.au/about/
Health Worker Modules: This education package provides the health workforce with a basic understanding of best-practice approaches to the prevention, diagnosis and management of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease.
The package contains 5 modules, each takes approximately 30 minutes to complete.
Each module must be completed before moving to the next.
Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations
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NGO’s function independently from the government however most receive government funding to support their community health work.
NGO’s provide a mix of health care, support, research, advocacy, education, prevention strategies and contribute to good health strategies and policies
NGO’s present a multidisciplinary workforce. Often a mix of dieticians, occupational therapists, nurses and health promotion officers will work together to run health programs in the community.
The range of health professionals and services provided by non-government organisations is incredibly vast.
The following resource presents a series of interviews with representation from well known NGOs such as the Cancer Council and the Heart Foundation. Take the time to explore and listen to some of their outlines of how their organisations work to help keep the Australian population healthy.
Primary Health Care: Interviews with Professionals
http://learnline.cdu.edu.au/nursing/phc/
"Interactive body map: physical inactivity and the risks to your health"
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Physical inactivity has consistently been shown to be one of the most powerful, modifiable risk factors for all causes of death and disease, alongside smoking and obesity.
This interactive body map brings together scientific evidence on the links between lack of physical activity and disease.
Carol Maher, National Heart Foundation Senior Research Fellow in Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Sleep, University of South Australia and Tim Olds, Professor of Health Sciences,University of South Australia
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Reproduced here with permission as a creative commons license
