The Dilemma Facing Developed Nations around the World - Literature review Example

Running Head: Political Science The Dilemma Facing Developed Nations around the World Name Institution Date Table of Contents Executive Summary..................................................................................................3 1. Introduction...............................................................................................................4 1.1 Definition of the issue.....................................................................................4 1.2 Rational...........................................................................................................5 1.3 Scope...............................................................................................................5 2. Overview of the Issues..........................................................................................6 2.1 Economic.........................................................................................................6 2.2 Political.............................................................................................................7 2.3 Epidemiologic...................................................................................................8 2.4 Sociological......................................................................................................9 3. Conclusion................................................................................................................9 4. Recommendations..................................................................................................10 References..............................................................................................................11 Executive Summary This report examines the dilemma facing developed nations around the world and how it has hit Australia. It is also aimed at providing information on how the government has participated in ensuring that effective health care is provided to the aging populating with chronic illnesses such as dementia and cancer. This report seeks to establish the deficiencies in the health care system in Australia that has contributed to inefficiency and low productivity in Australian hospitals. It also recommends on the best practices that hospitals and health care providers should adopt to improve the situation of health care in hospitals. There are many controversies that the government is experiencing in terms of funding the health sector. One of the biggest dilemmas is funding the health care system to meet aging patients with chronic illnesses such as dementia and cancer expectations. The government is raising $ 10bn through the Medicare Levy and spends $ 20bn within a year on Medicare. There are increased reported cases of dementia and cancer among the older population in Australia. Today, there are one hundred and seventy people diagnosed with dementia every week and this number is expected to rise up to 7,500 per week in the year 2050. The increase in these cases has posed a big challenge for the government and the nation as a whole economically, socially and politically. The controversies underlying the government budget has influenced delays in effective measures and best practice in the medical system. There have been difficulties in burgeoning health care expenditure because many factors that drive up the cost of health care exist. Most of these factors are usually rooted in the complex health system whereby many of the activities are beyond government control. The report found out that, careful management of the government spending on the health care system will contribute a lot in improving productivity in hospitals in Australia. The report established that, there are untapped potential in the health care system in Australia as a result of funding deficiency. Therefore, it is recommended that the government facilitates the translation of research into practice in the health care system. The government must also encourage hospitals to adopt a functioning electronic health record. Research needs to be carried out to identify best practices and especially provision of advanced care. Local health facilities are also encouraged to join primary health care networks that help them in building relationships for the improved productivity of hospitals. The Dilemma Facing Developed Nations around the World 1. Introduction According to the National Institute on Aging (2010: p5), developed nations all over the world are facing a dilemma in dealing with the aging population who have complex medical and care needs. This dilemma has imposed many questions to government’s and health institutions on how to ensure that the aging people have a sense of well being which is sustainable, good health, extended time in social engagement as well as productivity. Older people with complex health issues are associated with illness, disability as well as dependency and are affecting the Australian nation in terms of health care needs, social costs and fiscal costs (Australian Government, 2013:p.238). 1.1 Definition of the Issue The Alzheimer's Association (2014) describes dementia as a situation where the mental ability of a person declines to a level of interfering with the daily life of that person. The National Cancer Institute (2014) argues that, cancer is the abnormal division of cells without control with the capability of invading other body tissues. The future of these illnesses affecting the health care system and the government is inevitable. The Department of Health (2013:p2) describe that, there is a big challenge of fighting dementia and cancer. As a nation, Australia has to wake up to fight back on these greatest pressures on health care systems, the government as well as families. 1.2 Rational In his speech, the Minister of Health, Hon Peter Dutton argued that, the increasing number of aging population with complex health illnesses such as dementia and cancer in Australia, demands an early adoption of new medical technologies and listings of life saving medicines. This aged and ill population is affecting the nation both economically, politically and socially. This report will discuss these issues and emphasize on the role of the government and the health care system in Australia in addressing the emerging issues. As described by the National Institute on Aging (2010: p5), to effectively deal with dilemma of dementia and cancer among the older population, developing appropriate data systems as well as carrying out research is inevitable. Therefore, this report answers the impeding dilemma facing developed nations around the world. 1.3 Scope This report aims at assessing the emerging issues in Australia as one of the developed nations of the world and describing how the government and the health care system should intervene in dealing with dilemma as a result of dementia and cancer among the older people. 2. Overview of the Issues 2.1 Economic According to Australian Broadcasting Corporation (2014), there are controversies in the government budget that affects productivity in the health sector. Controversies of the health budget are being experienced because; the system requires doctors to be paid in order to see patients after every visit (Parliament of Australia, 2011). Duckett (2014) notes that, structural changes are necessary to improve provision of health care by encouraging the aging population with chronic illnesses access the necessary professional skills. The AARP Foundation (2009: p.11) noted that, the increase in prevalence of chronic illnesses have increased the health spending pressure. To respond to these challenges, the government adopted a seven dollar co-payment proposal that resulted to shifting costs rather than saving them. The World Health Organization (2010: p.62) argue that, another controversy has been experienced in how waste is attacked. Billions of dollars are being wasted in inefficiencies that are being experienced in how the hospitals are utilizing their skilled health staff and the way pharmaceuticals are being paid. It therefore becomes difficult to prune waste because a dollar wasted in health spending represents someone’s income, revenue or even profits. Therefore, eliminating waste in hospitals should be a political priority by the government. 2.2 Political As suggested by the Minister of health, the government has a responsibility of funding health challenges resulting from dementia and cancer. This is highly supported by the Parliament of Australia (2011) whereby the government should make reforms in the Australian health system by introducing new methods of financing and sustaining health care in the coming years, use of effective programs to reduce unnecessary spending and use of the hospital fund approach. According to Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council (2011:p1) there exist inconsistencies in the legal standing of the advance care directives in Australia. The reason is that, there is no case law that provides direction concerning the legality of an advanced care directive and how it should be followed practically. Therefore, different people interpret differently the advance care directives. There is untapped potential in the health sector to improve health outcomes as well as efficiency of costs in the health care system. This was confirmed by Grant Makers Health (2012:p.2) who described that a wide range of health professionals have untapped potential which is useful in delivering efficient health care in hospitals. In addition, research is not translated into practice due to limited funding and this affects the achievement of greater productivity in hospitals. The government can intervene and work with hospitals to help in achieving a better value for money by increasing productivity in the hospital. The Melbourne Health Research Community (2011:p8) demonstrate that, hospitals need to be empowered in translating research into practice by facilitating the translation of discovery. 2.3 Epidemiologic The Minister said that, despite the government spending quite a huge amount of money on inpatient care, the death of dementia patients is increasing. Alzheimer's Australia (2014) describe that, the people living with dementia in Australia are over 330, 000. According to the Deloitte report (2011: p.10) 266,574 Australians were diagnosed with dementia in the year 2011. This number is expected go higher by three and half times in the year 2050 (Alzheimer's Statistics, 2014:p.10). The estimate provided by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2012:p13) is that, in the year 2011, 298,000 Australian people were diagnosed with dementia. It was also projected that the number will grow and triple up to 900,000 by the year 2050. With the above described statistics, it is clear that, dementia is a threatening health illness in Australia and the government as well as the health care system must work together to deal with this life threatening disease among the aging population. Additionally, many deaths in Australia occur due to dementia. As described by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2012:p23), dementia accounted for 9,003 deaths in the year 2010. Even after funding inpatients, the government does not have the prospects that these patients will survive. This is a wakeup call for the government to intervene and provide emergency funds that assist in reducing deaths resulting from complications of dementia. According to the minister, Australians have a low up take of advance care plans that help in dealing with cancer patients. The Advance Care Directives Framework (2011) notes that there has been a low uptake of advance care directives in Australia because people may not be aware of them and do not understand how the advance care planning programs are used. 2.4 Sociological According to the Minister, many of the Medicare locals are doing a good job but they do not feature in any primary health network. Due to this, there has been a challenge of transparency to these Medicare locals that slows the achievement of improved outcomes and investment into health care models that are preventive. The involvement in a primary health care network improves the relationship between nurses, allied health professionals and doctors and this improves patient outcomes. According to Standing Council on Health (2013:p.2), establishing mechanisms of local governance, for example Local Hospital Networks and Medicare Local primary health care organizations improves responsibility as well as accountability of health care providers at a local level. 3. Conclusions This report demonstrates the impending dilemma that the Australian government is facing as a result of ineffective measures that are available to deal with the life threatening dementia and cancer disease. The described economic, political, epidemiologic, as well as social issues are evidence that much needs to be done by the government of Australia to come out of this dilemma. 4. Recommendations The report recommends that; 1. Health care professionals should carry out their practice based on evidence. Performing research is highly recommended before health care services are delivered to patients. 2. This report also recommends that, the research carried out by hospitals should be translated into practice for the purpose of improving health outcomes. The government has a responsibility to facilitate the translation of research into practice in hospitals. 3. The government is recommended to encourage nurses and other health care providers in hospitals to educate ageing patients with chronic illnesses the importance of having advance care plans 4. Hospitals are also recommended to embrace an OPT electronic health record which is approved by the government. This will assist in maintaining meaningful data about the patients and improving the management of their health care needs. 5. Medicare locals are also encouraged to join primary health care networks that will help them in establishing relationships with other health care professionals. References AARP Foundation. (2009). Chronic Conditions among Older Americans. Chronic Care: A Call to Action for Health Reform. Retrieved from http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/health/beyond_50_hcr_conditions.pdf Advance Care Directives Framework. (2011). A National Framework for Advance Care Directives. The Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council. Retrieved from http://www.ahmac.gov.au/cms_documents/AdvanceCareDirectives2011.pdf Alzheimer's Association. (2014). What is Dementia? Retrieved from http://www.alz.org/what-is-dementia.asp Alzheimer's Statistics. (2014). Statistics. Retrieved from https://fightdementia.org.au/about-dementia-and-memory-loss/statistics Australian Government. (2013). An Aging Australia: Preparing the Future. Productivity Commission Research Paper. Retrieved from http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/129749/ageing-australia.pdf Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2012). Dementia in Australia. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Retrieved from http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=10737422943 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (2014). Fact Check: Health Minister Peter Dutton's Dementia Facts Flawed. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-13/peter-dutton-dementia-facts-flawed/5734256 Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council. (2011). A National Framework for Advance Care Directives. Retrieved from http://www.ahmac.gov.au/cms_documents/AdvanceCareDirectives2011.pdf Deloitte Access Economics. (2011). Dementia Across Australia: 2011-2050. Retrieved from https://fightdementia.org.au/sites/default/files/20111014_Nat_Access_DemAcrossAust.pdf Department of Health. (2013). Dementia: A State of the Nation Report on Dementia Care and Support in England. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/262139/Dementia.pdf Duckett, S. (2014). Australian Health Care: Where Do We Stand Internationally? Academic Rigour, Journalistic Flair. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/australian-health-care-where-do-we-stand-internationally-30886 Grant Makers Health. (2012). Transforming Health Care Delivery: Why It Matters And What It Will Take. Retrieved from http://www.gih.org/files/FileDownloads/Transforming%20Health%20Care%20Delivery%20Primer%20March%202012.pdf Melbourne Health Research Community. (2011). Why is it in Australia’s interest to have a viable, internationally competitive health and medical research sector? McKeon Review. Retrieved from http://www.mckeonreview.org.au/sub/261_Melbourne_Health_Research_Community.pdf National Institute on Aging. (2010). Global Health and Aging. U.S Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from http://www.nia.nih.gov/sites/default/files/global_health_and_aging.pdf National Cancer Institute. (2014). What Is Cancer? Retrieved from http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/cancerlibrary/what-is-cancer Standing Council on Health. (2013). National Primary Health Care Strategic Framework. National Primary Health Care Strategic Framework. Retrieved from http://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/NPHC-Strategic-Framework/$File/nphc_strategic_framework_final.pdf Parliament of Australia. (2011). What are we doing to ensure the sustainability of the health system? Research Paper no. 4. Retrieved from http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1112/12rp04 World Health Organization. (2010). Chapter 4: More Health for the Money. Ten Leading Causes of Inefficiency. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/whr/2010/10_chap04_en.pdf Read More