Health care outcomes are a social issue, not just an individual responsibility - Essay Example

 “Health care outcomes are a social issue, not just an individual responsibility" Introduction Many people have the false belief that healthcare issues have individual dimensions alone and the society has nothing to do with it. In their opinion, individuals should take care of their health and society has lest role to play in protecting the health of the people. For example, an individual who practices unhygienic or unhealthy food habits may develop many diseases and it is illogical to blame society for that. However, it should be noted that individuals constitute a society and therefore any problems occurred to the individuals could affect the society in many ways. Many of the diseases have the ability to spread from one person to another in quick succession and even those who took precautions, may become victims of diseases because of the mistakes of other people. Different people may have different social and economic backgrounds, especially in the current globalized multicultural environment. These inequalities in social and economic status can prevent people from acquiring adequate healthcare services from the government. For example, in Australia, “primary health care is delivered through a mix of Commonwealth, state and territory government funding and private funding, and publicly and privately delivered services”(Primary Health Care Reform in Australia, 2009, p.14). Even though rich people can afford all these healthcare services, poor people may struggle to get services from private healthcare since private healthcare insurance is not covered under the Medicare scheme. It should be noted that Medicare scheme was introduced in Australia in 1984 with an intention to provide affordable healthcare to all people irrespective of rich and poor. This paper critically analyses the individual and social dimensions of healthcare outcomes. Individual and social dimensions of healthcare outcomes “Although governments have produced a number of health resources in multiple languages, there is limited information in regard to the availability of translation services when a patient is visiting a doctor” (Primary Health Care Reform in Australia, 2009, p.37). The above statistics clearly suggest that many of the immigrant communities in Australia are struggling to get adequate healthcare benefits from the government. Australia is a country which is running short of skilled professionals in many employment sectors. For example, a substantial portion of the nurses working in Australian hospitals are from overseas countries. It is impossible for Australia to think in terms of localization in Australian hospitals. However, many of these overseas nursing professionals who provide great services to save the lives of Australians are struggling to get adequate health benefits from the government. Majority of the nurses working in Australian hospitals are females and they are ageing. “The average age of people employed in health occupations in 2006 was 42 years, 3 years older than other people in the workforce”(Primary Health Care Reform in Australia, 2009, p.12). The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has developed a guide to help policy makers and managers with culturally competent policy and planning at all levels of the health system. The guide draws together evidence on programs for increasing cultural competence and research on influences and determinants of healthy living and environments, within culturally and linguistically diverse communities (Cultural competency in health, 2005, p.2). In a heavily globalized world, the exchange of workforce and immigration are taking place rapidly. The interdependence of global economy made immigration and cross cultural economic activities inevitable. The expatriate population or the immigrant community should be considered with same respect as given to the locals when the authorities formulate healthcare policies. Obesity, harmful alcohol consumption and tobacco use are risk factors for most of Australia’s health burden and the health-care system is straining. People with less money, less education, insecure working conditions, poor living conditions and often excluded from mainstream society, are much more likely to die early and have higher levels of behaviour related health conditions: the social system is failing (Dr. Friel, 2009, p.i). Obesity, harmful alcohol consumption and tobacco use are individual factors even though it may have social impacts. Individuals definitely have more responsibility in avoiding such habits to protect their health. Ultimately the individual is going to be sufferer from alcohol addiction, drug addiction and smoking. At the same time, society may also affected by such individual factors. For example, alcohol use can create mood changes or aggressive behaviour among some people and the society will face the consequences of their mood changes. It is quite possible that an individual who is addicted to alcohol or drugs may attack others in the society. Obesity can cause many health problems which may lead towards even death. The unexpected death of a person due to obesity may cause several damages to his family, friends and relatives. In short, we cannot conclude that the consequences related to obesity, alcohol addiction, smoking etc may limit to the individual alone and society may not be affected from it. Less money, less education, insecure working conditions etc are contributions of the society. In other words, health problems related to these factors cannot be under the individual account. Commonly used definition of Australian PHC is: Primary health care is socially appropriate, universally accessible, scientifically sound first level care provided by health services and systems with a suitably trained workforce comprised of multi-disciplinary teams supported by integrated referral systems in a way that: gives priority to those most in need and addresses health inequalities; maximises community and individual self-reliance, participation and control; and involves collaboration and partnership with other sectors to promote public health. Comprehensive primary health care includes health promotion, illness prevention, treatment and care of the sick, community development, and advocacy and rehabilitation (What is primary health care?, 2011). The above definition if Australian primary healthcare gives more emphasize to the social dimensions of healthcare outcomes rather than the individual dimensions. Governments or the authorities have limitations concentrating more on the individual aspects of healthcare policies. Some policies may affect some individuals drastically whereas it may beneficial to majority of the community. Authorities can always work in favour of majorities. For example, private healthcare insurances might be affordable to rich people whereas it may not be feasible enough to the poor people. In the current era of privatization, if the governments give all the responsibilities of healthcare insurance to private people, healthcare sector will undergo immense exploitation from the business people. Like many of the other countries, Australian authorities also failed to provide adequate healthcare facilities to the rural population. It is a fact that urban population in Australia is getting better healthcare facilities than the rural population. “People in rural and remote areas of Australia suffer a health differential that is skewed toward higher mortality and morbidity rates for some diseases, and increased incidence of certain diseases and rates of hospitalisation”(Welch, 2000, p.2). “When grappling with the issue of the true nature of health care, the following question must be addressed: What benefits does it convey and what effects does it exert on communities and societies?” (SLAWOMIRSKI, 2006, p.2). Australia is a country in which the immigrant population size is comparatively more from other parts of the world. These immigrant communities contribute to the Australian economy in one way or other. If the government formulate one healthcare policy for the citizens and another one for the immigrants, social equality cannot be achieved. In other words, all the healthcare policies should be formulated based on the interests of the larger pupation rather than the interests of some particular communities or cultures. South Australia’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy acknowledges the challenges for individuals, families and communities posed by the experience of mental ill-health and aims to provide a vision for both the provision of the best possible system of mental health care in South Australia and the promotion of good mental health and wellbeing in the community (South Australia’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy, 2010, p.3). It should be noted that the above policy is intended to cater the needs of the individual as well as the society. In other words, South Australia’s authorities’ are not labelling healthcare outcomes only as individual or social issue. Instead it account for both individual and social aspects of healthcare outcomes. Mental health is one of the major problematic areas in the healthcare management systems across the world and Australia is also not an exception. It should be noted that many of the physical problems are the bi-products of mental problems. For example, anxiety and job stress can increase the blood pressure to alarming levels. We are living in a world of commitments and many people fail to fulfil their family, social and workplace commitments in this rapidly moving world. The failure to fulfil the personal and professional commitments may create immense pressure upon an individual. Conclusions Individuals and the society have equal roles in controlling the healthcare outcomes. Ultimately the individuals are the ones which constitute a society and therefore any effort to improve the health situations in a country should start from the individual level. At the same time, society cannot remain silent; it should formulate policies needed for encouraging the individuals to improve their health management strategies. In short, health care outcomes are a social issue, as well as an individual responsibility at the same time. References 1. Cultural competency in health, (2005) [Online] Available at: http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/hp19.pdf [Accessed on 05 November 2011] 2. Dr. Friel,S. (2009), Health equity in Australia: A policy framework based on action on the social determinants of obesity, alcohol and tobacco. [Online] Available at: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/preventativehealth/publishing.nsf/content/0fbe203c1c547a82ca257529000231bf/$file/commpaper-hlth-equity-friel.pdf [Accessed on 05 November 2011] 3. Primary Health Care Reform in Australia, (2009). Report to Support Australia’s First National Primary Health Care Strategy. [Online] Available at: http://www.yourhealth.gov.au/internet/yourhealth/publishing.nsf/Content/nphc-draftreportsupp-toc/$FILE/NPHC-supp.pdf [Accessed on 05 November 2011] 4. SLAWOMIRSKI, L.J.(2006). Culture, Freedom and Democracy: THE SOCIAL DIMENSION OF HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS. [Online] Available at: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/nhhrc/publishing.nsf/Content/262/$FILE/Submission%20262%20-%20Luke%20Slawomirski%20Attachment.pdf [Accessed on 05 November 2011] 5. South Australia’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy, (2010), [Online] Available at: http://www.health.sa.gov.au/mentalhealth/Portals/0/mentalhealthandwellbeing-mh-sahealth-100218.pdf [Accessed on 05 November 2011] 6. Welch,N. (2000), Understanding of the Determinants of Rural Health. [Online] Available at: http://nrha.ruralhealth.org.au/cms/uploads/publications/03_welch_00.pdf [Accessed on 05 November 2011] 7. What is primary health care?, (2011). [Online] Available at: http://www.phcris.org.au/infobytes/about_phc.php [Accessed on 05 November 2011] Read More