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

Download file to see previous pages... This paper illustrates that 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”. 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. “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”. 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 is 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 aging. “The average age of people employed in health occupations in 2006 was 42 years, 3 years older than other people in the workforce”. 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. 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 the same respect as given to the locals when the authorities formulate healthcare policies. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More