CORE 1 How are priority issues for Australia’s health identified PDF

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CORE 1 How are priority issues for Australia’s health identified...

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CORE 1: INQUIRY QUESTION: How are priority issues for Australia’s health identified? Students learn about: • measuring health status - role of epidemiology - measures of epidemiology (mortality, infant mortality, morbidity, life expectancy)

Students learn to: • critique the use of epidemiology to describe health status by considering questions such as: - what can epidemiology tell us? - who uses these measures? - do they measure everything about health status?

➔ Role of epidemiology: - Theory Summary: ➔ Epidemiology: The study of disease or illness patterns in a given population over a period of time ➔ Epidemiological data identify prevalence and incidence of disease and illness as well as patterns and measures which may reduce the occurrence of the disease. ➔ Epidemiological data enables decisions about health issues to be made based on evidence-based data. ➔ Health promotion and health expenditure are determined by data collected in relation to the current and future health needs of a population. ➔ What can epidemiology tell us? - Theory Summary: ➔ Health status of a population ➔ Trends in disease ➔ Prevalence and Incidence of disease ➔ Death, birth, illness and injury rates ➔ Treatments provided, hospital usage ➔ Expenditure for consumers and government

➔ Who uses the data? - Theory Summary: ➔ Government ➔ Researchers ➔ health department officials ➔ health or medical practitioners ➔ Limitations of epidemiology - Theory Summary: ➔ Reasons why people take risk ➔ Variations among subpopulations ➔ Impact of the illness on quality of life ➔ ➔ ➔ ➔ ➔ ➔ ➔ ➔

Data is incomplete or non-existent Why inequities exist Contribution of factors • Variations between population sub-groups • Quality of life • Whole picture eg mental health • Inequities • Health determinants. Measures of epidemiology - Prevalence or incidence?

➔ Incidence: The number or proportion of new cases arising in a particular population within a given period (usually 1 year). ➔ Prevalence: The number or proportion of people with a disease in a population at a given point in time. ➔ Mortality: The number of people within a population which have died in a given year.

- Epidemiology - measures ➔ Infant mortality rate: The death rate for those under 1 year of age within a given population. ➔ Life expectancy rate: The average number of years a person is expected

to live. ➔ Mortality rate: The number of people within a population which have died in a given year. ➔ Morbidity rate: The measure of disease or disability rates within a given population ➔ Current trends in Australia’s health - Theory Summary: ➔ As per the 2018 report, life expectancy is 80.4 for men and 84.6 for women. The difference in life expectancy for ATSI populations remains 10.6 for men and 9.5 for women. ➔ As of 2018, Coronary Heart Disease is the #1 cause of death for men and women, both individually and collectively.

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Students learn about: • Identifying priority health issues • Social justice principles • Priority population groups

Students learn to: • argue the case for why decisions are made about health priorities by considering questions such as: - how do we identify priority issues for Australia’s health?

- what role do the principles of social justice play? - why is it important to prioritise?

➔ Identifying priority health areas:

➔ Social justice principles - Theory Summary: ➔ Social justice principles: Principles which promote equity, diversity and supportive environments ➔ Identifying health priority areas and managing Australia’s health are based on the principles of social justice. ➔ Determinants affecting a population group (cultural diversity) ➔ Social justice principles have to be breached to be considered a priority ➔ The principles of social justice are: - Equity

- Diversity - Supportive environments

➔ Medicare: ➔ Medicare Safety Net: A predetermined amount ($) set by the Australian Government for which medical expenses are subsidised once an individual or family have incurred the medical costs. (2017 - $453) ➔ Medicare: Public health care for all Australians is provided at no or little cost to the individual under Medicare ➔ Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS): Prescription treatments considered to be life-saving, or for chronic illnesses are subsidised under the PBS (much cheaper prescriptions) ➔ Priority population groups: - Theory Summary: ➔ Priority population groups: Groups in Australian society which experience health inequities and difficulties. ➔ Because these groups are identified as experiencing poor health, with the implementation of social justice principles, such groups should have equitable accesses to health. ➔ Thus, health promotion and strategies must be put in place. ➔ Epidemiological data identifies that the priority population groups in Australia are: - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ATSI) - People who are socioeconomically disadvantaged - People living in rural and remote areas - People born overseas - The elderly - People with disabilities ➔ The Royal Flying Doctor Service

- Theory Summary: ➔ The Royal Flying Doctor Service has been developed to increase the health outcomes for people living in rural and remote areas and ATSI populations. ➔ The service aims to increase access to services, facilities and health education through: - Aeromedical health services, remote community health clinics - Doctor and medical practitioner incentive program to encourage medical professionals to work in remote communities - Developing culturally diverse health services - Increasing funding for ATSI health

Students learn about: ● identifying priority health issues ● prevalence of condition ● the potential for prevention and early intervention ● costs to the individual and community

Students learn to: • argue the case for why decisions are made about health priorities by considering questions such as: - how do we identify priority issues for Australia’s health? - why is it important to prioritise?

➔ Prevalence of condition: ➔ Prevalence: How many cases of a disease is present within a population ➔ Priority health issues can be determined by how prevalent the health condition is. In Australia, this is generally concerned with chronic disease, injury and mental health issues. ➔ Disease, injury and mental health issues can place burden on a population and thus it is important to prioritise health funding and resources in these areas. ➔ Burden of disease - Theory Summary: ➔ Burden: An estimated impact of disease and injury on an individual or

community. - This is determined by the effect of death or disability ➔ Low socioeconomic populations experience 1.5 times more disease burden when compared with the highest socioeconomic group ➔ Mental health and substance abuse contributes to 19% of disease burden in Australia ➔ ATSI populations experience 2.3 times more disease burden than non-ATSI populations ➔ In 2011 31% of disease burden was due to preventable and modifiable risk factors ➔ Potential for prevention and early intervention - Theory Summary: ➔ Modifiable risk factors: Risk factors that are able to be modified by the individual e.g. smoking, high-fat diet, sedentary lifestyle ➔ When identifying priority health issues it is essential to identify issues which are more likely to be preventable. This means that, in the long term, resources can be used elsewhere. ➔ Most health issues in Australia are caused by modifiable risk factors. - Therefore, early intervention is possible through modification of risk, meaning the burden of disease can be lowered. ➔ Early intervention strategies enable diseases to be identified before they become an increasing burden on a population. ➔ Example: The implementation of screening services, like cancer screening, has lead to a decrease in mortality rates due to early detection and treatment. ➔ Modifiable Risk Factors:

➔ Costs to the individual and community - Theory Summary: ➔ Direct costs: Monetary costs of diagnosing and treating a patient ➔ Indirect costs: Difficult-to-measure costs such as a patient’s mental health and other effects stemming from illness e.g. loss of wages when a person is unable to work ➔ When identifying priority health issues it is essential to identify the cost of the disease, illness or injury to the individual and the community. ➔ The cost can be either direct costs such as financial burden or indirect costs e.g. an individual's mental well being as a result of cancer diagnosis. ➔ If it is considered that the health issue has a high cost to either the individual or the community then this gives reason as to why the health issue needs to be identified as a priority.

➔ Individual and community costs: - Theory Summary:...