Dementia Health Issue in Australia

This article discusses the prevalence of dementia in Australia, types of health care delivery, social determinants of health, and cultural safety and person-centered care. It also includes statistics and research findings on the topic.

Running Head: DEMENTIA 1
Dementia Health Issue in Australia
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Introduction
According to the Australian Institute of health, dementia has been classified as the second
health issue leading to mortality. The statistics depict that the most affected individuals are
females. This is because 5.9% of recorded deaths are males, and 12% in females. Moreover, the
current statistics depict that more people are being infected with the disease in Australia every
day. Due to this, the government of Australia spends much money to control the condition in the
region. Moreover, the disease usually affects aged people from all regions of Australia. In the
residential aged facilities, individuals with dementia account for 55%. The disease is more
prevalent to remote Aboriginal Australians because these people have low levels of education.
The disease also has contributed to the cause of disability in the older Australians who are aged
65 years and above. The issue is more prevalent to older people in all regions of Australia. The
federal government of Australia has provided funds for the researchers to find ways in which the
disease can be treated in the region. Moreover, dementia research has been established so that the
research concerning dementia will be coordinated successfully in all regions (Wimo, Winblad
and von Strauss, 2015).
In the regions where the disease is prevalent in Australia, the group affected reflects the
characteristics of having impairment with the brain, and thus, this means it affects the people’s
ability to think and reason. When the personality is concerned, this means that individuals can’t
perform their daily chores, and hence, the federal government must provide support and care to
these people. Research depicts that vascular risk factors have been the leading cause of dementia
in the area. This risk factor includes smoking, insufficient physical activity, the effect of high
blood pressure, obesity (Brodaty, Howarth, and Kurrle, 2016). In this, for the population affected

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in Australia, there are study activities which are being carried out so that the burden can be
prevented at all cost. In the essay, the types of health care delivery will be discussed, the social
determinants of the disease and social safety will be addressed in the piece.
2.1: Types of health care delivery (primary care and community services)
One type of health care delivery for individuals with dementia in Australia is the primary
care and community services. Primary care being offered first diagnoses dementia. In these, the
surrounding of the individual is considered, the policy to treat and incentives are put in the
priority. In the primary care offered, effective diagnosis is carried out where the symptoms are
checked by the medical practitioner. Most signs of dementia are the same as the common aging
symptoms. Mental disability is one of the symptoms of the health issue. In primary care,
cognitive tests are carried out so that they will be early recognition of the health issue (Zhu,
Scarmeas, and Albert, 2015). Some of the primary care barriers are considered in the health
setting so that the disease can be diagnosed effectively. These include making sure that there is
no organization failure; incentives are sufficient for the process, and also the practitioners know
to carry out the process effectively. When all this is in order, the primary care runs effectively.
For the patients diagnosed with dementia, a new medication is taken to place so that to avoid
further complications. Moreover, community care is also carried out in that the medical
practitioners move to residential places screening older adults who cannot access health care. In
this care, individuals are trained on how to avoid the disease and those having the health issue
they are given medications so that the disease can be treated.
2.2: Types of health care delivery in dementia

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The Australian HCS offers types of health care for the people living with dementia in the
region. The two types of health care delivery are the end of life care and palliative care. These
types of care focus on the growing population and the aged who are 65 years and above. End of
life care includes giving the physical, emotional, and psychological care to the patient with
dementia (Jutkowitz et al., 2016). Moreover, this care even considers the family of the patient.
They offer care to the patient before and after death. On the other hand, palliative care is the care
which aims to treat and improve the quality of life of the patients. It focuses on advising the
families on how to take care of the individuals with dementia, early identification of the disease
through screening, and offering any physical and psychological support to the patient. The
palliative care presents some barriers to cultural safety and person centred care in nursing. This is
because this care is not received to the individuals living in the rural areas in that they only focus
on offering care in the health sectors.
Australian end of life services is provided in all health settings in Australia. These
services include support services to the patients, and more importantly, the community aged care
services in which the people with dementia the health care services are delivered in their own
homes. The services are meant to improve the lives of these individuals. In these, the gap
between the indigenous and non-indigenous populations is covered. Individual faced with
chronic dementia are allowed to choose where they want to die, and hence, these care provides
support. Both concerns offer the aged care services in which the individuals with dementia are
offered the residential care facility. Moreover, for the individuals admitted in the health sectors,
they are offered the palliative care services where good support is offered to them, trained in the
diet to take and better medication given to them accordingly.
2.3 Social determinants of health: poverty

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Poverty is well known that it is the social determinant of dementia in Australia. This is
because the high number of the individual being affected with this issue is the women who are
Aboriginal Australians. These people face poverty, and hence, this depicts that for them to get
good quality care, it’s very hard due to the cost of living. These people mostly live in rural areas,
and hence, due to high tendencies of stress, the disease develops in their body. According to the
research, racial disparities in Australia contributes to the social conditions experienced by these
individuals. This depicts that these people are faced with stress due to poverty, and this condition
raises the risks of dementia developing in health. Due to poverty, these people are faced with
poor living conditions, most of the time, they are faced with stressful events, and all these have
severe consequences for their brain. Due to increased stress events in their life, the brain
functioning is disrupted hence leading to dementia condition. Moreover, research depicts that the
lifelong stress to children males them develop dementia at their old age. But in their schooling
life, they are affected but the results show itself in the future, and this is caused through the stress
about poverty that was experienced during childhood age (Wu, Rodriguez and Vega, 2019).
On the social factors, it depicts that the indigenous Australiana are more prevalent to
dementia. This is because due to poverty these people are not able to attend school, and hence
their education is deficient. This means that it is a challenge for them because they cannot realize
the moment they are sick or not. Also, due to poverty, affording funds to support them in health
care becomes a nog deal to them. Moreover, for them to understand brain health is tough because
they are not informed. This is a severe case, and the Australian government must formulate ways
and means in which these class of people can be helped so that they can be informed
(Gurukartick, Dongre, and Shah, 2016). Moreover, helping these people is also essential. This
can be achieved through helping them with funds to maintain their health and also offering

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education so that they will be informed especially on the health matters. The cognitive problems
experienced by these people in the middle age and the stressful events contributes to dementia.
Moreover, people experiencing stress due to poverty are more likely to have high blood pressure
and also diabetes, which helps to much effect on the brain. In this poverty, the issue must be
looked upon by the Australian government so that the health issue will be prevented (Wu,
Rodriguez and Vega, 2019).
2.4 Cultural Safety and Person-Centred Care: Apply Codes and Standards
Australian nurses should partner with patients is the code and ethics they are supposed to
follow. This implies that they are supposed to listen and communicate with patients in an
effective way without any discrimination. As investigated there is the aspect of discrimination in
the health care of Australia; this depicts the individuals are not offered the same health care
which is contrary to the code of ethics they are supposed to follow in the health care system. The
nurses must provide the right person-centered care, improve on the cultural competence so that
any form of discrimination will be avoided at all cost. For the better outcome in health care
discrimination should be avoided because bias causes many types of disparities in health care
(Banks, Kuper and Polack, 2017). The nurses must realize that they should partner with their
clients for good evaluations of systems and excellent services. Moreover, they should consider
patients as partners so that they can give them the proper care they require in all instances. This
concept helps to understand patient importance, and thus, they know that they are supposed to be
involved in their own decisions.

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On the research, age and discrimination will be analyzed because they related to the
health issue of dementia. On partnering with consumers, there are much discrimination in
Australia health care systems. This is because the most people faced with this issue are the aged
aboriginal who live in the rural areas, though their care delivery systems they don’t partner with
these people because they know they lack educations and also they are facing poverty (2019).
The nurses always focus on the wellbeing of the individuals who can support themselves with
medical funds. This means that nurses in this sector don’t meet their standards because they
don’t partner with the individuals with the health issue to ensure proper delivery. Moreover, it is
scarce for them to view them as the partners so that they can offer substantial care to them
(Partnering with Consumers, 2019).
On the code of conduct for nurses, the Australian nurses must follow the rules which are
in the nursing and midwifery board of Australia. In these, the nurses should have a good code of
conduct, have good standards of practice, and follow the code of ethics. According to the health
issue, it is evident that being the second leading in mortality in Australia nurses aren’t taking
their responsibilities well. The nurses must formulate the primary care interventions for this
health issue. It is the code of conduct for the nurses to avoid discrimination to the aged people.
Most of the older adults with dementia aren’t able to express themselves. Hence this means that
the nurses must take care of them without discriminating them at the health care. In most of the
instances, nurses assume them; therefore, the palliative care required to be given by them is not
offered. This means that the high mortality rates of dementia being experienced due to nurses not
following their code of conduct in the health care systems. According to the law of ethics, it
states that the nurses shown prove their competency in all patients. in these are also supposed to

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consider the cultural competency and treat all the individuals the same avoiding discrimination
(Australia's health, 2016)
Conclusion
Dementia has been recorded as the second health issue leading to mortality in Australia.
Most of the population affected are the females who live in rural areas. These people are faced
with the health issue due to lack of education and their social status. The primary care health
delivery is applied to treat people with dementia in Australia. The other care delivery includes
health promotion, end of life care, and palliative care. All these types of health delivery ensure a
positive outcome for the patients diagnosed with the health issue. One of the social determinants
of the health issue is poverty. This is because people with poverty face series stressful moments;
hence, this makes them develop depression and blood pressure, which eventually affects the
brain. Moreover, individuals facing poverty lack funds to go to the health sector hence making
the chronic disease grow in the body of the individual. In Australia, the standards of the nations
which are supposed to be followed by the registered nurses aren’t evident because the nurses are
not applying codes and standards and hence causing dementia to be prevalent in the country.

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References
Partnering with Consumers. (2019). Retrieved from
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summary
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