Health and Socio-Political Issues in Aged Care

This essay examines the health and socio-political issues in aged care, focusing on impartiality and admission to healthcare amenities for older individuals. It discusses the laws and regulations formulated by the Australian government and the challenges faced by the aged community in accessing government services.

Running Head: HEALTH AND SOCIO-POLITICAL ISSUES IN AGED CARE
0
Health and Socio-Political issue in Aged Care
Student details:

HEALTH AND SOCIO-POLITICAL ISSUES IN AGED CARE
1
The following essay examines “health and social political issues” in old care surrounded
by a social principal system. Impartiality and admission to healthcare amenities and the
involvements of older individuals within these amenities are emphasized. In Australia, staff
members who are employed for health and aged care governments finds the disclosures in
modern-day issues in aged care. The staff affiliates who works in the forefront of modernization
in the distribution and association of quality aged maintenance. It includes the laws, rules and
regulations which are formulated by the Australian government (Ahha, 2019). Health and aged
care are two exact areas which are dangerous, both for the systems themselves and for a
worldwide society which is gradually desensitized, socially disjointed and underprovided in
social capital.
In 1996 elections, observed a fundamental shift in Australian Politics privileges. This had
enormous monetary assistances for the nation especially for aged care. Aged care subventions
are assigned with ratio, the main objective is to be responsible for 113 supported care places for
every 1,000 aged 70 and over. In 2006, “aged care approvals round reflects the Government’s
commitment to the principle of choice for older people providing care not only in aged care
homes, but also to support older people who wish to continue living in their own homes and
communities”.
These governmental organizations ensures that old age people residing in Australia
should get health care services, income sources, housing facility and other basic requirements
which are necessary for living (Davy , Kite , Aitken , & Dodd , 2016).
There are various law and policies formulated for the sake of old age people in Australia.
There are many obstacles for older people in using the legal service, old age people are very

HEALTH AND SOCIO-POLITICAL ISSUES IN AGED CARE
2
sensitive and most of the time lack of knowledge and confidence restricts them to take actions
against wrong activities. Each level of government have taken different actions regarding old age
people in Australia for instance, the commonwealth government has started providing financial
support, it provides pension, rental assistance, funds to disabled people, provision of financial
counseling, health program promotion, rehabilitation services, assistance after retirement and
advocacy services (Satariano, Scharlach, & Lindeman, 2014). The Australian government has
taken initiative to take care of old age people, for this many programs have been developed by
the government like- My Aged Care Program, Commonwealth Home Support Program, Flexible
Care program and Special Dementia Care Program (Agedcare, 2019). There is no legal
obligation for all aged care amenities to provide 24 hour enumerated nursing maintenance.
Similarly, the state government of Australia also provides a wide range of health, housing
and welfare services for the aged. It includes respiratory care programs, career assistance,
dementia support programs, housing facility, providing information and discount cards for senior
citizens who help them in getting discount over some goods and services. Apart from this, The
Department of Health manages and precisely implements PBS (Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme)
pharmacy policy; according to this policy every Australian should get access to medicines. The
Australian government has started various programs for older age group people; they are
providing home care assistance which will help old age people and their families to live
independently. The government has also developed a support service for remote and indigenous
aged care, as per this program the government will help the old age people belonging from
minorities in the betterment of their living standard.
As per a study conducted, around half of the people in Australia suffer from mental
illness at some point of time. This problem can be easily witnessed in the people of old age,

HEALTH AND SOCIO-POLITICAL ISSUES IN AGED CARE
3
anxious behavior and depression are most common conditions to identify whether a person is
suffering with mental illness or not (Lundgren , Ernsth Bravell , & Börjesson , 2018).
Most of the aged population of Australian is homeless, either these people disowned by
their family members or they themselves left the house because of poor behavior towards them.
In Australia old age people often face workplace discrimination, they are not treated well and
expected to deliver services similar to an adult. They face prejudice when apply for a job,
seeking promotion and are also harassed at the workplace (Australian Human Rights
Commission, 2012).
Apart from this there are major hurdles in path of aged community to enjoy the
government services; they are unable to take benefits because of social and political restraints.
The aged community of Australia is surviving with poor living standards; they don’t even have
access to basic sanitation facilities, drinking water and intake of average calories per day. This
has led to severe health issues and death because of hunger among the aged population.
Homelessness of old age women in Australia is a business issue these days. Women of age above
60 years are not treated properly; they are abandoned by their family members as they are
turning into a liability for them. When Australian government noticed that large number of old
aged women are homeless, government took a strong actions for curing the problem, government
of Australia built old age homes where they (Health.gov, 2019).
Around 15% of the total population residing in Australia is above 65 of years of age.
Therefore it becomes the duty of the government to ensure that people of older age should not
face any challenge in travelling at least within the territory. In Japan, government has increased
the width size of side way tracks from 1.5 m to 2m so that the wheel chairs can easily move on it;

HEALTH AND SOCIO-POLITICAL ISSUES IN AGED CARE
4
this approach is not used by the Australian government. The government of Australia should
give some attention towards the seating facility for old age people, pregnant women and
children. It is seen that the public place like parks, metro stations, airports etc. holds small
volume of seating facility in comparison to the total number of people visiting these places.
Government should either increase the seating capacity at these places or they should construct
waiting rooms for old age people (Gen-agedcaredata, 2019).
Along with some drawbacks there are some good stands which are taken by Australian
government like, in year 1992 Australian government formulated an act called “Disability
Discrimination Act” (DDA). According to this act there shall be no discrimination made on the
grounds of disability, all men and women are equally allowed to access the public transportation
system which made the travelling for disabled people bit easier. These were some of the socio-
political problems faced by older age people in Australia ( Zhang, Zhao, Cui, & Wang, 2015).An
act for old age care was enacted by government in the year 1997, “The Aged Care Act 1997” the
act led to sudden increase in the private investment in the Australian residential aged care
market. Various new private equity firms, foreign investors entered into Australian market which
helped in providing housing aid to homeless people (Legislation, 2019).
During old age people face challenges in staying healthy. Thus, their health becomes the
matter of concern which should be given importance. The people grow old their capacity to take
proper diet reduces; it is a natural outcome of ageing that with growing age hunger level
diminishes but the body needs nutrition in same amount to work properly. Therefore proper
supplements which are rich in vitamins should be offered to them. For providing the old age
people proper care and nutrition “The Department of Health- Australian government” has took

HEALTH AND SOCIO-POLITICAL ISSUES IN AGED CARE
5
strong initiative like Residential care program, emergency support arrangements program which
will help in bringing the health condition of old age people back to normal. Along with this
people of old age also go through mental illness and stress , the mental stress can be cured by
providing them healthy environment at home and as well as at workplace. For the well-being of
older age people proper medication facilities should be provided to them at cheap rates as old age
people in Australia do not hold an excellent financial status (Bernstein & Munoz, 2012).
Active ageing a concept recently developed by European commission and the World
Health Organization (WHO) , according to this concept the age of working and the working
capacity of people should be increased from 60 years (WHO, 2019). This concept is adopted by
various European nations and it is also used by human resource management. The act will
promote the development of older age people in Australia, as it will provide them a legal right to
be a part of an organization which will eventually help them in improving their financial
conditions.
At last, it can be concluded that Australian government has taken effective measures for
the sake of old age people but as per the current scenario it is an alarming situation for the
government to take strict and positive actions towards the healthcare, safety and socio –political
matters faced by old age people throughout Australia. The government should ensure homes for
the homeless; for solving this problem the government can build old age homes for the people
who are disowned by their families. It is observed that Old age care act of 1997 has given
beneficial outcomes. As per the research conducted in the above study it can be recommended
that proper nutritional values should be granted to old age people and their guardians (Paúl,
Ribeiro, & Teixeira, 2012).

HEALTH AND SOCIO-POLITICAL ISSUES IN AGED CARE
6
Bibliography
Zhang, X., Zhao, L., Cui, Z., & Wang, Y. (2015). Study on Equity and Efficiency of Health
Resources and Services Based on Key Indicators in China. PLoS One, 10(12).
Agedcare. (2019, July 20). Aging and Aged care. Retrieved from Austraian Government
department of health: https://agedcare.health.gov.au/programs/specialist-dementia-care-
program
Ahha. (2019, July 18). Primary Healthcare. Retrieved from Australian Healthcare & Hospitals
Association: https://ahha.asn.au/primary_health
Australian Human Rights Commission. (2012). Working past our 60s: Reforming laws and
policies for the older worker. New South Wales, Sydney: Australian Human Rights
Commission.
Bernstein, M., & Munoz, N. (2012). Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: food
and nutrition for older adults: promoting health and wellness. Journal of the Academy of
Nutrition and Dietetics, 112(8), 1255-1277.
Davy , C., Kite , E., Aitken , G., & Dodd , G. (2016). What keeps you strong? How primary
healthcare and aged care services can support the wellbeing of older Indigenous peoples:
a systematic literature review protocol. JBI database of systematic reviews and
implementation reports, 13(12), 47-58.
Gen-agedcaredata. (2019, July 18). Services and places in aged care. Retrieved from Australian
Government: https://www.gen-agedcaredata.gov.au/Topics/Services-and-places-in-aged-
care
Health.gov. (2019, July 18). Primary Health Care in Australia. Retrieved from Australian
Government Department of Health:
https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/NPHC-
Strategic-Framework~phc-australia
Legislation. (2019). Aged Care Act 1997. Federal Register of Legislation, 1-394.
Lundgren , D., Ernsth Bravell , M., & Börjesson , U. (2018). The Association Between
Psychosocial Work Environment and Satisfaction With Old Age Care Among Care
Recipients. Journal of Applied Gerontology.
Paúl, C., Ribeiro, O., & Teixeira, L. (2012). Active ageing: an empirical approach to the WHO
model. Current gerontology and geriatrics research.

HEALTH AND SOCIO-POLITICAL ISSUES IN AGED CARE
7
Satariano, W. A., Scharlach, A. E., & Lindeman, D. (2014). Aging, place, and technology:
Toward improving access and wellness in older populations. Journal of Aging and
Health, 26(8), 1373-1389.
WHO. (2019, July 18). Social determinants of health. Retrieved from World Health
Organization: https://www.who.int/social_determinants/en/