Social Determinants of Heart Disease among Australian Adults

Running head: Healthcare 1
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Introduction
Heart disease consists of different types of circulatory conditions such as angina, stroke and heart
attack. The prevalence of heart disease is on the rise in Australia and is attributable to major
deaths. However, the prevalence of the condition varies based on different factors or social
determinants. According to Camargo (2011), social determinants of health are the “the
circumstances in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age, and the systems put in place
to deal with illness.” The Australian adults are some of the most affected and therefore this paper
will examine the burden of heart disease among the Australian adults and the social determinants
of heart disease among them. An intervention program will also be proposed that will help
prevent and manage the burden of heart disease among Australian adults. Moreover, the study
proposes other sectors that can be incorporated into the intervention for effective implementation
of the program.
Section 1: Social Determinants of Heart Disease among the Australian Adults
The burden of Heart Disease within Australian Adults
The term ‘heart disease’ is a broad term that is commonly used to refer to these conditions and is
interchangeably used with the term ‘cardiovascular disease’. Heart diseases or cardiovascular
diseases are the major cause of deaths in Australia. 27% of all deaths (43,447) in 2017 in
Australia were caused by disorders with the circulatory system (ABS, 2018). Furthermore, there
were over 1.1 million reported cases of hospitalizations in 2015 accounting for 11% of all
hospitalizations that year; all attributed to cardiovascular diseases (AIHW, 2019).
Approximately 6% (1.2 million) Australian adults aged over 18 years had one or more health
conditions associated with heart disease. Men were more affected than women by 6.5% and
4.8% respectively (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2017). Additionally, the prevalence of heart
diseases among adults increased with age with over one out of four (26%) patients aged 75 years

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and above being diagnosed with vascular, heart and stroke diseases. There was a relatively
higher incidence of cardiovascular diseases (6.4%) among adults living in low socioeconomic
parts of Australia compared to those living in relatively disadvantaged (4.8%) parts of the
country (AIHW, 2019). According to ABS (2017), the percentage of individuals diagnosed with
heart disease in 2017-18 was less than 5% for those aged 55 years and below, then the rate
progressively increased to one out four (25.8%) of those aged 75 years and above. There was a
similarity in the prevalence of heart disease for all age categories until 64 years irrespective of
sex. There was a higher prevalence of heart disease among men (19.6%) more than women
(12.4%) belonging to the group of 65 years and above and 75 years and above (31.5% for men
and 20.4% for women) (ABS, 2017).
Social Determinants of Health and the Burden of Heart Disease among Australian Adults
The social determinants of health are interconnected and therefore do overlap. The specific social
determinants of health that affect the burden of heart disease in Australian adults include
socioeconomic position (income, education, occupation status), and residential settings (AIHW,
2016). The socioeconomic position is measured in a variety of ways and therefore terms such as
social class or economic status are often used interchangeably. Education is the commonly
referred element of socioeconomic position. Low levels of educational attainments have been
linked to a higher incidence of heart disease predisposing factors and mortality. Low health
literacy is characteristic of low educational attainments and as a result such people engage in
unhealthy lifestyle practices that predispose them further to heart disease (Li & Kinfu, 2016).
The study by Hoare, Stavreski, Kingwell, and Jennings (2017) showed that Australian adults
with lower education attainments had minimal access to medical care, were physically inactive,
engaged more in smoking, had poor dietary patterns and hence higher incidences of heart
diseases due to the high exposure to these predisposing factors.