Issues of Modern Australian Families

This article discusses the health issues faced by modern Australian families, with a focus on coronary heart disease. It explores the impacts of the disease, the Australian government's strategy to address it, and the role of registered nurses in implementing the strategy. The target audience for the strategy is adults, with a particular emphasis on online awareness programs. The purpose of the strategy is to provide necessary information and support to individuals and families affected by coronary heart disease. The article also highlights the enablers and barriers to the success of the strategy, and emphasizes the importance of registered nurses in providing care and support to patients and their families.

Running head: Issues of modern Australian families
Issues of Modern Australian Families

Issues of modern Australian families 2
Table of Contents
Health issue faced by modern Australian families.......................................................................................3
Trends in coronary heart disease.............................................................................................................3
Impacts of coronary heart disease............................................................................................................4
Australian government strategy to address coronary heart disease issue..................................................4
1- Awareness strategy..............................................................................................................................4
2- Target audience of strategy.................................................................................................................5
3- Purpose of the strategy........................................................................................................................5
4- Identification of enablers and barriers to the success of this strategy..................................................6
Role of registered nurse in implementing the strategy and working with the family..................................6
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................9
References.................................................................................................................................................10

Issues of modern Australian families 3
Health issue faced by modern Australian families
Australians are known to live longer than they did before. The question still persists on what
kind of a life a modern day Australian family is living. It is seen that half of the population in
Australia suffers from one or the other chronic diseases. Chronic conditions doesn’t just leave a
mark on the sufferer but also on the family, friends and carers who are deeply affected by the
suffering throughout the process of diagnosis, treatment and if all else fails, death (Colquhoun et
al. 2013). The one chronic condition that has affected half the population is coronary heart
disease. This disease among others like mental illness, muscular dystrophy has taken the leading
role in leaving victims and family devastated.
This chronic condition has not only been successful in being the leading cause of ill health in
Australia but also has had serious implications on other aspects of the country like the health
system. The root cause of this chronic condition has been identified and seems to have percolated
among half of the population through lifestyle changes. The lifestyle changes that seem to have
slowly but surely taken the form of chronic cardiac diseases are factors like being overweight,
obesity, tobacco smoking, less physical activity, alcohol use and other bad choices (Chow et al.
2015). As there are multiple generations that are affected by this particular chronic disease, it has
also been observed that the younger generation is slowly shifting from such lifestyle choices in
order to maintain good health.
Trends in coronary heart disease
In a 2016 report, it was observed that coronary heart disease played the role of leading cause of
death in men. It turned out to account for 13% of deaths, whereas it was seen that in the case of
women, Alzheimer and dementia played the same role and were responsible for 11% of the
deaths in women. That is not all; this leading cause of death in women was closely followed by
the second leading cause, which was that of the coronary heart diseases (Bray et al. 2014).
Leaving behind all other factors of death, coronary heart disease has turned out to be the leading
cause of death. It has been proven that coronary heart disease is one of the most vital factors in
adding to the total disease burden in Australia. This leading contributor to the total disease
burden is applicable to all ages and genders, varying only by a small difference in a few cases,
but grossly it can be said, from the reports of death due to coronary heart diseases, that is has in

Issues of modern Australian families 4
fact has affected a large population so far (Jones & Greene, 2013). Coronary heart disease as the
leading cause of death is followed by musculoskeletal conditions in women such as back pain,
arthritis, and osteoporosis and lung cancer in men. These chronic conditions have turned out to
be the leading contributors in Australia with respect to the disease burden of the country. Half of
the population, one out of every two Australians is known to have at least one of the eight
leading chronic conditions which includes coronary diseases, cancer, mental illness,
musculoskeletal problems, pulmonary chronic diseases (obstructive), diabetes and also asthma.
23% of the population that is one out of every 4 Australians is estimated to be affected by one or
more of these conditions (Banks et al. 2016).
Impacts of coronary heart disease
Coronary heart disease and strokes are cardiovascular chronic conditions and the blood vessels.
Coronary heart diseases are caused when the supply of blood to the heart is partially or fully
blocked through the arteries. Strokes happen when the arteries that supply blood to the brain
suffers a blockage and ruptures affecting the entire blood supply system (Woodruffe et al. 2015).
Coronary heart diseases are solely responsible for 8% of the total disease burden in Australia. It
has impacted and affected one out of every thirty adults in the country, which almost amounts to
645,000 people. It has also affected one out of every six people belonging to the age range of 75
and above in Australia. Coronary heart disease is the leading single cause of death in Australia,
but the rate has definitely fallen from those before due to the choices in lifestyle that is being
made by the younger generation. Starting from 1980, the disease has fallen by seventy-nine
percent, in Australia, still existing as the leading cause of death (Simons & Chung, 2014).
Australian government strategy to address coronary heart disease issue
1- Awareness strategy
The government of Australia has taken the Coronary heart disease issue seriously and has
launched a large awareness program for the same. As known, it is one of the leading causes of
death in the country, the government has launched awareness programs, a large part of which
includes precautionary methods through lifestyle changes that would influence people to stay far
away from the disease, let alone develop a chronic condition over time (Redfern & Chow,
2013).. This is just a part of the entire awareness program. They have also focused on several
other parts of the entire condition like the diagnosis, measures to take during diagnosis, healthy

Issues of modern Australian families 5
living, conditions and their treatments, services and support. They have taken the approach of
providing all the necessary information online for the civilians to access and put to use
(Puspitasari et al. 2013). The government websites provide detailed information of the conditions
that one may develop in case of chronic heart diseases and what methods they can choose to go
about treating it. They explain multiple concerns through videos and interactive content to ensure
that the person reading it is simply made aware of the conditions that may arise due to long term
lifestyle choices and how one can avoid them. They also focus on informing the user about the
support they should seek in case they or a family member has been affected with the disease
(Fernandez et al. 2015).
2- Target audience of strategy
The target audience of the program is adults who are capable of making their own choices with
increasing stress on choosing the right lifestyle for kids who are unable to do so. The younger
generation of Australia, seem to be more health conscious and are less prone to making bad
lifestyle choices like tobacco smoking or alcohol abuse that could jeopardize their health. The
target audience for this strategy also mainly aims the online audience at all times (Lawrence et
al. 2013). They are known to put out interactive and informational videos to make people aware
of the conditions that they could develop and what kind of choices they must be making to avoid
such conditions from developing further. Although it targets mostly adults but everyone can
come across their website and find out the information, ready-at-hand to practice the ideal
lifestyle, go for a checkup as suggested, make proper choices during treatments and also follow
up regularly. This sort of a platform when used for this strategy ensures that most people who are
online can come across the site and find out more on what exactly to do, if they are concerned
with their health, how to go about with the diagnosis and refraining from self-diagnosis and self-
medication.
3- Purpose of the strategy
The purpose of this strategy is to provide all necessary information possible. This is a great way
to influence the public and making them self-aware of their choices that they make in their daily
lives. This ensures that the government is trying to provide data and advice from physicians,
dieticians that would help someone who is yet to develop the condition to someone undergoing
treatment equally. These sites go on to suggest as to what the next step would be and mostly
influences civilians to refrain from making wrong lifestyle decisions that could make the

Issues of modern Australian families 6
condition worse for them and also influences them to seek health advice directly from physician
and nutrient advice from dietitians as precautionary measures and also measures to be
undertaken while going through with the treatment (Chew et al. 2013). The government through
its awareness strategy is trying to provide an outline for an ideal lifestyle that not only includes
being physically fit but also keeping the mental health question inclusive for being healthy
overall, as stress is a big risk for coronary heart diseases. It is evident that the purpose here,
through this program, is to make the citizens aware of the risks involved in coronary heart
diseases, take precautionary measures, reach out for help when necessary and avail checkups o
ensure that disease is stopped while its rotting or treated once it is developed.
4- Identification of enablers and barriers to the success of this strategy
There are multiple enablers of this strategy along with some barriers, but the enablers triumph
over the barrier. As mentioned previously the younger generation is becoming more conscious of
their lifestyle choices, which goes to show that are not only aware about the implications but are
also implementing better choices. The younger generation is very active in comparison to the
middle-aged and above, on the internet. The awareness program, thus launched by the
government has a leading role to play here and is quite successful in spreading the awareness
about coronary heart diseases and its implications. The other section of adults are also not new to
this awareness strategy, they are informed through online portals, offline portals by government
seminars and providing information through public health services.
In terms of barriers, the big issue at hand id providing proper information to aged section of 75
and above (Olsen et al. 2015). It is understandable that they are not as keen on using the internet
in their daily lives and interact less with it on a day-to-day basis. It is true that they are also less
prone to go on to government websites and navigate for relevant information, hence this strategy
falls short here. It also falls short for those unable to access the information online and are not
seeking help from public health services.
Role of registered nurse in implementing the strategy and working with
the family
Registered nurses must be well prepared to meet the necessities that a family needs which would
involve new responsibilities including not only physical care but also psychological, social and

Issues of modern Australian families 7
spiritual support. The registered nurses are made aware of the government strategy and they must
try and pass on the information to the family and patient in the best possible communication to
inform them correctly about the measures to be undertaken depending on the current stage of the
disease (Compare et al. 2013). This care and support will vary highly depending on the diagnosis
of the coronary heart disease that the patient receives. For example, the patients treated with the
coronary heart disease may be vulnerable upon treatment; their immune system may be low
which in turn makes them susceptible to contracting potentially fatal infections. This sort of
vulnerability can lead to extreme conditions and the family must be informed correctly in such
cases. It may happen so, that due to a by-pass surgery, the patient after discharge may feel a loss
of appetite or other symptoms of poor health condition, in such cases, the family or caregiver
needs to ensure that the nutrients and food required are provided on a regular basis and it must
not include something that can cause a rise in blood pressure; same goes for stress condition. The
registered nurse needs to communicate properly with the family about how stress can affect the
patient and cause serious implications besides bad nutrient choices. This would be a great way to
ensure that the government strategy of awareness reaches the family and patient first hand.
Several post-treatment conditions like severe dehydration, nutritional failure may develop, the
registered nurse must routinely inform the family how to cope with such conditions and prevent
them from happening in the first place (Carman et al. 2013). Another important factor to
consider would be the mental health of the patient undergoing treatment. The patient’s
psychological needs also need critical care as emotional distress may lead to recurrence of the
coronary heart condition, readmission and even prove fatal in the long term. Apart from this the
nurse would also need to inform the patient party that the emotional concerns need to be
addressed with proper communication as its continuation may interfere in the social well being
of the patient resulting from events like erectile dysfunction or paralysis due to recurrence. All
such challenges that could affect the patient during or post-treatment must be informed to family,
friends and caregivers on an immediate basis (Staniute et al. 2013).
The recognition of coronary heart disease as the leading chronic disease is in itself is a great
factor to have influenced caregiving of nurses. The disease itself along with treatment, remission
as well as recurrence that ultimately results in additional treatment, restarting the entire process
over and over again; would bring in new challenges and responsibilities for the nurse. These
responsibilities would include providing continuous care and supervision that could change

Issues of modern Australian families 8
along the course of the treatment trajectory and escalate along with recurrence and remission
(Wang et al. 2014). The support part to be played by the registered nurse comes to play here,
addressing the patient medical summary and seeing the level and recognizing the number of
recurrence, the nurse must interact accordingly with the family or concerned people, to ensure
proper caregiving information is passed on.
It has been revealed through several studies that nurses responsible for such caregiving may
suffer emotionally and can themselves suffer from several medical conditions, developing over
time. Although it varies greatly from the high levels of stress and depression that family
caregivers may undergo, they are nevertheless issues to be addressed (Hibbard & Greene, 2013).
It can not only have implications on the caregiver or nurse but also in turn affect the family and
friends of the patient. Once under stress the caregiver, supporter or nurse must refrain and take
necessary measures to prevent such developing conditions.
In multiple clinical settings in Australia, registered nurses are involved in the process of
providing education and awareness programs along with support to the family and well-wishers.
The most important part here is the symptom management education that is provided upon
discharge besides providing all necessary urgent calling numbers that could address the issue at
hand faced upon discharge and provides the necessary information and assistance as deemed fit
(Ignatavicius & Workman, 2015). A multidisciplinary approach is also advised to be undertaken
that would address issues of pain, and other symptoms of discomfort besides management of
several other symptoms. Registered nurses provide referrals that would help consult a dietitian in
case of eating issues faced, support through rehab centers to address other issues like dyspnea,
fatigue, stamina, etc. Other valuable referrals would include social workers involved in providing
psychological support apart from legal issues, financial problems, and health insurances as well.
The registered nurse, in case necessary, would need to convey all relevant information with the
family caregiver to ensure that all care needs are met. The nurses play a lead role here as
professionals and educator for guiding the family and those concerned. The purpose of the
professional nurse here is crystal clear in terms of providing expert care to the patient and
education along with support to the family and caregivers as necessary (Miller & DiMatteo,
2013). The role includes not only of an educator but also of a clinician, counselor, as well as
researchers and all of these roles, are interchangeable throughout the entire course of the

Issues of modern Australian families 9
treatment. This sort of coordination is what is necessary for a registered nurse to implement for
playing the lead role in caregiving, education, and support to the family.
Conclusion
Modern Australian Families are increasingly facing the risks of coronary heart diseases. Such
diseases have multiple aspects in terms of trends and impacts. The government measures taken
for promotion of awareness must reach these families to better understand the preventive
measures and the role of registered nurses in conveying the message to the families is of vital
importance. The role includes not only of an educator but also of a clinician, counselor as well as
researchers and all of these roles are interchangeable throughout the entire course of the
treatment. This sort of coordination is what is necessary for a registered nurse to implement for
playing the lead role in care giving, education and support to the family.

Issues of modern Australian families 10
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