Public Health Care of Australian Population

Running Head: Public health
Public health care of Australian population
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

1Public health care of Australian population
Introduction
Primary Health Care is the first level of healthcare services which are associated with
individuals, families and communities in a country. In Australia, personal care, prevention of
illness and development of community health are included in the primary healthcare
facilities. The healthcare setting is associated with the interconnecting principles which
protect equity, access and inter social collaboration of the community. Understanding of
social determinants with social, financial, cultural and political determinants of health is
improved by the implementation of different national and international strategies in the
context of primary healthcare (Donkin, Goldblatt, Allen, Nathanson & Marmot, 2018). The
assignment is focused on a strategy from the National Primary Healthcare Strategic
framework to combat the effects of diabetes in Australia. The essay investigates social
determinants, epidemiological factors and WHO 5 principles of health care which are
practised by the nurses.
Discussion
National Primary Healthcare Strategic Framework is considered as an effective as
well as popular approach of the Commonwealth, states and different territories of Australia
(Keleher,2019). The strategic framework works in the partnership for betterment healthcare
across Australian healthcare settings for integrating the healthcare facilities. Primary
Healthcare is provided by the integrated service system with high quality care across the
country and addresses different lack of access to the patients. This assignment focuses on the
second strategy of the National healthcare framework and the related potential actions.
Second strategy of the national strategic framework promotes healthcare models with long
term relationships among the clients and healthcare providers to increase health and
wellbeing of each patient and their families during their lives (www1.health.gov.au, 2020).

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The strategy emphasizes on collaborative approach of healthcare workers and professional
organisations to promote the progression of a multidisciplinary teams with clinically skilled
and potential professionals. Funding and sponsorships should be included in a proper
healthcare improvement plan to promote the quality, safety of healthcare services among the
population. The strategy explains to reduce preventable hospitalisations through primary and
secondary preventive measures. According to the principle, new and existing health system
intelligence including research, financial modelling, evaluation of needs and evidence based
planning with service delivery are developed with the quality and accessibility of the
healthcare settings. Opportunities related to the web-based healthcare facility consisting
Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) and Secure Messaging initiatives
by government and private organisations are taken under consideration.
Chronic health conditions are long lasting, need continuous management and have a
basic effect on the individuals and their family in the healthcare system. 1.2 million adults
have the possibilities to have diabetes. Diabetes contributes 10% of the population as affected
community. According to the reports every 4 adults are diagnosed with diabetes and 1 adult
remains undiagnosed. 53% of the total population with normal weight is affected with
diabetes (Zimmet, 2017).
Impaired glucose regulation and unhealthy food habits are two prevalence social
determinants for diabetes among the Australian population (www.aihw.gov.au, 2020).
Overweight and obesity increase the rate of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases with
increasing mortality rate among rural areas of the country. Diabetes is directly related to the
type of food intake and according to the study report 93% of population does not eat five
serves of vegetables and 50% does not eat fruits once in a week. Insufficient physical activity
and poor dietary food intake are the predominant risk factors for occurrence of diabetes in
54% of the population. Multidisciplinary team based health professionals associated with

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different clinical models such as patient centered medical homes (PCMH) for improving
healthcare provision throughout the country. Community healthcare settings, General
physicians, residential aged care, home or custodial environment, educational settings and
occupational healthcare professionals should be associated with the primary healthcare
development.
According to WHO (World Health Organisation), five principles such as access,
equity, empowerment, inter-sectoral collaboration and self-determination are associated with
physical, mental and social well-being of a community or population. Accessibility of
healthcare services should be available to every stage of the society. Skilled GPs (General
Practitioners), community nurses and allied healthcare professionals should serve in remote
areas of Australia. Aboriginal health workers support the population with better healthcare
facilities or in a multidisciplinary teams of health professionals for both better mental and
physical health of different communities (Zwar et al., 2017). There are some mechanisms
present in Australia for example Diabetes Care Pilot, is related innovative funding models
and provides payments to the healthcare providers to improve the healthcare settings.
Availability of healthcare data, service and planning details and workforce management and
infrastructure identify requirements for improvement of certain health conditions and
supports key principle related to ‘empowerment’. Principles and actions of that strategy
establish WHO’s principles such as self-determination and inter-sectoral collaboration of
healthcare settings. Appointing skilled professionals and implementation of better healthcare
approaches are initiatives for uplifting the healthcare settings with better interventions.
In Australia, diabetes is more common in males than females and the rate of
occurrence has been increased from 3.3% to 4.9% among the population (www.abs.gov.au,
2020). Rate of occurrence of diabetes is higher in the population of older adults aged from
65-74 years and is increasing day by day (www.abs.gov.au, 2020). Type 2 diabetes is more

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prevalent than type 1 diabetes as the rate of occurrence is higher for the Type 2 diabetes from
2007-2014. After measuring glucose level in body by fasting plasma glucose and glycated
haemoglobin, it has been observed that, 5.1% of Australians above 18 years had diabetes as
per plasma glucose level test. Further studies has been shown that 3.1% of adults are affected
by type 2 diabetes (Australia, 2019). One in seven individuals are affected by the gestational
diabetes, which is the fastest growing diabetes in Australian context. Gestational diabetes is
most common in the indigenous women and the risk factors cannot be identified properly.
Conclusion
Primary Healthcare is provided by the integrated service system with high quality care
across the country and addresses different lack of access to the patients. Understanding of
social determinants with social, financial, cultural and political determinants of health is
improved by the implementation of different national and international strategies in the
context of primary healthcare.

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References
Australia, H. (2019). Type 2 diabetes. Retrieved from : https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/type-
2-diabetes
Donkin, A., Goldblatt, P., Allen, J., Nathanson, V., & Marmot, M. (2018). Global action on
the social determinants of health. BMJ global health, 3(Suppl 1).doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2017-000603
Keleher, H. (2019). Primary health care in Australia. Understanding the Australian Health
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Zimmet, P. Z. (2017). Diabetes and its drivers: the largest epidemic in human
history?. Clinical diabetes and endocrinology, 3(1), 1.doi:
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40842-016-0039-3
Zwar, N., Dennis, S., Griffiths, R., Perkins, D., May, J., Hasan, I., ... & Harris, M. (2017).
Optimising skill-mix in the primary health care workforce for the care of older
Australians: A systematic review. Retrieved from: https://openresearch-
repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/119236/3/Zwar_25_final.pdf