Women's Health: A Multifaceted Approach
Added on 2020-03-16
15 Pages4507 Words59 Views
Disease and DisordersNutrition and WellnessPublic and Global HealthHealthcare and Research
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Running head: PUBLIC HEALTHPublic healthName of the student:Name of the University:Author’s note
1PUBLIC HEALTHIntroduction:The first National Women’s Health Policy was implemented in Australia in 1989 toaddress the challenges faced by women in maintaining health. With the complex work demandand life circumstance, maintaining good health has become a serious challenge for women in the21st Century. The National Women’s Health Policy 2010 aimed to provide a strategic 20 yearplan to improve health of women particularly those who are at greater risk of poor health. Healthchallenges like access to health service and disease risk factors are experienced by both men andwomen, however as women have a higher life expectancy, their burden of chronic disease alsoincreases (Thorogood & Crowther 2015). This was main reason for the implementation ofWomen’s Health Policy and planning strategies specifically for the health of women. The reportby Martin (2017) also proves that women have higher life expectancy than men as new born girlsborn in Australia are expected to live for 84.5 years and boys are expected to live up to 80.4years. The patterns of disease and risk factors of disease and ill health also vary in womenaccording to the different age group. This paper particularly provides human rights analysis ofthe National Women’s Health Policy 2010 to find out how policy driven mechanism promotedhealth and well-being for Australian women. Policy analysis The National Women’s Health Policy 2010 is evaluated by means of the seven stage ofhuman rights based approach. The evaluation of the policy in the seven stages is as follows:1.Specific intended purpose of the policy or program
2PUBLIC HEALTHFrom the Human Right approach, the purpose of a policy is effective if it aims to improve thehealth of specific target people or seeks to improve outcome in specific health issues. Suchpolicies should be inclusive, recognizing the rights of target group particularly vulnerable groups(Parken 2010). Such specific intended purpose was also present in the National Women’s HealthPolicy 2010 as the policy statement specified the purpose of the policy, which was to improveand promote health and well-being of all Australian women particular those vulnerable to poorhealth (National Women’s Health Policy 2010). The focus and scale of the program is alsounderstood from its dual priorities which is to develop health services and prevention programstargeting chronic health issues which will affect health in the next two years and address healthinequities across different social groups. The review of the aim and dual priorities in the policyshows that the policy has wider focus as it aims to transform of health infrastructure both forimmediate and future health issues (Lewin et al. 2015). This also shows how decision makingoccurs during policy making process. The priority of addressing health inequity is also an important focus in the National Women’sHealth Policy 2010 as certain groups of women face socioeconomic disadvantages, whichcontribute to health inequity. The difference in lifestyle, employment housing, race and access tohealth care service particularly increases the likelihood of poor outcomes in specific group ofwomen . For example, the health statistics of aboriginal women living in Australia showgeographic difference in determinants of health. The health disparities in women is seen due tothe social determinant factor of socioeconomic status, age, disability, employment , ethnicity andgeographic location (Eades 2015). For instance, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander womenhave poorer health than indigenous women due to socioeconomic disadvantage, poor housingand poor access to health service. All this translates to high rate of disease incidence, morbidity
3PUBLIC HEALTHand mortality and behavioral health issues (Women's Health - 2014. 2017). Hence, the aim of thepolicy from the human rights approach is commendable as it is employing social model of healthapproach to promote health equity between women. 2.Impact of the policy on health The National Women’s Health Policy 2010 is likely to have positive impact on health as ithas prioritized key action areas based on evidence-based data. They have identified the healthpriority areas of preventing chronic disease and promoting mental health and well-being,promoting sexual and reproductive health and healthy ageing. Managing chronic disease iscrucial to improving health status (Zwar et al. 2017) The rate of chronic disease in Australianwomen is high. The policy was implemented in 2010 and at that time cardiovascular disease(CVD) was regarded as a major threat to health of Australian women. CVD lead to more deathsthan any other chronic diseases. The risk factors such as lack of physical activity, obesity andpoor consumption of fruits and vegetables were also high in females (Women and Heart disease2017). The National Health Survey report 2010 also shows that 1 in every 2 Australians live withone prominent chronic disease like CDV, cancer, asthma, COPD, diabetes or mental illness. Thesurvey also suggested that addressing behavioral and biomedical risk factor is important toreduce the burden of chronic disease (Department of Health | Chronic Conditions 2017).Inaccordance with such evidence based data, the National Women’s Health Policy 2010 was alsofound to focus on preventing modifiable risk factors of chronic disease. The policy proposedimproving health through gender analysis, education and health service delivery in remote areas.They also focused on preventing obesity, using alcohol and other drug use among women.Hence, use of these strategies suggest that such preventive health measures is likely to improvethe health of women in 20 years.
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