Sociological Concepts and Theories in Health Care Systems in Australia

Running head: SOCIOLOGICAL CONCEPTS AND THEORIES IN HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS IN
AUSTRALIA 1
Sociological Concepts and Theories in Health Care Systems in Australia
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SOCIOLOGICAL CONCEPTS AND THEORIES IN HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS IN AUSTRALIA 2
Hierarchy and Power Are Intrinsic To the Current Health Care System in Australia
Introduction
Health care is necessary for well-being of every individual. However, the health care systems
vary in different countries. The paper seeks to discuss the traditional, current and future
strategic healthcare systems in Australia. Also, sociological theories, concepts and perceptions
that have been used to describe the nature of healthcare will be discussed. These theories
include functionalism theories, conflict and symbolic theories. This will help us in understanding
the behaviors, social interactions and the relationships between Australian individuals. In
addition, the paper will discuss the impacts of the theories to health care practitioners and the
general health care systems. People from lower social classes do not afford proper medication
due to high costs and those in power are not willing to assist them. Therefore, there is a gap in
the health care services between the high and the low socioeconomic groups in Australia. The
government should take this into consideration since every individual needs health care for
survival.
Health care system constitutes professions and activities that aim at promoting and
sustaining life (World Health Organization, 2018). The government is responsible for ensuring
the availability of these resources in the health care systems. It is therefore the role of the
government to ensure good health by providing adequate health care finances and policies for
equal services to all people despite the lack of money by the less fortunate. According to World
Health Organizations, a health care system that functions well ensures that all people get
essential medical products, technologies and vaccines in a qualified, cost effective and efficient
manner. Similarly, good professionals are those who are responsible, efficient and fair in
promoting the best health care services when provided with all the necessary resources (World
Health Organization, 2018). All these efforts are critical for well- functioning of any health care
system.
History, Social and Cultural Analysis of Health Care in Australia
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SOCIOLOGICAL CONCEPTS AND THEORIES IN HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS IN AUSTRALIA 3
Traditionally, there were disparities in health care system between indigenous and non-
indigenous populations in Australia. Indigenous populations such as Aborigines and Torres
Strait were faced with more health risks because of implication of racisms and socioeconomic
disadvantages in health care systems (Ally, 2014). According to one research, the disparities in
health care systems of Australia are evident in the cases of chronic diseases such as heart attack
and diabetes which were more frequent among Indigenous population. The lower
socioeconomic classes constituted 20% chronic diseases in Australia in 2014-2015 (Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare, 2016). However, the inequalities in health risks were also
associated with external conditions and factors of individual that are uncontrolled. For instance,
the high health risks behaviors of Indigenous population are perceived to be promoted by the
historical events that disrupted their social lives. The population had high risks because of
frequently engaging in poor social behaviors such as smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and
abusing other others (Factor, Kawachi, Williams, 2011). The research reported that 43.8%
indigenous Australia were daily smokers compared to 15.17% non- indigenous population
(Australian Bureu odf Statistics, 2016).
There are various theories and concepts that explain why the things were done in that
manner. Firstly, the conflict theory regarded the society as in competition for inadequate
resources (lumen, 2018). According to the theory, society is made up of different social classes
which compete for resources such as materials, social and political resources such as education,
hospitals, housing and employment. Basically, some people have the ability to obtain and keep
more resources than others. The government nature of offering unequal structural health care
systems was necessary in order to maintain the unequal structure of the society. The theory
suggests that the origin of such inequalities in social institutions is dated back to beginning of
civilizations where the powerful groups became dominant over others. The impacts of
disparities were felt differently between different groups on the basis of race, education and
gender. The different classes contributed to moderating the reaction of the people to the
inequalities. Also, the reactions were moderated by the rates of mobility and legitimate
perceptions of those in powers. The people from lower socioeconomic classes were
discriminated and offered with poor services. Also, it reports that the social, economic and
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