A Prevention Program to educate Australian citizens about UV exposure to prevent skin cancer

This program seeks to educate Australian citizens about the dangers of UV exposure to prevent skin cancer. SunSmart works in collaboration with the primary and secondary schools, early childhood centres, healthcare professionals, sporting clubs and local government to reduce the chances of UV exposure over the skin. It was successful in encouraging people to protect their skin from the harmful rays of the sun and thus helping to reduce the reported cases of skin cancer in Victoria. This program involves communities which include both primary and secondary schools, health professionals

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1. Sun smart health promotion program
Surveys acknowledge the fact that Australia has the highest rate of melanoma or skin
cancer in the whole World. Further studies show that two in every three Australians
above 70 years will always be diagnosed with skin cancer (Olsen, Thompson, Green,
Neale, & Whiteman, 2015). This program seeks to educate Australian citizens about the
dangers of UV exposure to prevent skin cancer. It is funded by VicHealth and the
Cancer Council Victoria programs. SunSmart works in collaboration with the primary
and secondary schools, early childhood centres, healthcare professionals, sporting
clubs and local government to reduce the chances of UV exposure over the skin. The
media campaign launched by the SunSmart under the collaboration of Cancer Council
Victoria witnessed significant success. The campaign featured Sid Seagull and was
internationally recognised as Slip! Slop! Slap! Campaign. It was successful in
encouraging people to protect their skin from the harmful rays of the sun and thus
helping to reduce the reported cases of skin cancer in Victoria.
The two principles of primary healthcare used by Sun Smart are equity and community
participation. This program involves communities which include both primary and
secondary schools, health professionals and local government by conducting
workshops to promote a healthy approach regarding exposure to UV (Wright, Winslade,
Dudley, Cotton, & Hamer, 2018). On the other hand, this program is equitable. It does
not discriminate anyone from accessing their services. They offer their services to
children, adults, women and even men.
2. Medicare

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The two advantages of Medicare insurance in Australia is free or subsidised treatment
by a health professional and free treatment and accommodation as a public (Medicare)
patient in a public hospital.
In Australia, healthcare is publicly funded by the government from the taxes or
premiums raised by citizens and non-citizens. And since they are so many, they are
only entitled to low monthly premiums of only $135 in 2019 for part A and $130 per
month in 2018 for part B (Wong, Greene, Dolja-Gore, & Van Gool, 2016). Medicare also
offers a wide range of healthcare providers. This creates a wide range of services for
the citizens to select their preferred or best option.
Disadvantages of Medicare include out of pocket costs and the lack of vision, dental
and hearing benefits. Studies show that even after paying monthly premiums, some
citizens are forced to raise 80% of the costs from their pockets to carter for medical
expenses (McCall, 2016). Furthermore, Medicare does not cover dental or hearing
issues despite paying monthly premiums.
3.
Marcus is a 65-year-old indigenous male and has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes
that is difficult to manage. As an indigenous patient, he has unique needs that should be
addressed immediately to curb the condition.
The three immediate health-needs for Marcus include:
1 Smoke cessation which is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes
2 Modification of diet.
3 Regular exercise

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Intervention
In order to assist Marcus to access and eat a healthy diet, I would provide patient
education on the importance of eating food that is low in fats under the guidance of a
trained dietician or diabetes educator. The dietician will also design a customised diet
chart for Marcus depending upon the weight, BMI, height, age and gender. On exercise,
I would recommend him a nearby gym so that he can engage in physical activities
regularly to reduce calories and cholesterol in the body (Powers et al., 2017). Finally, I
will educate Marcus on the consequences of smoking so that he does not continue
smoking since it is one of the risk factors for type 2 diabetes.
 Two political and social issues that might impact the development of indigenous
health policy are:
1. Lack of political goodwill and support from the government.
2. Social isolation
The success of any policy not necessarily indigenous health policy relies on the political
interest and funding. If the Australian government does not fully support the indigenous
Health policy, then it won’t be implemented (Baker et al., 2017). On the hand, I would
recommend to involve indigenous policy planners for specifically planning indigenous
health care policies. However, studies reveal that this is not the case as Indigenous
Australians are isolated in most cases. This, therefore, makes it difficult to develop the
indigenous Health policy. When it comes to taking input from the indigenous population
for policy development, government officials often are reluctant in taking indigenous
peoples’ suggestions.

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Anita is a non-indigenous while Sita is indigenous. The potential difference to approach
is that in Sita:
 I will incorporate spirituality
 Cultural care such as herbs.
The two interdisciplinary team members I could involve in planning Sitas health and
well-being include a social worker and a nutritionist. The role of the social worker will be
to counsel Sita so that she is not anxious about managing her diet. The Nutritionist on
the other hand will offer advice on a good diet that Sita should eat.
With top level private health insurance, Sita can experience benefit of choice of doctors
and specialists. She will have a wide choice of services she wishes. She can also
access healthcare anytime she needs. Therefore, she will have a more peace of mind
as she is covered for medical treatments whenever she needs it.
In Dandenong,
 Heart scope Victoria is one of the health service that can assist Sita to
recuperate well.
 The other health service is Dandenong and District Aborigines co-operative
limited.
I would assist Sita to follow religious beliefs in different ways as long as it won't be
harmful in any way. Sita is a Hindu and she believes that she must follow hot and cold
food principles to recover from her condition. The ‘hot and cold food principle involves

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a belief by which both hot and cold foods are thought to have innate potency. Hot
foods like potatoes, onions, pepper and ghee are regarded as good for digestion and
circulation, whereas cold food like coconut, cauliflower and sweet fruits are regarded
as good for body strength. Hence, according to the Hindu medical system and the
ayurvedic principles, any food that is pungent and salty are regarded as hot and any
foot which is sweet or astringent are cold. To ensure that Sita’s religious beliefs are
respected while developing diet plan, a balance between hot and cold food would be
maintained while preparing a meal. This will ensure that Sita does not feel disrespected
because of food choices and all her preference regarding food items will be taken.
As Sita has had a myocardial infarction, it is linked to nutrition related health
issue. Hence, care can be taken to maintain a good balance of hot and cold food as
well as provide a healthy diet to Sita which prevents the risk of future heart attack. This
is also necessary because food is an important part of religious practices. Based on
regional preferences, traditional food choices and food practices differ for different
group of people (Queensland Government, 2015). Hence, information can be taken
from Sita regarding her preferred food choices and types of desserts, fruits and spices
consumed by her. This information can help to adhere to her hot and cold food
principle and develop a healthy balanced diet for Sita too.

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References
Baker, P., Friel, S., Kay, A., Baum, F., Strazdins, L., &Mackean, T. (2017). What Enables
and Constrains the Inclusion of the Social Determinants of Health Inequities in
Government Policy Agendas? A Narrative Review. International Journal of Health
Policy and Management, 7(2), 101-111. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2017.130
McCall, C. (2016). Concerns raised over the future of Medicare in Australia. The Lancet,
388(10042), 323. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(16)31145-x
Olsen, C. M., Thompson, B. S., Green, A. C., Neale, R. E., & Whiteman, D. C. (2015). Sun
Protection and Skin Examination Practices in a Setting of High Ambient Solar
Radiation. JAMA Dermatology, 151(9), 982. doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2015.0739
Powers, M. A., Bardsley, J., Cypress, M., Duker, P., Funnell, M. M., Fischl, A. H., …
Vivian, E. (2017). Diabetes Self-management Education and Support in Type 2
Diabetes. The Diabetes Educator, 43(1), 40-53. doi:10.1177/0145721716689694

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Queensland Government (2015). Food and cultural practices of the Indian community in
Australia – a community resource. Retrieved from:
https://metrosouth.health.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/heau-cultural-profile-
indian.pdf
Wong, C. Y., Greene, J., Dolja-Gore, X., & Van Gool, K. (2016). The Rise and Fall in Out-
of-Pocket Costs in Australia: An Analysis of the Strengthening Medicare Reforms.
Health Economics, 26(8), 962-979. doi:10.1002/hec.3376
Wright, B., Winslade, M., Dudley, D., Cotton, W., & Hamer, A. (2018). Protect your skin
and let the fun begin: The results of an intervention to improve NSW primary
schools’ implementation of the SunSmart Program. Health Promotion Journal of
Australia, 30(2), 267-271. doi:10.1002/hpja.27