Person-Centered Care: Impact of Australian Health Workforce Policy

This essay examines the impact of Australian health workforce policy on the quality of person-centered care within the Australian healthcare system. It highlights the challenges of uneven doctor distribution, particularly between urban and rural areas, and discusses policies implemented to address this issue, such as prioritizing medical student selection based on location. The essay argues that these policies have improved healthcare access and quality in underserved areas, enhancing person-centered care by ensuring healthcare providers are familiar with the cultural and belief systems of the communities they serve. While acknowledging that these policies have not completely resolved all challenges, the essay concludes that they represent a significant step towards improving healthcare services and promoting person-centered care for all Australian citizens.

Running Head: AUSTRALIAN HEALTH POLICY 1
Impact of Australian Health Workforce Policy on the Quality Person-centered care by the
Healthcare workforce;
Student’s name;
Date.

AUSTRALIAN HEALTH POLICY 2
Impact of Australian Health Workforce Policy on the Quality Person-centered care by the
Healthcare workforce.
According to Kitson et al., (2013) Person-centered care is a process whereby the health providers
select the method of offering treatment to patients based on the needs, characteristics, and values
of the specific patients. This, therefore, indicates that methods of delivering treatments to
patients should differ based on the location of the patient and the specific belief system of that
specific culture to ensure that the patient is at the center of healthcare, (Kitson, Marshall, Bassett
& Zeitz, 2013). One can, therefore, realize that person-centered care is one of the most important
aspects of healthcare and hence used as one of the major indicators of quality healthcare. This
paper discusses the various ways in which the Australian workforce policy affects the delivery of
person-centered care to Australian citizens by the Healthcare Workforce.
The major problem facing densely populated and developed counties such as Australia is
the uneven distribution of doctors across different geographical areas with a high number of
doctors in urban centers and few in rural centers, (Hibbard & Greene, 2013). This limits access
to primary care and medical care to individuals in rural areas. In curbing this, Australia has
implemented policies to solve this problem. One of the policies implemented by Australia in the
policy targeting the selection of medical students based on their location. This law is based on
the basis that students from rural areas are more likely to practice in the rural setting of their
origin as compared to students from urban centers who are more likely to practice in the urban
centers, (Hibbard & Greene, 2013). In this policy, the government has set a minimum number of
students that should be admitted to learning institutions as medical students.
In the first place, by enacting this law, the government has been able to increase the
number of doctors in most underserved areas especially rural areas, (Nolte & McKee, 2008). By
increasing the ration of doctors to the patients in this areas, patients have been able to receive
quality services from health centers. This move has also greatly improved on efficiency as

AUSTRALIAN HEALTH POLICY 3
compared to latter days. The improved services in these centers have enhanced person-centered
care to the patients, (Nolte & McKee, 2008).
Secondly, since the medical doctors employed in the rural areas are also residents, they
are well versed with the belief systems of the individuals living in these areas hence they can
serve them within the required value systems, (Sturmberg et al., 2012). This factor has greatly
improved the ability of the healthcare workforce to provide quality, person-centered care to
patients, (Sturmberg, O'halloran, & Martin, 2012). In addition to this, these medical practitioners
are well versed with the people's expectation in the rural areas hence able to address their
challenges to effectively.
In conclusion, among the many policies enacted by the Australian government in the
quest to improve on the quality of medical service to its citizen, the policy mentioned above has
greatly improved on both the quality and person-centered care to rural area residents, (Koren,
2010)). Although this policy has not completely improved on the ability of health institutions to
offer quality, person-centered services to the patients, it has set healthcare institutions ready for
flight.

AUSTRALIAN HEALTH POLICY 4
Reference
Hibbard, J. H., & Greene, J. (2013). What the evidence shows about patient activation: better
health outcomes and care experiences; fewer data on costs. Health affairs, 32(2), 207-
214.
Kitson, A., Marshall, A., Bassett, K., & Zeitz, K. (2013). What are the core elements of patient
centred care? A narrative review and synthesis of the literature from health policy,
medicine and nursing. Journal of advanced nursing, 69(1), 4-15.
Koren, M. J. (2010). Person-centered care for nursing home residents: The culture-change
movement. Health Affairs, 29(2), 312-317.
Nolte, E., & McKee, M. (Eds.). (2008). Caring for people with chronic conditions: a health
system perspective. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
Sturmberg, J. P., O'halloran, D. M., & Martin, C. M. (2012). Understanding health system
reform–a complex adaptive systems perspective. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical
Practice, 18(1), 202-208.