Analysis of Health Challenges in Rural and Remote Australian Areas

This essay explores the health challenges faced by populations in rural and remote Australia, areas characterized by isolation and limited access to healthcare. It highlights that these regions, classified into inner regional, outer regional, and very remote, house approximately 28% of Australia's population who often experience poorer health outcomes compared to their metropolitan counterparts. The essay discusses how factors such as individual behaviors, socioeconomic conditions, and environmental domains significantly impact health, leading to higher rates of hospitalization and earlier deaths. Key issues include lower education levels, unemployment, reduced access to healthcare, and higher rates of risky behaviors such as smoking and physical inactivity. The burden of disease, particularly kidney and urinary diseases, is notably higher in these areas. Income disparities further exacerbate these challenges, with rural incomes significantly lower than those in major cities, compounded by the impacts of climate change on agricultural livelihoods. The essay concludes by emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to address these health disparities and improve the overall well-being of rural and remote Australian communities.

Essay

Table of Content.
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Rural and Remote Australia's......................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................2
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTION
The term rural and remote is refer to those area which are outside from the Australia's
major cities. As these are classified into three region such as inner regional, outer regional as
well as very remote regional. Approximately 28% population of Australia's are live in rural and
remote areas. These Australian population face lot of challenge for living because of their
geographical region. Even they often face poorer health outcomes in comparison to metropolitan
areas. The health condition of the remote Australian is worse in comparison of both city and
rural population in almost each condition. Hence, one of the most prevailing disease condition of
Australian population are chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. As about more than half of the
Australian population death is caused due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Therefore,
the essay report is focused on the remote and rural Australian population and also discussed the
detail condition of their health problem which they are facing as well as discussed about their
living lifestyle.
MAIN BODY
Rural and Remote Australia's
The remote area of Australia's is characterised as a small, isolated communities which are
having highest rates of health illness. Therefore, they need highest numbers of heath professional
for their care but they have lowest number of health professional. This cause higher number of
population hospitalisation and earlier death (Beccaria & et.al., (2021)). Whereas the individual
behaviours are one of the main contextual factors which can affect the persons health. For
example, as how much the education an individual have, where they live, they have job or not,
what kind of work they do. As these contextual factors are come under the social, economical as
well as environmental domains. The amount of people live in the rural and remote areas in
Australia's are less healthy as well as less people to look after. The whole range of health status
as well as efficacy of health services may cause the excess mortality rate in Australia's. The
social determinant play a certain major role of mortality (Woolley, Sen Gupta & Larkins.,
(2018)).
The lower level of education, lower income, unemployment as well as poorer access to
health services are comes under the social determinant to poor health for people who live in rural
or remote areas of Australia's. They also are in higher risk for common health problems due to
1

higher consumption of smoking, lower rate of physical activity as well as higher rates of
disability. They are also lived in poor health related infrastructure, poorer housing, less access to
fresh food or water as well as lived in such condition where there is greater exposure to
dangerous things (McMillan., (2020)). It has been estimated that there are various risk factors
which are responsible for burden of disease in the Australia's such as tobacco, high body mass,
physical inactivity, high blood cholesterol, alcohol, low fruit or vegetable consumption,illicit
drugs, occupational exposures to hazards, intimate partner violence as well as child sexual abuse
(Health Conditions Prevalence, [2022]).
This is the most vital consideration for the nation to considered as how much these thing
effects the health and need to work in order to reduced so that the illness can be diagnosed,
managed as well as cured from the health sector (Lyle & Greenhill., (2018)).
The burden of diseases is refers to a disease or injury which could may impact on living
as well as impact to dying prematurely. The total burden of disease as well as injury in Australia
are increased with increasing remoteness. The major cities may experienced the burden of
disease in least case but the rural or remote areas may experienced the most cases of burden of
disease. The rate of burden of disease in the remote areas are about one and half time more than
the rate of major cities. In rural and remote areas the fatal burden disease rate is one point eight
time higher than the major cities (Munn., (2022)).
The kidney as well as the urinary diseases or the disease related to the kidney such as coronary
pulmonary disease are the most noticeable higher rates of burden disease in remote and rural
areas of Australia as compared to the major disease. All over the world, one of the most major
factor which is closely associated with the health status of the rural or remote population of the
Australia is incomes (Bowyer, Jones, Bowrey, & Smark, (2020)). As good income can helps the
people to fulfil their life such as helps to meet daily needs including food, clothes as well as
furnished good housing, helps to afford a good health care option as well as helps to get
opportunity for good education. But the overall income of the rural or remote areas in Australia
is twenty percent less than the major cities. Along with that the income of remote areas is
affected by the natural calamity. Some poor season may affect the incomes of farmers in the
remote areas. The climate change is expected to boost the diversity of the agricultural incomes in
many areas but it likely to depress in the rural and remote areas of Australia's (Cordier & et.al.,
(2019)).
2

CONCLUSION
From the above discussed essay, it is concluded that outside region of the Australia is a remote or
rural areas of the Australia and it can be classified into three region such as inner region, outer
region as well as very remote region. It is concluded that the remote region need more number of
health professional but the remote region have lower number of health professional for providing
care. There are many determinant factors which could play a major role in the health status of the
Australia's such as social determinant, socio-physiological determinant as well as physical, social
and economical environment. The most prevailing disease is burden of disease. It is the diseases
which could affect the living or the premature living. The disease related to kidney or urinary
tract infection disease is the most common disease or higher rate disease affected the most
people of remote areas of Australia.
3

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Altman, J. (2018). In search of an outstations policy for Indigenous Australians. Canberra, ACT:
Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR), The Australian National
University.
Beccaria, L., McIlveen, P., Fein, E.C., Kelly, T., McGregor, R. & Rezwanul, R., (2021).
Importance of attachment to place in growing a sustainable Australian Rural Health
Workforce: A rapid review. Australian Journal of Rural Health.
Bowyer, D., Jones, G., Bowrey, G., & Smark, C. (2020). Survival of the fittest?: Challenges to
regional aviation and regional communities from the privatisation of Australia's
airports. Australasian Journal of Regional Studies, The, 26(1), 1-28.
Cordier, R., Chen, Y. W., Clemson, L., Byles, J., & Mahoney, N. (2019). Subjective memory
complaints and difficulty performing activities of daily living among older women in
Australia. Australian occupational therapy journal, 66(2), 227-238.
Health Conditions Prevalence, [2022] [online] available through
online<https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/health-
conditions-prevalence/latest-release>
Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Groth, M., & White, L. (2018). Workplace aggression and
organisational effectiveness: The mediating role of employee engagement. Australian
Journal of Management, 43(4), 614-631.
Lyle, D. & Greenhill, J., (2018). Two decades of building capacity in rural health education,
training and research in Australia: University Departments of Rural Health and Rural
Clinical Schools. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 26(5), pp.314-322.
McMillan, A. J. (2020). Realising the value of nursing and midwifery. Australian Health
Review, 44(2), 169-169.
Munn, M., (2022). Australia's minimum age of criminal responsibility: A breach of human
rights. AUSTRALIAN LAW JOURNAL, 96(7), pp.467-469.
Page, A., Atkinson, J. A., Campos, W., Heffernan, M., Ferdousi, S., Power, A., ... & Hickie, I.
(2018). A decision support tool to inform local suicide prevention activity in Greater
Western Sydney (Australia). Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 52(10),
983-993.
Rosenberg, S., & Hickie AM, I. (2019). Making better choices about mental health investment:
The case for urgent reform of Australia’s Better Access Program. Australian & New
Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 53(11), 1052-1058.
Taylor, S., Cairns, A., & Glass, B. (2020). Health professional perspectives of expanded practice
in rural community pharmacy in Australia. International Journal of Pharmacy
Practice, 28(5), 458-465.
Wong Shee, A., Quilliam, C., Corboy, D., Glenister, K., McKinstry, C., Beauchamp, A., ... & Mc
Namara, K. (2022). What shapes research and research capacity building in rural health
services? Context matters. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 30(3), 410-421.
Woolley, T., Sen Gupta, T., & Larkins, S. (2018). Work settings of the first seven cohorts of
James Cook University Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery graduates: Meeting
a social accountability mandate through contribution to the public sector and Indigenous
health services. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 26(4), 258-264.
4