Inala Community Health: Social Determinants and Vulnerable Groups

This report analyzes the health of the Inala community in Brisbane, Queensland, focusing on social determinants and vulnerable groups. It examines census data, highlighting the higher percentages of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Vietnamese speakers, and unemployed individuals compared to state and national averages. The report identifies the Indigenous population and Vietnamese speakers as vulnerable groups at higher risk of poor health outcomes, particularly type-2 diabetes. The report emphasizes the importance of addressing social determinants like housing, food security, language barriers, and unemployment to improve health outcomes. The report also discusses the Better Living Diabetes Program as a health promotion initiative and suggests improvements to enhance access to primary healthcare services, particularly for the vulnerable groups, to reduce diabetes prevalence. The report concludes by reiterating the need for tailored health promotion programs to address the specific needs of the Inala community.

Running head: COMMUNITY HEALTH
Analysing Inala Community and It's Associated Nursing Concept
Name of the Student
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Part A
Table 1. Summary and inferences generated from 2016 Census data for Inala
Category/Sub-Category of
Data
Summary and Comparative
Statement/Measures
Inference Statement
Aboriginal or Torres Strait
Islander People
In the Inala community, the
count of indigenous people
is 4.5 % of the total
population, greater than that
of state 4.0% and country
2.8%.
Racial discrimination is one
of the driving factors that
decrease access to health
care in the indigenous
community and increase the
likelihood of poor health
outcome.
Language The percentage of the
population following the
Vietnamese language is
14.7%, significantly higher
than the state levels of 0.6%
and national level of 1.2%.
Linguistic differences are
one of the significant
barriers acting between the
community people and their
access to primary health care
services.
Unemployment The percentage of
unemployed people in the
Inala community is 11 per
cent, which is pointedly
higher than the national and
state levels.
Employment status is a
crucial social determinant of
health, which determines the
personal situation and access
to health care of an
individual.
Source: (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016)

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Part B
Inala has a small community population living in an area of 6 sq. km in Brisbane city,
Queensland (Mycommunitydirectory.com.au., 2020). According to the Australian Bureau of
Statistic's 2016 Census report, the population of the Inala community was of 14,849 people,
of which, a majority (51.5%) were females and rest males. The following sections of the
paper aim at targeting one particular section from the Inala community and highlight the
significant social determinants of health in them, to develop an intervention plan and address
a particular health issue that the targeted population is at high risk.
Social Determinants
The circumstances or the situation in which a person lives works, and grows can be
deemed as the primary social determinants that influence their health. These social
determinants of health are good indicators of an individual's personal condition and include
education level, social inclusion and support levels, employment status and income (Shankar
et al., 2013).
In the Inala community, the population of the Aboriginals people, according to the
2016 census report, is significantly higher than the population of indigenous people in the
national or state level (Queensland). The major social determinants of health for this
particular community includes healthy housing, food supplies, and sanitation. It is evident
that the community has improper access to these aforementioned utilities and lack of access
to the primary health care provisions. This significantly increases the risk of the population to
poor health outcome and decreases patient safety.
The lack of access to essential utilities in the indigenous community in Inala is linked
with another social determinant of health, unemployment. Unemployment rates in this
specified community are higher than the unemployment rates in the state and national level.
Unemployment is linked to lower-income and increases the risk of physical, mental, and

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psychological pain in individuals, which can increase the risk of depression, anxiety and
incidence of low-self-esteem in the individual (Bryer et al., 2017).
The third major social determinant of health identified in this particular community is
the lack of mutual language in the population. The number of people speaking Vietnamese is
significantly higher than the state and national levels according to the 2016 census report.
The lack of mutual language and linguistic differences between the community and
healthcare providers leads to issues for the latter to accurately deliver higher standards of
health care. Moreover, linguistic differences also refrain the individual from accessing
primary health care provisions made available to them (Ahmed et al., 2017).
Vulnerable Group
Following the discussion and its analysis on the social determinants of health in the
above section of the paper, it is determined that the individuals from the indigenous
community, who are unemployed and individuals who speak Vietnamese language only are
at higher risk of attaining poor health outcomes and the vulnerable group identified in the
Inala community.
Health Problem and Needs
Majority of the most marginalised and disadvantaged section of people from the
Australian population comes from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (Howard-
Wagner, 2018). According to Diabetes Australia (2019), the targeted indigenous population
are at higher risk of attaining type-2 diabetes in comparison to the rest of non-indigenous
Australian population. This increased risk is determined to be at least three to four times
higher prevalence in the indigenous community.
The reason behind this increased risk of diabetes in the indigenous community can be
reasoned due to their unhealthy lifestyle, lack of access to proper food nutrition, and lack of
access to primary health care provisions made available specifically to them (Keel et al.,

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2017). The population of an indigenous community in Inala community is higher than other
regions, which leads to the discussion that primary health care service provisions should be
higher and confined to such regions.
Analysing the increased risk of diabetes in the targeted population and the social
determinants of health for the vulnerable group in the Inala community, the significant health
needs to be identified for increasing and improving the ease of access to primary healthcare
services. By improving the ease of access to primary healthcare services for this vulnerable
group, early diagnosis and prevention plan for diabetes can be ensured for them, which will
significantly reduce the prevalence rate of diabetes in the particular community (Porterfield et
al., 2018).
Health Promotion Program
One of the health promotion programs that is focusing on addressing the high
prevalence of diabetes in the indigenous community living in Queensland is the Better Living
Diabetes Program (Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet., 2020). The program is based on
the basic principle that the concerned individuals need to be educated regarding the disease,
which will enable them to administer self-care measures for diagnosis and treatment of
diabetes. The program administers measures to improve the lifestyle of the indigenous
community and induce necessary changes to help reduce the incidence and prevalence of
diabetes in the Aboriginal community.
Care planning and health assessment activities are crucial for the success of such
programs and increase the uptake of services by the vulnerable group. In addition to this, the
program should undertake activities which increase the incidence of mutual language
between the healthcare professionals and the individuals from the vulnerable cohort. This
would require improving the cultural and linguistic competency of the health care

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professionals taking part in the primary health care service provisions, especially designed for
this vulnerable group.
The evaluation phase is critical to determine the efficacy of a health care promotion
program. Indicators such as diabetic health education levels, rates of correct referrals,
diabetes-associated morbidity and rates of diabetic incidence and prevalence.
Conclusion
The above sections of the paper identified the aboriginal individuals living with the
status of unemployed along with the people speaking Vietnamese, in the Inala community as
the vulnerable group with increased risk of poor health outcomes. The major health issue that
the vulnerable group is at increased risk is diabetes. Health promotion program like the
Better Living Diabetes Program needs to be revised to include activities that improve
coordination and referral services, which will improve access to primary health care services
by this vulnerable group and effectively reduce the prevalence of diabetes.

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