CNA151 Assignment: Healthcare Professionals & SDOH in Australia

This report examines the role of healthcare professionals in addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) within the context of a case study involving a 54-year-old woman named Carla living in a small coastal town in Australia. The report begins by defining SDOH and identifying key determinants impacting Carla's life, such as poor economic conditions, unemployment, lack of education, and unsatisfactory living standards. It then explores health promotional strategies and the role of healthcare professionals in addressing these determinants. The report emphasizes the importance of empathetic approaches, promoting education, providing employment opportunities, and communicating effectively with rural populations to improve health outcomes. The report also highlights the significance of government initiatives like the CDEP in improving the economic conditions of people living in remote areas. The report concludes by outlining specific ways healthcare professionals can contribute to addressing SDOH, including understanding their effects, adopting empathetic approaches, promoting education, and advocating for accessible healthcare and employment opportunities.

The social determinants of health and role of healthcare professionals

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ROLE OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN IMPROVING SDOH
Table of Contents
The social- demographic characteristic for Carla......................................................................2
Social determinants of health.................................................................................................2
Key determinant of health which impact over the individuals of this case...............................2
Poor economic condition........................................................................................................2
Unemployment.......................................................................................................................3
Lack of education facilities....................................................................................................3
Dissatisfactory living standard and early marriages..............................................................3
Health promotional strategies....................................................................................................3
Role of healthcare professionals in addressing SDOH..............................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................6

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ROLE OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN IMPROVING SDOH
The social- demographic characteristic for Carla
Social determinants of health
Social determinants are defined as conditions in which people live and grow, which may
directly or indirectly affect the health of the person. The education facilities, social and
economic conditions of family and neighbourhood, employment status in the area and
availability of health care services are known as major social determinants of health (WHO,
2020).
According to the case study, Carla lives in a very small coastal town which is an isolated and
rural area. In 2018, approximate 13.99% population of Australia was found as rural
population (economics, 2020). The educational situation of the Carla was not satisfactory
because she did not receive proper primary education in rural areas. The availability of
schools and quality of education is very poor in remote areas of Australia (Helen Stokes,
2020). The poor economic condition of Carla is a result of her poor educational background
and unavailability of jobs in remote areas. It was found in a survey that in 2014, 13.3%
people of Australia who belongs from rural background including 17.7% of children lives
below the poverty line (INC., 2020).
Carla got married at a very early age and had to bear the responsibility of two children
because of getting divorced. Due to migration of the people from remote areas to the city, a
very few business was available in that area. That is why Carla had to struggle in nurturing
her two children properly. Because of closure of mines and other business she could not get
sufficient money to even have a balanced diet and manage her day to day expenses.
Key determinant of health which impact over the individuals of this case
Poor economic condition because of unemployment or partial employment is the major key
determinant of health which is responsible for the poor health and social condition of the
individuals of the health including Carla, Annie and Josh. The daughter of Carla is pregnant
and developed gestational diabetes and she even did not have sufficient amount to meet her
regularly. All the persons of the case are extremely suffering from poor economic condition.
Some of the major key determinants of health are as follows:

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ROLE OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN IMPROVING SDOH
Poor economic condition
According to the case, the individuals who belong from remote areas are not in a satisfactory
financial position. They do not have sufficient money to purchase the balanced diet for proper
upbringing of their children. This is the major cause of poor life style and poor health status
(INC., 2020).
Unemployment
There is a lack of employment found in the remote areas of the country. The livelihood of the
persons suffers a lot because of lack of employment facilities in those areas. The government
should frame proper strategies to provide sufficient employment in rural and remote areas of
the country (INC., 2020).
Lack of education facilities
The people of remote areas even struggling in receiving primary education which is most
important factor of their bad health conditions. Because of lack of education, people do not
understand the symptoms and treatments of harmful diseases, they even could not aware
about medical check-ups and preventive strategies for stopping the harmful diseases (INC.,
2020).
Dissatisfactory living standard and early marriages
As discussed with the case, Carla and other individuals lives in a small apartment of one
room and could not manage their day to day expenses because of unemployment or partial
employment conditions. Early marriages lead towards teenage pregnancies which results in
gestational diabetes and other harmful diseases for child and mother. The government of the
country should frame proper strategies to maintain and manage the health issues of these
people by making them more aware about various aspects of health (INC., 2020).
Health promotional strategies
Health promotional strategies are made for improving the economic condition of people who
lives in remote areas of Australia and living below poverty line. Health promotion policies
define all the activities and policies which are included in improving the health status of the
person by improving the major social determinants of health (Hub, 2020).

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ROLE OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN IMPROVING SDOH
The health promotion theory stated that by improving the social determinants like
unavailability of food, poor economic conditions, unemployment, unawareness and lack of
medical facilities should be improved in order to provide better health conditions (Hub,
2020).
People who live in remote areas of Australia are most economically and socially deprived.
Especially indigenous population of Australia are suffering a lot from poor economic
position. The government of Australia made a commission that is ATSIC (The Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islanders Commission) which is responsible for judging the employment
position of the Company (AUSTRALIA, 2020).
The government of Australia is working very hard to improve the health status of those
people who lives in remote areas by making effective strategies. By adopting effective health
promotional policies, the government is trying best to improve the condition of the people of
remote and isolated areas (Hub, 2020).
Unemployment is the major cause of poor health conditions of the people of isolated and
rural areas that is why government has framed health promotional strategies to improve the
financial position of the people of the country. The CDEP (Community Development
Employment Projects) is mainly designed to provide meaningful employment opportunities.
CDEP is trying to provide maximum job opportunities for the people who live in isolated
areas of Australia so that their economic conditions may be improved up-to a satisfactory
level (AUSTRALIA, 2020).
Role of healthcare professionals in addressing SDOH
Some Methods or ways in which health care professionals contribute to addressing social
determinants of health are as follows:
The healthcare professionals can work after knowing the major causes and effects of social
determinants over the health of the people of a particular place. According to the case, the
poor economic condition is the major cause of health disparities of the individuals of that area
(BD Hunter, 2011). An empathetic approach adopted by the healthcare professionals can
improve the health status of the people of rural and isolated areas. The health care
professional should work for promoting the educational facilities in the remote areas of the

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ROLE OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN IMPROVING SDOH
country so that people can aware about health they will be able to access the affordable
medical facilities provided for the government (Alston, 2007).
The health care professional should communicate to the people who stays in remote areas of
Australia and should provide them appropriate employment for improving their financial
condition which is the major cause of the illness and poor health status of them. The health
care professionals should make them understand about the affordable medical and food
facilities of the government, especially made for the people of remote areas, for improving
their lifestyle (FE Baum, 2013). It is a very difficult task to communicate and understand the
problems of the people of remote areas because most of the people of rural areas are illiterate
and unable to understand the policies of government because of their low educational
background. Health care professionals should frame a proper strategy in order to
communicate, understand and solve the health problems of the people of remote and isolated
areas (Andermann, 2016).
The health care professionals should work with a lot of patience and empathy towards the
people of remote areas, mostly from indigenous community in order to understand and cure
the problems of these people. Health care professionals should tell them symptoms, cases and
effects of many harmful diseases like diabetes, cancer and HIV etc. so that the people of
remote areas are able to receive medical treatments, medical advices and precautions to avoid
the fatal diseases. Moreover the work of health professionals is directly related to the overall
development and improvement the life style of these people by making them financially
sound and educated (FE Baum, 2013).

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References
Alston, M., 2007. Globalisation, rural restructuring and health service delivery in Australia:
policy failure and the role of social work?. Health & social care in the community, 15(3), pp.
195-202.
Andermann, A., 2016. Taking action on the social determinants of health in clinical practice:
a framework for health professionals. CMAJ, 188(17), pp. E474- E483.
AUSTRALIA, P. o., 2020. Indigenous Australians. [Online]
Available at:
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/
Completed_inquiries/2002-04/poverty/report/c13
BD Hunter, B. N. J. W., 2011. The importance of addressing social determinants of health at
the local level: the case for social capital. Health & social care in the community, 19(5), pp.
522-530.
economics, T., 2020. Australia - Rural Population. [Online]
Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/australia/rural-population-percent-of-total-
population-wb-data.html
FE Baum, D. L. T. F. A. L. R. L. &. G. M. J., 2013. The potential for multi-disciplinary
primary health care services to take action on the social determinants of health: actions and
constraints. BMC Public health, 13(1), pp. 1-460.
Helen Stokes, J. S. R. H., 2020. Rural and Remote School Education. [Online]
Available at: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/pdf/human_rights/
rural_remote/scoping_survey.pdf
Hub, R. H. I., 2020. Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Theories and Models.
[Online]
Available at: https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/toolkits/health-promotion/2/theories-and-
models
Hub, R. H. I., 2020. The Health Belief Model. [Online]
Available at: https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/toolkits/health-promotion/2/theories-and-

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models/health-belief
INC., N. R. H. A., 2020. POVERTY IN RURAL & REMOTE AUSTRALIA. [Online]
Available at: https://www.ruralhealth.org.au/sites/default/files/publications/nrha-factsheet-
povertynov2017.pdf
WHO, 2020. Social determinants of health. [Online]
Available at: https://www.who.int/social_determinants/en/