Healthcare Report: Socio-Demographic Characteristics and SDOH

This report examines the socio-demographic characteristics and social determinants of health, focusing on a case study of Carla and her family in rural Australia. It identifies key challenges faced by rural populations, including limited access to education, employment, and healthcare. The report emphasizes the crucial role of education as a social determinant of health, linking it to improved income, health awareness, and overall well-being. It explores strategies to address this, including educational awareness campaigns, government investment in education, and the role of healthcare professionals in promoting culturally relevant solutions. The report highlights the importance of adapting healthcare practices, raising awareness, promoting health, encouraging activism, and fostering collaboration to mitigate the impact of social determinants and improve health outcomes for individuals and communities. References from various sources support the analysis.

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This report will initiate in the examination of the socio-demographical characteristics of Carla
and her life with her children, as well as the identification of the main health socio determinants,
which are evident in the case study.
Socio-demographic characteristics
Data reports from Rural and remote populations (2018), Australian Health and Welfare
Institute have found that approximately 7 million people, or approximately 29% of the people
living in Australia, exist in rural and remote areas. The percentage of the population is facing
some of the biggest challenges in education, jobs, income rates that lead to poorer medical
conditions and accommodation. Data furthermore revealed that the population distribution of
jobs in Australia's rural and remote areas accounted for 12% of the overall workforce in
Australia. Collected from the reports of “Rural and Remote Education Inquiry Briefing Paper |
Australian Human Rights Commission” (2020), more than 41.4 percent of the rural indigenous
population is unemployed while most people live under extreme poverty. Individual
characteristics refer not to their unique qualities but their demographic characteristics. The
research paper displays a lack of adequate schooling, job prospects, and poor geographical
conditions as some of the main socio-demographic characteristics. The socio-demographic
characteristics and the social determinants of health are closely related.
Towards analyzing from the view of the case study, the rural geographical location of
Carla's residence leads to the absence of availability of proper education and work prospects.
Social determinants of health
SDOH are the dynamic situations where humans are born and reside which affects the
health of people (Newman et al. 2015). These involve intangible variables including political,

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socio-economic and cultural frameworks, as well as local conditions like accessible medical and
services and resources, stable environmental changes, well-designed communities and safe food
accessibility (Janssen, Van Regenmortel and Abma 2014). Social determinants of health include
variables like education, social class, environmental and external environment, and social
networks. The health social determinants are critical for health equity and the elimination of
long-term health care system disparities.
The social determinant of health as the case studies included the status in society, the
standard of education, rural communities, history, and the healthcare system according to the
socio-demographical characteristics of rural living of Carla in a small coastal mine village. One
of the key social determinants of individual health is the socioeconomic situation affecting health
and access to adequate medical facilities (Clarke, Hookway and Burgess 2017). This paper
identifies "education" as the key social determinant affecting the health and the current living
standards of the individuals in the case study. Lack of proper education and literacy is thoroughly
linked to the employment and income level which hinders the basic standards of living of an
individual.
Recommended ways to address the social determinant
The social determinant selected for this analysis is “education” as the main reason behind
low income. In the field of health care, education or literacy can be regarded as one of the most
significant social determinants for health, as this involves not only gaining information in school
or training but also paves the way for an individual's future well-being, which involves better job
opportunities including income levels (Danaei et al. 2017). Education is indeed an important
social determining factor that affects health across a lifespan. Education rates have already been
associated closely with significant health results like self-assessed fitness, child mortality

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including mortality rates. Education will also contribute to better health values and awareness,
thereby enhancing choices about the lifestyle, while also developing our skills including self
activism (Benach et al. 2014). Education enhances abilities, such as reading and creates
productive behaviors. Education which can be considered as a combined measure of an
individual's economic and social value, as well as a comprehensive assessment, involves
developing an efficient system and enforcing successful policies that take economic and social
factors into account (Badland et al. 2014).
The awareness of the importance of education over the status of health is one of the
critical in-depth strategies that can be formulated towards the demonstration of the impact of this
social determinant at the community level.
The researcher Powdthavee, Lekfuangfu and Wooden (2015), illustrated the role and the
importance of education towards addressing health challenges highlighting the contextual factors
that are the social policies and the family characteristics.
The strategy of educational awareness can furthermore be explained by the health
promotion model. As per Gold et al. (2017), the promotion of health can be considered as the
process which enabled individual's control for improving their health status.
The strategy of recognition and educational impact on health is compatible with social
and educational improvements, according to Janssen, van Regenmortel and Abma (2014) among
the five approaches to the health-promotion model. The approach of education, as described by
Ewles and Simnett, is connected with the highlighted strategy as both provide data to individuals
and ensure awareness and knowledge of health issues for better information and decision-making
on health and wellbeing.

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Another approach that is expected of the country's government is proper investment in
education and ensuring the fundamental right to education at the rural and community levels,
free of charge. Regardless of the rural status of the entire community population, policies and
procedures must be properly implemented. According to Newman et al. (2015), from the
perspectives of health care and wellbeing, for initiating an effect to a wider spectrum of
community people, education plays an important role to address social determinants of health.
Appropriate education level will be beneficial for the people residing in a rural location, like
Carla and her children to compete with the city population for better employment opportunities
ad income level which will impact their standard of living.
Health professional’s role
The role of health professionals, including nurses and doctors, is to enable people to
respond and provide culturally relevant solutions to their potential social challenges as parts of
the first steps to tackle the social determinants of health,
Five steps should be taken by health care practitioners such as nurses and physicians to
counter the social determinants of health. Adaptation, awareness, promotion, activism, and
harmonization (Michalos 2017). The health professionals can help people in many ways beyond
traditional medical care strategies by addressing social determinants of health through direct
action and the creation of services that require an efficient co-operation with community
patterns. The physiologist will hold consultation workshops to increase awareness of safe aspects
of life to preserve good living conditions.
The growing number of physicians helping in the face of challenges posed by the vast
majority of the people is the shortage of employment, unemployment, and socioeconomic

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disparities. A good collaboration between patients and health providers is necessary to facilitate
equity-based health facilities (Powdthavee, Lekfuangfu and Wooden 2015). Besides,
compassionate care, psychological services including therapy sessions and preparation for
emphasizing the value of education in the sense of health and healthy living are some key
dimensions of interventions that are part of the role of healthcare professionals in addressing the
social determinant of health.

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Reference
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Humanrights.gov.au. 2020. Rural And Remote Education Inquiry Briefing Paper | Australian
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<https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/rural-and-remote-education-inquiry-briefing-paper-
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