Evaluation of Healthcare and Socio-Political Issues in Aged Care

This essay critically examines the socio-political issues affecting healthcare access and service delivery for older people in Australia. It delves into the complexities of primary healthcare, resource allocation, and the impact of government policies on the elderly population. The paper evaluates the current healthcare system, including the roles of various providers, such as general practitioners and specialists, and assesses the allocation of resources within the context of the rising elderly population. It highlights challenges like staffing shortages, the increasing number of uninsured seniors, and the high costs of healthcare, which collectively impact the overall health outcomes of the elderly. The essay further discusses the availability of primary and specialized aged care services, funding mechanisms, and the need for improved monitoring to ensure effective resource allocation and positive health outcomes for the elderly. It references various reports and studies to support its arguments, emphasizing the need for policy adjustments to address the evolving needs of the aging population.

Running head: HEALTHCARE
HEALTH AND SOCIO POLITICAL ISSUES IN AGED CARE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Introduction:
According to the census report published by the Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare (2019), it has been stated that 1 out of every 7 Australians is aged over 65 years of
old. The statistical data suggests that senior adults form a significant proportion of the
Australian population base (Aph.gov.au, 2019). In this regard, it should be mentioned that the
aged care privileges and facilities are extremely complex and are operated by a network of
complicated funding agencies. The Australian government along with the state and territory
government and insurers are responsible for the provision of the aged care services. However,
despite the efforts undertaken for improving the access and quality of healthcare services
within Australia, the overall health outcome has not shown signs of significant improvement.
This paper intends to evaluate the existing socio-political issues within the health care system
and how it impacts the access to healthcare and affects the quality of the rendered services.
Discussion:
Explanation of Primary health care for older people:
The provision of primary healthcare comprises of a complex network of providers and
services across the private, public and non-governmental domains. In this context, it should
be noted that the primary level of health care services encompass of the provision of clinical
services (Mossialos et al., 2016). The service provision involves the efficient coordination
between the team of multidisciplinary care professionals who devise care plans to address the
holistic needs of the patients.
The evidence base suggests that within the Australian territory, care is generally
provided by the General Physician, however, care professionals such as general practice
nurse, Nurse practitioners, community nurses, midwives, pharmacists, aboriginal health
workers, nutritionist and pharmacists are also considered as primary healthcare providers.

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As stated by www.health.gov.au (2019), primary healthcare can be defined as first
line of the healthcare services that are available for patients. Primary healthcare services can
be availed by patients at home, community health centres or local or non-government
settings. A broad range of healthcare services are provided under the primary healthcare
system and includes facilities such as health promotion, screening and prevention, diagnosis,
treatment and management (O’Lughlin et al., 2017). Primary healthcare services are
specifically targeted for different proportions of the Australian population that include, Aged
care, care for the aboriginal and Torres Islander, refugees or culturally diverse patients
(O’Lughlin et al., 2017).
Specific to old age people a wide range of primary healthcare services are available
that are funded by the national and territory specific governing bodies. The commonwealth
finding provides for a wide range of services that include, age pensions, disability payments
and rent assistance, residential services, medical and pharmaceutical benefits, acute care,
public housing and hospital and community care support. In addition to assistance to the
elderly has also been made available in the form of payments such as carer payment and the
carer allowance and funding for carer respite centres. Accessory services provided by the
commonwealth include, financial counselling, health promotional programs, rehabilitation
services, retirement assistance, advocacy services, support for consumer organizations and
information related government programs (Beard et al., 2016). Different state and territory
also provide welfare services that are funded by the commonwealth and are provisioned
within residential care homes for the elderly. These, services include, respite care, carer
assistance, dementia support programs, senior cards to avail discount on services, home help,
information services and transport assistance (Chihuri et al., 2016). In the similar way, the
local government and NGOs also provide a wide range of care services for the elderly that

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include screening programs and chronic illness support programs which are funded by the
commonwealth and the state and territory governments.
Evaluation of the allocated and provided resources in relation to primary health care:
According to a report published by the Parliament of Australia (2019), it has been
stated that during the year of 2015 to 2016, Australia spent $ 170.40 billion on the healthcare
services (Conklin et al., 2015). The calculated healthcare expenditure was equivalent to
10.3% of the gross domestic production. On an individual basis, the report further suggested
that approximately $6,671 was spent on each person excluding the capital. Research studies
further suggest that 67.3% of the healthcare expenditure is spent by the government and the
largest proportion of the expenditure equivalent to $46.9 billion is spent on the provision of
public health services (Hall, 2015; Mossialos et al., 2016). It should be noted here that
Australian expenditure on healthcare is one of the best considering the global status,
however, despite the huge investment, the overall health outcome for the elderly has
remained poor. In this context, it can be stated that the Australian healthcare system majorly
deals with two primary issues that involve, proper allocation of resources and fostering
improvement in terms of performance and patient outcomes (Hepburn et al., 2015). The
healthcare system operating within Australia includes a set of multiple responsibilities that is
provisioned by the government, private health insurers as well as the individuals.
The evidence base suggests that the first level of heath care system forms the primary
care that is provisioned within the community by a team of General Physicians who are self-
employed. The General Physicians serve as the first line of treatment service who also refer
to specialists. In addition to this, it should be noted that the national public health insurance
scheme which is also known as the Medicare offers subsidies to medical and diagnostic
services to people who are not able to afford these services otherwise. Despite the increased

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investment on healthcare expenditure and the introduction of improved healthcare reforms,
the cumulative healthcare outcome for the elderly has not substantially improved. One of the
major reasons that can be held accountable for the same can be explained as the lack of
appropriate staffing within residential care homes and healthcare facilities which has led to a
rise in elder abuse and deteriorated the overall healthcare outcome of the elderly (Duckett &
Willcox, 2015). Another problem can be explained as the rise in the number of the uninsured
senior adults within Australia. Further cost of healthcare also serves as one of the key factors
that has resulted in reduced access to healthcare facilities.
Research studies mention that the federal government spends on an average $30 000
annually to fund a general residential aged care bed compared to $10,000 per annum spend
on the community Aged Care package (Hepburn et al., 2015; Hall, 2015). Further, specialised
aged care facilities funded by the federal government also complies with the specialised
wishes of the elderly, however, despite the investment there is an acute problem of poor
staffing which leads to missing out on daily care services. Overall, it can be commented that
the Australian healthcare system offers a wide range of aged care specialised services,
however there is a lack of appropriate monitoring system that can help in ensuring optimal
allocation of the resources such that the health outcome of the elderly is improved.
Overview of primary health care services for the elderly:
As stated by Chihuri et al. (2016), primary health care can be explained as the entry
level to the healthcare system. In order words, primary health care refers to the first encounter
of a patient with the healthcare system. As has already been discussed, primary healthcare
includes the activities of health promotion, screening, prevention and management of the
chronic health conditions. Considering the aged care specialised services, a wide number of
services have been made available to the elderly housed within Australia to improve their

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overall health outcome. The primary healthcare services are majorly funded by the common
wealth Australia. In addition to this, a number of residential care homes that offer a wide
range of speciality services are also made available to the senior adults within Australia
which is funded by the common wealth (Conklin et al., 2015). Apart from the primary
healthcare services, a number of specialised aged care services are also available across the
state and territories which are funded by the state and territory government in collaboration
with commonwealth Australia (Beard et al., 2016). In this regard, it should be mentioned that
a large section of support and assistance has been made available to the aged section of the
population specifically to the frail and disabled who are incapable of sustaining themselves
without support. The Australian government has recently prioritised the health of the elderly
and has developed policies and measures to benefit the elderly within the proportion of
Australian population. These benefits include medical and pharmaceutical benefits, acute
care, residential care facilities and hospital and home care as well as community care support
to name a few (O’loughlin et al., 2017). In addition to this, the Australian government has
also adapted the measures to improve access of the elderly to the care services so as to
promote positive health outcome.
Conclusion:
Therefore, to conclude it can be mentioned that the Australian government invests an
impressive 10% of the GDP into the cumulative healthcare expenditure. Further, with the
rapidly growing old age population, the Australian government has adapted measures to
prioritise old age health and also provisioned specialised aged care services to improve the
cumulative healthcare outcome of the elderly. However, despite the measures undertaken,
access to healthcare remains inadequate for the senior adults which needs immediate attention
as the projection of the old age population is increasing over the years.

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References:
Aph.gov.au (2019). 'Caring for the Elderly' - an Overview of Aged Care Support and
Services in Australia – Parliament of Australia. [online] Aph.gov.au. Available at:
https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/
Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/archive/agedcare [Accessed 6 Aug.
2019].
Beard, J. R., Officer, A., De Carvalho, I. A., Sadana, R., Pot, A. M., Michel, J. P., ... &
Thiyagarajan, J. A. (2016). The World report on ageing and health: a policy
framework for healthy ageing. The Lancet, 387(10033), 2145-2154.
Chihuri, S., Mielenz, T. J., DiMaggio, C. J., Betz, M. E., DiGuiseppi, C., Jones, V. C., & Li,
G. (2016). Driving cessation and health outcomes in older adults. Journal of the
American Geriatrics Society, 64(2), 332-341.
Conklin, A., Morris, Z., & Nolte, E. (2015). What is the evidence base for public involvement
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Duckett, S., & Willcox, S. (2015). The Australian health care system (No. Ed. 5). Oxford
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Hall, J. (2015). Australian health care—the challenge of reform in a fragmented system. New
England Journal of Medicine, 373(6), 493-497.
Hepburn, C. M., Cohen, E., Bhawra, J., Weiser, N., Hayeems, R. Z., & Guttmann, A. (2015).
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childhood, 100(6), 559-564.

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Mossialos, E., Wenzl, M., Osborn, R., & Sarnak, D. (2016). 2015 international profiles of
health care systems. Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health.
O’Loughlin, K., Kendig, H., & Browning, C. (2017). Challenges and opportunities for an
ageing Australia. In Ageing in Australia (pp. 1-10). Springer, New York, NY.
www.health.gov.au (2019). Department of Health | Primary Health Care in Australia.
[online] Www1.health.gov.au. Available at:
https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/NPHC-
Strategic-Framework~phc-australia [Accessed 6 Aug. 2019].

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