Essay On Health Inequality Among Australians

Health inequalities are the health differences between different health groups. The concept of  health inequalities is the opposite of health equity. According to the concept of health equity, it is important to provide proper care to all social groups. Hence, health inequality can be considered as unfair healthcare, where a certain population gets several advantages compared to other populations (Schuch et al., 2017). According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW, 2018), health inequalities are serious issues in the Australian healthcare system. This is mainly related to the improper distribution of resources, work policy and funding. Hence, to improve the Australian healthcare system, it is important to reduce the prevalence of health inequality. Therefore, the following paper is going to discuss three key issues, which are related to health inequality in Australia. 

 

 

One of the main reasons for the health inequality in Australia is the cultural differences between different groups. This is mainly related to the indigenous and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. There is a huge health difference between non-aboriginal and aboriginal Australian people. According to the data from 2014-15, almost 26% of the Aboriginal people considered their health "poor" (AIHW, 2018). Many Aboriginal people reported that due to their cultural diversity, they often face difficulty in healthcare. This had led to the development of a health gap among aboriginal and non-aboriginal Australians (Carey et al., 2017). As a result, aboriginal people have poor life expectancy compared to non-aboriginal people.

 

 

Due to the cultural differences, most of the time aboriginal people face a high degree of racism and prejudices. According to a study of 33833 Aboriginal people living in Victoria, Markwick et al (2019) mention most of them reported experiencing racism at some point in their time. Also, the study suggests this group of people has a four-time higher chance to face racism compared to their non-aboriginal counterparts. Most of the participants mention they did not receive the proper level of care due to their cultural differences. As a result, the overall quality of healthcare service they received was poor. Paradies, (2018) suggests due to this racism, many Aboriginal people do not want to visit the healthcare facility, even if they had a health condition. Regarding this, Li et al., (2017) mention the main reason for this is the perceived bias among the health care professionals. It is mainly related to the history of the  aboriginal people. Many white non-Aboriginal people think that they are superior then the aboriginal people. Moreover, sometimes professional has disbelief towards the aboriginal thoughts and views; as a result, they fail to establish a proper connection with the patient, leading to poor therapeutic rapport. This also leads to poor clinical outcomes.

 

 

White et al., (2019) mention cultural barriers can lead to poor health education, and lack of access to healthcare services, which can cause poor clinical outcomes. White et al., (2019) mention, that in most cases nurses and other healthcare professionals behave poorly with the aboriginal patient, and they did not consider the cultural factors in their healthcare plan. Hence, most aboriginal people have disbelieved the modern healthcare system. This leads to the development of health inequality among aboriginal and non-aboriginal people. Therefore, the cultural background of the patient can be considered a significant issue for health inequality. As a result, a nurse needs to be competent enough to understand the cultural differences of the patient and must provide care in a culturally oriented manner to promote clinical outcomes. 

 

Lack of proper access to the healthcare facility can be considered a significant issue promoting health inequality. Statistics suggest lack of health access is the “root cause” of health inequality (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017). Generally, the number of the clinic in the big city is high compared to the number of clinics in the small city or in the rural area. As a result, people living in this rural area do not have access to proper healthcare. Moreover, the facilities in rural and remote areas are not so advanced. They might be able to manage some normal conditions, however, in case of an advanced situation; they need to refer the patient to a more big hospital. Also, the health care technology, number of staff, and doctors in rural hospitals is low compared to the hospital in the big city. Moreover, the travel distance to this hospital is quite significant. As a result, in case of an emergency situation, it might cause additional harm to the patient due to the long transportation time.

 

 

Due to this poor healthcare access, almost 42805 people along with 9132 aboriginal people do not have proper access to healthcare services (Obamiro et al., 2020). Most of them require more than 1-hour ride to go to the primary care facility. Moreover, inadequate staffing, poor condition, and remoteness of the location will present additional challenges. Also, this small clinic does not have the necessary equipment to check the condition of a patient. According to the AIHW data, almost 28% of the Australian population lives in rural locations, which face several health challenges due to their remoteness (AIHW, 2022). According to the data, most aboriginal people live in a rural area and faces significant health challenges. According to the literature review, Colman (2022) mention the condition of healthcare in rural Australia is significantly poor compared to the metropolitan areas. The number of primary healthcare centres per rural location is low; also, the provided care quality in these clinics is poor. The remote location has almost 50% lower health access per capita compared to the metropolitan location. Hence, individuals living in these areas have difficulty accessing the service. Also, a grounded theory study by McCullough et al., (2020), mention nurses working in the rural area faces several issues such as poor support, cultural and communication problem, and poor resources, and skill, all of which is related to poor health access for the patient.

 

 

Therefore, lack of proper healthcare access can be considered a significant issue responsible for health inequality. To improve the condition it is important to improve the level of care in the rural areas and provide it with the necessary funding and resources. Also, the staffs and the nurses need to have the proper training to deliver proper care in a rural location. 

 

A poor level of health education is related to the prevalence of health inequality. Health education is the health perception and health understanding of the patient. A person who has proper health understanding will always be conscious of their health. However, a person who does not have the necessary health education is not aware of the importance of maintaining proper health, leading to poor clinical outcomes. Hence, lack of health education is related to health inequality. Evidence suggests individuals living in the rural area and culturally diverse people lack of health education causing health inequality

 

Zajacova & Lawrence (2018) mention individuals who have poor health education often take a wrong decisions about their health. Also, these groups of people lead a poor lifestyle quality, causing chronic disease. This is because such a person does not have the necessary information about how to promote their health and improve their lifestyle quality. The level of health education is quite low among the aboriginal people, due to cultural barriers and institutional racism. As a result, these groups of people have poor health understanding, and they tend to lead a poor quality of life. For example, the prevalence of smoking is very high among aboriginal people. Therefore, the prevalence of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is more prevalent in this community. However, the prevalence of such disease is comparatively low in the non-aboriginal community. This is because this group of people has better health education, hence, they know the health risk of smoking and leading a poor lifestyle. Also, proper health education is necessary to follow a proper diet. Most aboriginal people do not follow a proper diet, as a result, the prevalence of diabetes and other metabolic disease is high among the aboriginal community. 

 

 

Hence, the lack of proper health education is related to the prevalence of health inequality. As a result, to promote health equity, it is important to promote health education across all communities. This will help them to take better decisions, improving their health. 

 

Poor health equity or the prevalence of health inequality is a significant issue throughout Australia. There are many factors, which can increase the chance of having health inequality. Among them, the most prevalent issues are cultural diversity, poor healthcare access and lack of healthcare education. However, all of these factors are mainly common among the Aboriginal community. Therefore, the health care status is poor among the aboriginal community compared to the non-aboriginal community. This gap between the aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities raises the level of health inequality across Australia. As a result, to improve the condition it is important to focus on all of these factors and thus reduce the prevalence of health inequity.

 

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AIHW. (2022). Rural and remote health - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Retrieved 8 July 2022, from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/rural-remote-australians/rural-and-remote-health.

 

 

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Colman, C. (2022). Rural health is a crisis that can be solved, here and now. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 30(1), 127-128. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajr.12848

 

 

Li, J. L. (2017). Cultural barriers lead to inequitable healthcare access for aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. Chinese nursing research, 4(4), 207-210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnre.2017.10.009

 

 

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