Holistic approach to health in Australia
1.
The perspective of postmodernism focuses on the diversity of the experience of individuals. It does not conform to aspects of universal truth and objectivity (Boyne & Rattansi, 2017). Some of the postmodernist perspectives of health in Australia include a holistic approach to health, individual health responsibility to achieve health safety, natural medications as opposed to chemical drugs, rejection of medical authority, and lack of belief in doctors and medication to cure illnesses (Boyne & Rattansi, 2017). These perspectives are very important in the public health of Australians and they have led to the development of complementary medicines to improve health outcomes and promote patient safety.
Individual responsibility for health and safety is a very important aspect of Australia’s public health system. It is expected that each individual should take charge of their own health with the assistance of the several healthcare services provided by Australia’s public health setting (Holmes, 2016). This ensures that an individual gets access to patient-centered and culturally safe care thus improving health outcomes and increasing patient satisfaction (Holmes, 2016). It is also important to note that taking charge of own health helps the healthcare practitioners to offer effective and efficient care that suits the needs and preferences of the patient.
2.
According to Murphy & Reath (2014), there has been increased funding in the following sectors;
- Indigenous suicide prevention which received an allocation of 15 million dollars for the 2019-2020 financial year.
- Indigenous-specific initiatives that received 20 million dollars. This aims at implementing strategies for STIs and blood borne-viruses.
- In general there has been around 1 billion dollars allocated for indigenous health.
Despite this increase in funding indigenous and aboriginal health outcomes are still an issue that must be addressed. There is a very big gap between the health outcomes of indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. The aboriginals and indigenous Australians are still facing an employment crisis which has led to very low incomes among the aboriginals. As a result of low incomes, the aboriginals have poor access to information regarding health (Whiteside, Tsey, Cadet-James & McCalman, 2014). Insufficient material resources like nutritious food and inhibited access to the best care are also results of low income. Another reason for poor health outcomes among the indigenous and aboriginal Australians is the poor access to healthcare in good time. Some of the reasons for this poor access include lack of culturally safe care, unavailability of care in the local areas, and the inability to afford healthcare services. Education is another issue with reports indicating that aboriginals are less likely to access quality education up to the secondary level thus leading to low literacy levels among most aboriginals which consequently affects access to information on safe health practises (Whiteside et al., 2014).
Importance of individual health responsibility
3.
Psychiatry is a form of social control because once a patient has been diagnosed with a mental health condition, they may be involuntarily put in confinements and forced to take drugs thus depriving them of their freedom to live fulfilling lives (Johnstone, 2012). The argument is that such confinements are meant to protect them from self-harm and to protect those close to them. Some of the sociological theories that support the view of psychiatry as a form of social control include;
- Psychiatry helps to protect the patient from self-harm and harming those close to them.
- Functionalism theory which argues that a psychiatric needs to understand the emotions of a patients before they can explain the origin of a mental health condition.
- Interpersonal theory which tries to explain how social theories and interpersonal problems relate to biological rhythms.
The functional theory of psychiatry as a form of social control is particularly true in the context of Australian healthcare. This theory fails to explain the causes and real motivation for some of the things that happen in society such as high suicide rates among the Australian aboriginals (Avasthi, 2016). Mentally ill people are therefore just put in nursing homes and sometimes forced to take medication thus limiting their freedom.
4.
E-health may be defined as the use of ICT in the providing and delivery of healthcare services to promote health outcomes. The use of e-health to support health and other health-related fields such as health education and surveillance is cost-effective that is secure to safeguard the confidentiality and safety of a patient (Barello et al., 2016). Examples of e-health medical devices and tools include electronic medical records, information repositories, and personal health records among others (Barello et al., 2016). E-health offers a wide range of benefits that include time-saving in the sense that patients can personally schedule their appointments online and can also engage in online consultations; patients also get the chance of having a personal insight on their health and share their data with care providers to enhance effective delivery of care; provision of complete and up-to-date patient information; promotion of the privacy and safety of consumer information (Arief, Hai & Saranto, 2013).
E-health also has some limitations that prevent it from functioning as effectively as expected. These limitations include the problem of privacy of patient data; costs of procuring some e-health tools and devices; the complications associated with learning and using some of the software applications; power failures thus leading to failures in the systems (Arief, Hai & Saranto, 2013).
5.
An ideology in the context of politics may be defined as an opinion, belief, value, or idea that exhibits a habitual pattern of provision of public policy action plans to change the political and social arrangements in a political community (Heywood, 2017). It is important to note that political ideologies influence several aspects of society by controlling major political institutions. As a result, health is massively influenced by the implementation of social and economic policies thus consequently affecting the health outcomes of individuals. It is important to note that political ideologies influence policymaking in healthcare thus affecting the health outcomes of care consumers.
Funding indigenous and aboriginal health outcomes
Some of the examples of how political ideologies affect health outcomes id through PBS, commonwealth hospital funding, and medical benefits schedule (MBS). The introduction of the pharmaceutical benefits act to enable Australians to gain access to free prescriptions from community pharmacies was the first move of the political class to influence health outcomes via the PBS (Currie, Chiarella & Buckley, 2019). Ideological schemes by the government and the leading political class also ensure that there are co-payments between the consumers and providers of care so that medicine can be easily availed to patients at their times of need.
6.
The functionalist theory identifies the society as a system of different parts that are harmoniously interconnected to work and maintain social equilibrium and balance for the entire society (Mulkay, 2014). The most important concepts of the functionalist theory in the modern setting of health care include family which provides a platform for reproduction and nurturing of children; education which promotes literacy to improve access to healthcare and related resources that help in improving health outcomes; politics which provides a way of making policy that influence healthcare and health outcomes; economics to provide funding for care; religion for spiritual guidance (Isajiw, 2013).
The functionalist theory assumes that good health and effective and efficient medical care are fundamental for a society to function appropriately. Additionally, patients are perceived sick when they act sick so that they can be exempted from their frequent obligations (Fourie, 2016). The relationship between a physician and a patient is hierarchical where the physician gives instructions and the patient follows them. Functionalism has some limitations in that it is determinist, does not give adequate consideration to human agency, and it defends the status quo and determines who has power and who does not in the healthcare setting (Fourie, 2016).
7.
Medical dominance may be defined as the control that the medical profession has over the contents of care through autonomy, authority, and sovereignty. The medical profession achieves dominance in Australia by dictating the terms of its own work, controlling division of labor in health and other health occupations, and controlling clients and the wider context of care (Humphreys, Thomas & Martin, 2014). The medical profession becomes both an agent of capital and an institution that is autonomous in its own way and governs the nature of health care. Medical dominance in Australia enables physicians to influence healthcare administration both passively by centralizing their role and actively by negotiation.
Psychiatry as a form of social control
The implications of medical dominance in healthcare can be significant in the following ways. The work of the medical profession becomes autonomous and cannot be subjected to evaluation and direction by other health professionals. Additionally, the medical profession exercises authority over other health care professions like dentists, opticians, or physiotherapists through limitation and direct supervision (Pascoe, 2019). Finally, medical dominance ensures that the medical profession can have unopposed power in health occupations and senior administrative positions with the healthcare setting. They do this by coordinating referrals and controlling access to non-medical privileges and benefits.
8.
Discourse in the context of healthcare may be defined as practices and beliefs that provide healthcare professionals with the knowledge and understanding of the healthcare setting, care requirements of patients and the entire world. These beliefs and practices are authoritatively spoken or written to enhance health promotion (Harvey & Adolphs, 2013). Two examples of discourse may include communication between a patient and the doctor; training and certification of new healthcare practitioners. The aboriginal Australians have experienced poor health outcomes for a long time and research on healthcare has not done much to improve the situation. Discourse is essential in healthcare because it determines access to primary care in Australia.
Discourse is important in health and biomedicine because apart from enabling patients and practitioners to focus their attention on the interventions and advances in medicine, it also emphasizes the relationship between the healthcare setting and the outside environment (Sointu, 2016). Discourse also helps the Australians in understanding and appreciating social life and to improve the cultural understanding of the disease and the causative factors. It is therefore important to note that discourse is important in health and biomedicine to improve health outcomes and promote patient safety.
9.
Multiculturalism may be used to describe the existence of two or more ethnic groups or cultures in society. It targets the preservation of all the cultures in a healthcare setting. It is important to promote healthcare that supports cultural inclusion and care for individuals from all cultures (Boese & Phillips, 2011). This is made possible by understanding the impact of culture on the principles on which healthcare is established. There are instances when conflicts may arise between the cultural background of an individual and their healthcare needs thus leading to healthcare disparities that are sometimes witnessed in Australia.
It is important to note that multiculturalism may affect the healthcare needs of immigrants and refugees in Australia. Immigrants and refugees are a very vulnerable group of individuals who may need comprehensive and quality care. The health needs of refugees and immigrants differ from those of individuals born in Australia (Tan & Li, 2016). Most refugees come to Australia fleeing from danger in their home countries. They, therefore, experience a lot of mental health conditions as compared to the original Australians. It is also important to note that most immigrants are economically able and they, therefore, receive better health care as compared to the Australian-born population.
Advantages and limitations of e-health
10.
Social determinants of health according to the World Health Organization refer to the conditions in which individuals are born, grow and age. These conditions may be used to determine the distribution of resources such as money, healthcare, and power both at the national and local levels. The key social determinants of health include social policies, economics, and systems of education (Braveman & Gottlieb, 2014). The importance of these social determinants of health must not be underestimated because they help in understanding the dynamics of inequity and globalization in Australia. The importance of these health determinants is based on the fact that the health and wellbeing of an individual depend on a lot of factors including individual choices and decisions.
There are inequalities in the development of and wealth allocation in different countries and regions in the world. These inequalities and inequities manifest themselves in healthcare. Through the understanding of social determinants of health, it is possible to gain a greater insight into the unequal health conditions in the world (Das & Rao, 2012). There are also inequalities among different nations due to the differences in the economic and social development of the countries. This is an indication that social determinants of health help in explaining the dynamics of globalization.
References
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Barello, S., Triberti, S., Graffigna, G., Libreri, C., Serino, S., Hibbard, J., & Riva, G. (2016). eHealth for patient engagement: a systematic review. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 2013.
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