Supporting Aged Communities

Australia has been one the very few countries in the world that intends to offer highly accessible and most affordable health service to the inhabitants of the nation. Australian government is known for having framed a variety of health policies and schemes for offering health service to the aged, disabled and Aboriginal inhabitants of the country. This all-inclusive approach towards provision of quality health care to a huge mass of less privileged people is indeed praiseworthy; hence, it is highly important to discuss and thereby critically evaluate the way the primary health care benefit is provided to the older community people of Australia. Australian government is focused on promoting the well-being of the older population, and for this reason it does not merely provide health resources, but also prepare various reports to monitor and explain the health information of the older people of the Australian population (Sunderland et al., 2013). The Australian government has come a long way from increasing the total number of hospitals and hospital beds, to the introduction of older vaccination programs. As a result of the health schemes introduced by the Australian government, the life expectancy rate of the Australian people has dramatically increased over the last few years. It is worth mentioning that the older Australians, aged above 65 years, are being not only taken care of by the government in terms of health care, but are also vaccinated against the diseases such as seasonal influenza and pneumococcal disease. Keeping into consideration the pharmaceutical benefits offered by the Australian government, it is important here to have an insight into the public health funding policies and healthcare services offered by the Australian government (Britt et al., 2013).

Promoting health among the older people of a country is one of the primary responsibilities of the government of that country. It is not unknown to anyone that age, chronic disease and disability are very closely inter-related, and hence the Australian government is offering a “life course” approach to help the aged population deal with chronic diseases and disability. Various ageing and health programs are being launched by the Australian government. The Chronic Disease Management is a new initiative that is being introduced by the Australiangovernment as a means of helping the older people deal with the problem of chronic diseases(Lorig et al., 2013). Chronic diseases are those diseases which last more than 6 months, and can prove to be fatal in the long run, if not treated immediately. Keeping into consideration the serious threat posed by chronic diseases, such as Asthma, Cancer, Cardiovascular disease, Diabetes, and others, the Australian government provides Medicare rebates on the total medical expense incurred by the patient.  In case a patent is in need of a complex healthcare need, the initiative will enable the patient get a structured and organized form of treatment from the General Practitioner, and in case of emergency, the GP will collaborate with at least two health care providers to help the patient get completely cured (Cameron et al., 2013).

In order to ensure a sustainable health service that will help the aged people of Australia age positively, the Australian government has drafted a Health Service Framework for Older People. The vision statement of the framework clearly states that the aim of the Australian health policies is to ensure that the older people can gain to the right medical resources at the right time, so that they can maintain good health over a longer period of time. Australia is a country that has a huge old population as a result of which diseases such as Diabetes, Dementia, cardiovascular problems have turned out to be the major reasons behind the high rate of mortality (Crawford et al., 2013). Dementia is a very serious problem affecting the physical and mental health of the older population of Australia, the Australian government has recently introduced its first Dementia Clinical Guidelines, which will be helping the Australian people get informed about the healthcare needs and outcomes of Dementia. Dementia is being regarded as second major disease contributing to the death of the Australians, and hence the clinical guidelines and the 109 recommendations contained here, are much useful in transforming the Dementia care in Australia (Daley et al., 2013). Besides, Alzheimer’s Australia is another body set up by the government of Australia to ensure that proper healthcare support and medical service is offered to the Australian people, suffering from Dementia (Salive, 2013).

Prosperity through Longevity Plan and Improving with Age Plan, are the two recently introduced plans of the Australian government that aim to enhance the well-being of the aged population of Australia. Here, the federal government of Australia collaborates with the local government in providing medical resources and healthcare service to the older people of Australia (Baum et al., 2014). According to the World Health Organization(WHO), mental health and emotional well-being are highly important factors contributing to the general health of an individual even in old age. However, apart from physical illness, mental disorders are also very frequent among the older people of Australia, and hence the Australian government has introduced Aged Persons Mental Health Services (AGPMHS) to help the older people overcome the mental diseases, such as Clinical Depression and Psychosis. In case of the older people suffering from a serious mental disorder, APMH hospitals and nursing homes are available as well, where special beds are reserved for the older people. APMH services offer them long-term health benefits, ranging from long-term accommodation to rehabilitation (Milte et al., 2014).

The role of the government in providing health care benefits to the elderly people is indeed admirable. The government is responsible for the provision of disability payments, pharmaceutical benefits, rehabilitation services as well as carer assistance. The government has been providing non-contributory pension to the elderly citizens of its country. The aboriginal population of Australia is also not denied the right to equitable distribution of health (Blank & Burau,2013). Hence, the Australian government has also introduced the schemes and health policies so that the health of the Aboriginal people, of and above 55 years, can be assessed. These Torres Strait Islanders can gain access to the health resources, via General practitioners and caregivers appointed in the rural and more remote locations of Australia. The physical as well as the psychological health of the Aboriginals of Australia is being examined and assessed on an annual basis. Furthermore, the risk of chronic diseases such as Cancer increases with age. People aged more than 60 have twice the chance of suffering from Cancer than those below the age of 60 years. Hence, considering the high risk of Cancer, the Australian government has set up Cancer Council Australia, that recommends seven simple steps for eliminating the threat of Cancer (Kitson et al., 2013).

The Australian government has introduced several online sites, such as Senior’s Health and My Aged Care, to keep the older population as well as their caregivers updated about the health issues relevant to the people aged 65. These websites are useful enough in providing information about different old age diseases and aged care services available in Australia (Duckett et al., 2014). During the old age, in many cases, the source of income of an individual is very limited, and as such due to lack of strong financial condition, many old people die due after being affected by chronic diseases. Hence, apart from providing basic health service, extending financial assistance also forms an integral part of the Australian medical care program. As a result, the Australian government has introduced the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card which enables the Australian elderly people gain easy and cheaper access to the pharmaceutical resources, in case they belong to low-income group (Page et al., 2015). It is quite important to state here, that the Australian government not only frames policies for bettering the health condition of the old people, but also set up different health conditions, such as the Productivity Commission, to ensure that the formulated health schemes are executed in reality. Besides, the Australian government has also ensured that in case the government of the country is unable to serve the old people well, there is also a Commissioner’s site, where people can express their discontent, complaints or whatsoever response about the health care system. For this reason, the Australian government has introduced the site, named Aged Care Complaint Commissioner Site, which helps the government understand the feedback of the people about the Australian health care system.

The equitable distribution of health resources has always been an important concern for the government of Australia. A huge part of the Australian inhabitants consist of the Aboriginal population of the Torres Strait Island, and as such it is the responsibility of the government to provide cheaper medical service to these people. Although the number of old people belonging to the indigenous population of Australia is not as high as the non-indigenous population, yet the aboriginal people are found to suffer from extremely poor health condition and greater disability. Needless to say, that their low socio-economic status further aggravates the situation. Cardiovascular diseases, Diabetes, Dementia are some of the common diseases affecting the health, and causing the death of the Aboriginal people of Australia (Dudgeon et al., 2014). Keeping into consideration, the needs of these people, the Australian government has come forward with the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program which is aimed at providing health care support as well as pharmaceutical benefits to the indigenous people of Australia (Aspin et al., 2012). Most of the indigenous people live in the rural and remote areas of Australia, and hence they fail to gain access to the health care resources. Hence, the Australian government funds the treatment and community care service of these people. Community Aged Care Packages (CACP), Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH), are some of the health care programs introduced by the Australian government which offer packaged care to the older population of the Torres Strait island. Further, the indigenous people of Australia who are suffering from complex diseases are also provided residential care service, whereby the government funds their medical as well as accommodation expenses (Gubhaju et al., 2014).

It is estimated that the approximate population of Australia is going to increase from 2.5 million of 2002 to 4.2 million by the year of 2021. However, the average working group population is not going to increase at such a high rate. This clearly implies a greater amount of dependence of the older people on government funds. This whole thing has been putting a huge financial burden on the Australian government, as the Australian government provides rebates, concessions and free medical service to the aged population of the country. Keeping in consideration the declining workforce of Australia, the Australian government will require adopting strategic plans to reduce the total medical expense incurred, for older people (Willis et al., 2016). There are elderly people in Australia who are financially independent and who have sufficient business experience. These people can be asked to operate small-businesses, thereby contributing to the national economy of Australia. Similarly, the financially independent people may be encouraged via promotion and advertisements, to visit the country towns, which will also turn out to be a source of revenue for the Australian government. However, in order to mitigate the total expenditure incurred by the Australian government, an important step is to provide high quality, integrated and organized approach to the treatment procedure adopted for old people. The productivity has to be increased the quality of the treatment being provided (Mason, 2013).

Figure 1: Different Health Care levels in Australia

(Source: Stumberg & Martin, 2013)

As it can be seen from the above diagram, there are three levels of health care in Australia, and it is very important for the Australian government to help these health care bodies work in an integrated way. Historically, Australian health care system has always been known to be disconnected and disorganized, which has ultimately led to a huge medical expense on part of the Australian economy. It is important for the Australian government to create a more integrated, efficient and cost effective health care system that will help the patients get the right treatment at the right time. The medicines offered to the old patients, should be monitored and supervised and palliative approach to medical care is advisable while treating the elderly people. Palliative approach to health care enables the health service provides focus more on the quality of the service being provided, rather than aiming to increase the longevity of the lifespan of the individual. The challenge here is to provide patient-centric treatment rather than provider-centric treatment. In case of high quality treatment, the patients can get healed of their diseases quite easily, and they do not need to move in to the hospitals for getting their treatment done. Once a patient gets admitted in a hospital, there may be recurrent medical costs to be incurred by the Australian government (Crawfard et al., 2013).

Primary health care service plays an important role in providing accessible and patient-centered treatment to the older people. In this case, the General Practitioners and the nurses belonging to the specific locality are responsible for providing primary health service to the aged population. However, research has suggested that strong and efficient primary health care service is needed, if a country wants to reduce the rate of hospitalization, and improve the general health of the older population. Keeping into consideration, the long-term public expenditure of the government of Australia on the well-being of the older population, the primary health care service must undergo some major reforms. It is important for the Australian government to take up steps that will minimize the risk associated with the chronic diseases affecting the older people. Hence, creating greater awareness about the common diseases and their symptoms and prevention of the progression of the particular disease, once it sets in, are important responsibilities of the Australian government. It is also important to state here, that general health and well-being of the elderly people of Australia is possible only when the people will be able to follow a more active lifestyle. Making “Healthy Ageing” a reality should also be one of the most important goals of the health care system. The primary health care sector plays a vital role in encouraging these old people in health-promoting behaviors, thereby helping them to adapt the same in their lifestyles (Wilis et al., 2016).

Furthermore, it is indeed a fact that providing high quality health assistance to the older population of Australia is proving to be a financial burden of the Australians. Hence, a large number of people, who even in their post-retirement period are willing to stay in the workforce, should be welcome to join the labor force. Continuous engagement with work enables an old man live longer, and thus it should be appreciated. It not only helps in keeping the older people fit and healthy, but it also leads to economic contribution to the Australian government (Milanovi? et al., 2015). It should be understood that the ageing of the population is not the ultimate factor that leads to the increase of the health expense of the Australian government. It should be noted that the federal report of 2002-03 claimed that the medical expense incurred by the Australian government is not increasing because of the rise in the aged population of the country, but because of the rise in the number of chronic diseases affecting the old people. Hence, the biggest challenge of the Australian government is to undertake preventive initiatives so that the number of people getting affected by the chronic diseases can be reduced. There is a greater need of public awareness regarding the symptoms as well as medicines, modes of treatment and care, needed in case of each of the chronic diseases. It is worth mentioning here that the Australian government has been remarkably known for creating awareness among the masses with the help of various health promotional campaigns, such as Life. Be it, the National Heart Foundation’s Tick endorsement program, and many more. The government, if willing to reduce its high medical cost in future, it must get started with many more health promotion and disease awareness campaigns. This will help in reducing the total medical expense in the long run (Mossialos et al., 2015).

To conclude, it can be said that the Australian government has gone a long way in achieving success in providing quality health service to the aged population of Australia. The old age pension, the disability allowance, hospital and home and community care support, have contributed immensely to the improvement of the health condition of the aged population. However, for the effective implementation of the strategies, the government has to pay attention to certain important factors. The government has to spend a considerable amount of money for the awareness creating programs about the common diseases of old age and their symptoms, so that before aggravating the health condition, a patient can get adequate treatment. Treatment in the first stage can not only reduce the complications in the treatment procedure, but can also considerably reduce the total medical expenditure to be incurred by the government. Further, the Australian government has to ensure that the health needs of the Aboriginal people are not compromised in the process. The official reports suggest that many health staffs and doctors are absolutely unwilling to visit the rural and remote areas of Australia, for treating the diseases of the Aboriginal people. Here, the government has to offer incentives, additional pay scale to the workers and the General Practitioners, so that the Aboriginal old people can also gain access to the medical resources, and do not suffer from inequitable distribution of health. Above all, the government should make half-yearly reports for assessing and evaluating the  health condition of the Australian old people.

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