Healthcare Consumer Demographics
Key To Success
Healthcare Consumer Demographics
Table of Contents
List of abbreviations and/or glossary 2
Executive summary 2
1.0 Introduction 2
2.0 Body 3
2.1 – Key Characteristics of The Healthcare Consumer in Ballajura 3
2.1.1. Population 3
2.1.2 Health literacy 3
2.1.3 Employment level 3
2.1.4 How many deaths do we have 4
2 2- Demographic Trends 4
2.2.1 Analyse trends in demographics in the specific healthcare consumer population over ten year period………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4
2.2.2 Impact of demographics will have in service provision in the future 5
2.3 – Evaluate the impact of this specific population has had on current healthcare services 5
2.4 – Critique the impact of the current healthcare services has had on this specific population 6
2. 5 – Highlight the specific demographics of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander population specific to this population. 7
3.0 Conclusion 8
4.0 Recommendations 8
5.0 References 9
List of abbreviations and/or glossary
AIHW: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
ABS: Australian Bureau of statistics
ATSI: aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
CaLD: Culturally and Linguistically Diverse
COS: City of Swan
LGA: Local Government Area
Healthcare Consumer Demographics
Executive summary
The paper provides healthcare demographics profile of the Ballajura community, in Swan City, Australia. The Ballajura community comprise of people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) backgrounds, such as; English, Scottish, Irish, Vietnamese and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. While the city of Swan Local Government Area (LGA) is conscious about the growing number of the new entrant communities, they lack substantive data. The unavailability of data about the population makes it a challenge for the community to have access to healthcare. As the population changes, so is the importance to have impeccable data that help the local authority understand the demographic attributes such as size, ethnicity and age because these variable have a direct impact on the delivery of quality care. Moreover, since the community consist of people from all walks of life, cultural values, status, gender and creed are at play and should be documented. Ultimately, the demographic profile can be critical when it comes to establishing the how diversity in this backdrop impact mortality, morbidity and ailments as well as the response mechanisms.
1.0 Introduction
High income nations have an increased number of aging populations. Currently, about 15% of the Australian population is 65 years and above, yet projected to increase to 22.5% by 2050 (McPake & Mahal, 2017). The increase in the elderly is due to the high fertility rate and declining adult mortality (Australia Bureau of statistics, 2015). Therefore, understanding demographic characteristics is important because of changing population constituency; size, ethnicity and age affect healthcare systems. Additionally, demographic shifts have implication on delivery care and nursing practice. Improving public health can contribute to increased quality of life. Demographics are also necessary to understand population diversity. Since multiculturalism influences diseases, mortality and morbidity, health providers should be cognizant about different cultural values as well as beliefs. Besides understanding socioeconomic status, language, gender or religion is becoming an important role of health providers. These demographic features are vital in nursing practice.
Healthcare Consumer Demographics
Nurses should also adapt to the changes since they are important in the provision of health services. The purpose of this paper is to discuss demographic characteristics of healthcare consumers on Ballajura. Specifically, the paper will focus on five main sections. Section one will focus on examining the key characteristics of the healthcare consumer including population, employment level, health literacy and number of deaths in Ballajura. Section two will analyse trends in demographics in the specific healthcare consumer population over ten year period and evaluate the impact of demographics on service provision in the future. Section three will evaluate the impact of this specific population has had on current healthcare services. In addition, section four will present a critique on the impact of the current healthcare services on this specific population. Section five will highlight the specific demographics of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander population specific to this population. The paper will also present recommendations based on the findings and finally a conclusion will provide a summary of key points.
2.0 Body
2.1 – Key Characteristics of the Healthcare Consumer in Ballajura
2.1.1. Population
Ballajura suburb is located in Swan City, Perth Western Australia (City of swan, 2016). Based on the 2016 population consensus, the population has been growing steadily with a yearly growth rate of 3.7 percent, which is equivalent to 5,000 since the 2011 census (Australian Bureau of statistics, 2018). Furthermore, Ballajura suburb had a population of 18,705; 9,313 men and 9,392 (Austrialian Bureau of statistics, 2018). Majority of these population are English 22.9%, Australians 20.7%, Vietnamese 5.3%, Irish 5.1% , Scottish 4.9% , and 330 (1.8%) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
Healthcare Consumer Demographics
The median age of Ballajura was 35 years children comprise of 19.9% and those aged above 65 years makes up 9.6% of the total population (Australian Bureau of statistics 2018). The data shows that the population of the areas has many children than elders of these population, 7,428 are married, 5,379 have never been married, 1,197 divorced, 492 widowed and 496 are separated. Approximately half of the population is composed of female. For example, 9,312 or 49.1% of the population are male while 9,392 (50.2%) are female. Majority of the population are aged 50-54 years at 8.7% of 1,629.
Again, there are 5,134 families with the average children of 1.9 per family. There are also 2,638 couple families with children, 925 single parent family; and 1,489 without children. Of the single parent family majority are female at 84.3%. Employment is another factor used to demonstrate the demographic characteristics of a population. In total, 9,985 are employed. In this suburb a number of people work in full time jobs whilst about 31.4% % are part-time workers. Again, about 897 (9%) are unemployed. Approximately, 5,455 (54.6%) are full-time workers. In relation to household income, 14.8% have a gross income of less than $650 per week and 14.5% have an income of greater than $3,000. The main language is English; however, it is spoken at home. For instance, 12,443 (66.6%) residents speak English. Other languages include Vietnamese, Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese and Italian (Australian Bureau of statistics 2018).
Healthcare Consumer Demographics
2.1.2 Health literacy
Cheong, Nor, Ahmad, Manickam, Ambak, Shahrir and Aris (2018) health literacy demotes the capacity to obtain, communicate, process and comprehend health information so as to make informed healthcare decision. When it comes to the population of Ballajura suburb, they have a good grasp of health literacy. The residents of Ballajura suburb are indigenous people such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, English, Australians, Vietnamese, Irish and Scottish (Australian Bureau of statistics 2018) population. However, for the indigenous Aboriginal, there are communication barriers between health providers and population, which leads to poor health outcomes (Amery, 2017). The communication challenges are common because of cultural and language differences. Besides, inadequate health literacy of the indigenous population is an aspect that hinders effective therapeutic goals. Health literacy is associated with individuals’ ability to comprehend and use health information to prevent diseases.
2.1.3 Employment level
According to Australian Bureau of statistics (ABS) (2018, there were 9,985 of the total population in Ballajura employed. Out of these, 5,455 people (54.6)individuals were employed in full time jobs , 3,131 (31.4% ) part-time employees 897 ( 9%) unemployed and 502 (5% ) were away from work. In addition, the common occupations in Ballajura include technical and trade workers; labourers, sales, professionals and administrative workers.
2.1.4 How many deaths do we have
The problem with this community is the dearth of information about the population hence, no data about the death
2 2- Demographic Trends
2.2.1 Analyse trends in demographics in the specific healthcare consumer population over ten year period
Healthcare Consumer Demographics
Age (years) No of people %
0-4 1,099 5.9
5-9 1,220 6.5
10-14 1,399 7.5
15-19 1,577 8.4
20-24 1,473 7.9
25-29 1,189 6.4
30-34 1,216 6.5
35-39 1,048 5.6
40-44 1,231 6.6
45-49 1,444 7.7
50-54 1,629 8.7
55-59 1,413 7.6
60-64 965 5.2
65-69 660 3.5
70-74 457 2.4
75-79 297 1.6
80-84 221 1.2
85 and above 161 0.9
Figure 1: Table showing demographic trends Source: (Australian Bureau of statistics 2018
Based on the table, aging remains the central challenge for the future since it is more likely to exert pressure on the healthcare system in terms high medical costs. While there is the likelihood of an increased life expectancy, assuming more than 2600 people that are above 60 years could be alive in the next 10 years, that would mean more than 8317 people will be above 60 years, the net effect is a scenario where excessive pressure is piled on the healthcare system because as people age, they tend to seek frequent healthcare services. Again, while the aging population comprise of people from undeveloped nations, it could also imply that they have scanty knowledge on the type of services they are entitled to, hence less likely to have secured health insurance. And yet, with scanty information at the policy level, the healthcare facilities around Swan city may grapple with the pressure of trying to cope with health needs of the aging population in terms of human capital, therapeutic measures and diagnostic appliances.
Healthcare Consumer Demographics
2.2.2 Impact of demographics will have in service provision in the future
Based on the demographic trends, the population is aging. Evidence shows that an aging population can affect health services in several ways (McPake & Mahal, 2017). For example, aging increases the use of healthcare. Specifically, in future majority of the Ballajura population would be above 65 years or more. This means they will be frequent at the general practitioners’ facility. Moreover, in future the elderly will be responsible for the increased expenditure of health services.
Additionally, health care needs for the aging are multifarious due to multi-morbidity. Statistically there are chronic conditions in Ballajura population aged 45 to 64 years than those aged 0-44 years (ABS, 2018). As a result, the elderly will have different chronic conditions such as hypertension and osteoarthritis, which suggests frequent hospital visits. The frequent visits by the elderly would be associated with pressure on health services because they require continuous management and collaboration than health conditions experienced by youthful patients.
Moreover, there would be the implication for other patients who will find it hard accessing limited or few specialists in their conditions. The young age group from 0-14 will have less visits to general practices, hence, general specialists will be many and likely to become less skilled in their conditions with time. Another useful issue with gaining is disability that requires support from healthcare system and support system (McPake & Mahal, 2017). There will be considerably limitation among the elderly. The disable experience many challenges when it cases accessing health services. In addition, they will need health services because chronic diseases are related to disability. They also need help perform routine activities in community-based centres, family and residential care. Nevertheless based on their conditions, collaboration between healthcare providers and social support will be required.
Healthcare Consumer Demographics
2.3 – Evaluate the impact of this specific population has had on current healthcare services
A good healthcare system should be flexible to meet the needs of the population. The residents of Ballajura are indigenous and non-indigenous population who believe in holistic care. However, access to health services is affected by social determinants, health risk facts and access to appropriate health services. Access to primary care is considered as an aspect to enhancing health outcomes (Davy, Harfield, McArthur, Munn & Brown, 2016).with respect to the population of Ballajura they have high rates cardiovascular diseases and other chronic conditions. Regardless, they have access barriers to health services due to cost of health services, poor communication, discrimination and racism (Davy et al., 2016).
Owing to the fact that language is important, poor communication interrupts with provision of care. While Australia has advanced healthcare services globally, it does not focus on the communication between providers and patients (Li, 2017). Ineffective communication leads to misunderstandings and low quality of care. Language barriers affect the delivery of health services to the people of Ballajura. As indigenous population they speak more than 100 dialects further affects access to care (Li, 2017). Additionally, this affects the current health services due to cultural distance between the indigenous patients and healthcare providers. Essentially, communication challenges can contribute to ineffective interventions as well as misdiagnosis.
Ballajura’s population is at risk of different health conditions such high blood pressure. Besides they engage in unhealthy lifestyle behaviours such as inactive lifestyle, smoking and alcohol intake. A study by Waterworth, Pescud, Braham, Dimmock and Rosenberg (2015) shows that health risk behaviors are associated that chronic disease including obesity, mental, coronary, and diabetes. This therefore, means pressure on the current health systems. Evidence shows that chronic diseases are not only long-term but also require continuous management, which affect the person, their families, providers and health system (AIHW, 2018). In Australia, I in every 2 persons have chronic disease.
Healthcare Consumer Demographics
Generally, chronic diseases are responsible for 87% deaths, 61% disease burden and 37% admissions (AIHW, 2018). Additionally, stroke and coronary heart disease account for 3 % and 8% respectively of health problems in Australia. Substance use and mental disorder causes 12% of diseases in Australia. The disorder affects not only health services but also the larger community. All these condition lead to financial burdens on health services. For instance, AIHW (2018) demonstrates that health care expenditure has increased by roughly 50% from $113 billion in 2007 to $170 billion in 2016.
Furthermore, the indigenous population face the challenge of accessing affordable healthcare. According to Davy et al. (2016), delivery of affordable services can be a problem since indigenous people are not able to fund for care. The provision of cost-effective care is necessary to ensure accessibility as well as health equity. In most cases, offering affordable care implies providing free medicine and dentinal services. Nonetheless, managing cases with limited budget hinders health providers from providing affordable care.
2.4 – Critique the impact of the current healthcare services has had on this specific population
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2018) demonstrates that indigenous population believe in holistic care. This means that health is not just physical wellness but includes emotional and social wellness of the entire community. In addition, whereas current healthcare services have led to improved health outcomes among the indigenous population, there are still barriers. For instance, just like the non-indigenous Australians, the aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) are at risk of hearing problems, physiological distress, and disability (AIHW, 2018). In reality, both ATSI and non-indigenous have high risk factors such physical inactivity, high level of smoking and alcohol intake and at risk of high blood pressure compared to non-indigenous population. Other challenges are inadequate health services, inability to afford services, access issues, low health literacy, institutional racism and cultural factors (Khoury, 2015). Nevertheless, there are other non-health related factors that affect the health outcomes of ATSI people.
The social inequalities can help in understanding the health disparities of this population, which implies that social determinants of the population greatly affect access to healthcare. Essentially, the health disparities of the ATSI can be resolved by customising services to the needs of this population (Khoury, 2015). Customised services are free of discrimination and culturally suitable compared to mainstream services. On the other hand, research shows that cultural competence can be important in meeting the needs of diverse cultures (Li, 2017). Linguistically and culturally competent care can increase access to health services. Nonetheless, while majority of providers are not confident in providing culturally competent care, others lack sensitivity, knowledge and cultural awareness of the ATSI population
Healthcare Consumer Demographics
Hiring indigenous personnel that understand local languages known by persons accessing healthcare can help to solve the impasse (Reeve, Humphreys, Wakerman, Carter, Carroll, & Reeve, 2015). As a result, access to primary healthcare is not about locating health facilities within or near the indigenous population (Davy et al., 2016). Nonetheless, variables of access put emphasis on spatial aspects such as distance and location. In Australia, for instance, the ATSI community seek medical services from distant places (Davy et al., 2016). Hence, access should take into account patient and health provider factors to allow the population to access services or health system that deals with their health needs.
Even though Australia has an advanced healthcare system, less than 40 % community health services have medical cover (Li, 2017). Majority of health facilities are located in metropolitan areas with a nurse to patient ratio of 400 to 100,000 compared to a ratio of 400 nurses to 200,000 indigenous patients (White, Livesey, & Hayes, 2015).
2. 5 – Highlight the specific demographics of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander population specific to this population.
Demographics are data about population characteristics including age, gender, marital status, household, employment, education, religion ethnicity and income. In this case, the demographic characteristics are based on the 2016, population census. The statistics shows the ATSI community that accounts for 1.8% of Ballajura total population. This suggests that the ATSI population is less than the overall population of Ballajura suburbs. For example, as of 2016, there were 330 ATSI in Ballajura, out of this 171 (51.5%) were male and 159 (48.2%) females with a median age of 18 years census (Australian Bureau of statistics 2018). The ATSI continue to have a younger age profile compared to non-indigenous population. In 2016, 53% of ATSI were below 25 years compared to 31% among the non-indigenous population. The difference is a result of the high number of people aged 65 years and above.
Healthcare Consumer Demographics
In relation to housing, the average household size was 3.6 with 1 individual per bedroom while the median household income was $1,600 per week. Among the ATSI community, obligation and family is an important aspect of their culture. For instance, 80% of ATSI lived in family households. However, the classification for describing the complexity of their household arrangement and family structure were not clearly captured in the previous census data (Australian Bureau of statistics 2018). In addition, the ATSI weekly rent was $360 with mortgage repayment of $1,950 monthly (Australian Bureau of statistics 2018).
Another demographic attribute is income. As of 2016, 18% of the ATSI had a gross personal income of $1,000 per week (Australian Bureau of statistics 2018). Personal income includes dividends, pension, allowances, wages and salary. Women reported less income compared to males. About 55% of the ATSI above 15 years had a weekly income ranging between $ 1 to $799. Majority of ATSI aged 15 to 64 years are employed. Specifically, there are more male employed than female 49% and 45 % respectively. Nonetheless, for several years, the rate of female ATSI working has been increasing. On the other hand, the number of employed male ATSI has been declining just like the proportion of non-indigenous population. Furthermore, linguistic diversity is evident among the ATSI who speak multiple indigenous languages. When it comes to education, the ATSI community have had many challenges that include accessibility to learning institutions and financial predicaments Australian Bureau of statistics 2018).
Healthcare consumer demographics
Conclusion
Based on the discussion, it is evident that Ballajura has diverse healthcare consumers including English, Scottish, Irish, Vietnamese and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. But due to cultural diversity, they are language barriers that can affect provision of healthcare. In relation to demographic trends, the population will not only increase but will continue to age, hence putting pressure on healthcare systems. While the current healthcare services have improved, there are still gaps as a result of social determinants, health risks and accessing appropriate services. As such, healthcare professionals should understand the demographics characteristics to provide culturally competent care.
4.0 Recommendations
From the discussion, it is clear that the population of Ballajura suburb face problems of accessing health services. For that reason, to ensure health accessibility and availability, there is a need for strong and efficient health systems that support diverse cultures within Ballajura. Linguistically and culturally competent care is also needed. Advocating for cultural competent care of providers would be paramount especially because it will ensure health system can be effective in addressing discrimination and ethnic inequalities that the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander population face. Addressing cultural and language barriers imply that culture is integrated into service provision or attempting to understand the cultural beliefs of a population and apply in clinical practice (Li, 2017). However, some providers are not confident enough or lack cultural diversity skills to provide culturally competent care. In this case, healthcare organisations and nursing schools should collaborate to develop innovate solutions that foster diverse care. Because of healthcare disparities between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, employee development and training should be integrated into health services. Due to prevalent unequal care among the indigenous people, development and training opportunities will help in promoting workforce diversity during recruitment. Diversity training can be achieved through partnership between local authorities, healthcare organizations and the national government.
Healthcare consumer demographics
5.0 References
Amery, R. (2017). Recognising the communication gap in indigenous health care. Medical Journal of Australia, 207(1), 13-15. doi: 10.5694/mja17.00042
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2015). Fertility rates. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/3301.0Main%20Features4 2013
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2018). Australia’s health 2018: In brief. Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/fe037cf1-0cd0-4663-a8c0- 67cd09b1f30c/aihw-aus-222.pdf.aspx?inline=true
Austrialian Bureau of statistics. (2018).2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved from quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/S SC50061
Cheong, S. M., Nor, N. S. M., Ahmad, M. H., Manickam, M., Ambak, R., Shahrir, S. N., & Aris, T. (2018). Improvement of health literacy and intervention measurements among low socio-economic status women: findings from the MyBFF@ home study. BMC Women’s Health, 18(1), 99. doi: 10.1186/s12905-018-0596-y
City of swan. (2016). 2016 Census. Retrieved from https://www.swan.wa.gov.au/City- Council/About-the-City/Our-population-and-housing/2016-Census
Davy, C., Harfield, S., McArthur, A., Munn, Z., & Brown, A. (2016). Access to primary health care services for Indigenous peoples: A framework synthesis. International Journal for Equity in Health, 15(1), 163. doi: 10.1186/s12939-016-0450-5
Gibson, O., Lisy, K., Davy, C., Aromataris, E., Kite, E., Lockwood, C., … & Brown, A. (2015). Enablers and barriers to the implementation of primary health care interventions for Indigenous people with chronic diseases: A systematic review. Implementation Science, 10(1), 71. doi: 10.1186/s13012-015-0261-x
Hall, J. (2015). Australian health care—the challenge of reform in a fragmented system. New England Journal of Medicine, 373(6), 493-497. Retrieved https://www.mfprac.com/web2018/07literature/literature/Misc/AustraliaHCSys_Hall. pdf
Khoury, P. (2015). Beyond the biomedical paradigm: The formation and development of Indigenous community-controlled health organizations in Australia. International Journal of Health Services, 45(3), 471-494. doi: 10.1177/0020731415584557
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
McPake, B., & Mahal, A. (2017). Addressing the needs of an aging population in the health system: The Australian case. Health Systems & Reform, 3(3), 236-247. https://doi.org/10.1080/23288604.2017.1358796
Reeve, C., Humphreys, J., Wakerman, J., Carter, M., Carroll, V., & Reeve, D. (2015). Strengthening primary health care: Achieving health gains in a remote region of Australia. Medical Journal of Australia, 202(9), 483-487. doi: 10.5694/mja14.00894
Waterworth, P., Pescud, M., Braham, R., Dimmock, J., & Rosenberg, M. (2015). Factors influencing the health behaviour of indigenous Australians: Perspectives from support people. PloS one, 10(11), e0142323. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0142323
White, F., Livesey, D., & Hayes, B. (2015). Developmental psychology: From infancy to adulthood. P. Ed Australia
Healthcare consumer demographics
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