HLT07 Health Training Package HLTEN516B Apply understanding of the Australian health care system Learner resource Version 2 Training and Education Support Industry Skills Unit Meadowbank Product Code: 5574
Acknowledgments The TAFE NSW Training and Education Support Industry Skills Unit, Meadowbank would like to acknowledge the support and assistance of the following people in the production of this learner resource guide: Writers: Margaret Millard Bev Van Klaveren Beryl Grant TAFE NSW Reviewers: Dirk Stuber Jane Bonny Pamela Wilkinson Rhonda Albani TAFE NSW Project Manager: Liz Bougaardt Amanda Culver Chris Manwarring Sherryl Dismorr Beryl Grant Di Dawbin Education Programs Manager Training and Education Support, Industry Skills Unit, Meadowbank TAFE NSW Enquiries Enquiries about this and other publications can be made to: Training and Education Support Industry Skills Unit, Meadowbank Meadowbank TAFE Level 3, Building J, See Street, MEADOWBANK NSW 2114 Tel: 02-9942 3200 Fax: 02-9942 3257 TAFE NSW (Training and Education Support, Industry Skills Unit Meadowbank) 2012 Copyright of this material is reserved to TAFE NSW Training and Education Support, Industry Skills Unit Meadowbank. Reproduction or transmittal in whole or in part, other than subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act, is prohibited without the written authority of TAFE NSW Training and Education Support, Industry Skills Unit Meadowbank. ISBN 978-1-74236-311-0 TAFE NSW (Training & Education Support, Industry Skills Unit Meadowbank) 2012
Table of contents Introduction... 7 1. General introduction... 7 2. Using this learner guide... 8 3. Prior knowledge and experience...10 4. Unit of competency overview...10 5. Assessment...12 Section 1 Australian health care system... 15 Section 2 Section 3 Role of local government/non government health services... 25 Social, political, economic impacts on health care delivery... 29 Section 4 Philosophical framework of health care... 33 Section 5 Current health issues... 37 Section 6 Factors affecting health... 39 Section 7 Impact of colonisation on Aboriginal people... 43 Resource List... 51 Resource Evaluation Form... 57 TAFE NSW (Training & Education Support, Industry Skills Unit Meadowbank) 2012
Section 1 Australian health care system Activity 1 Research the history of the Australian health care system. Include a timeline of the major events that shaped the system as we know it today: Read any other relevant textbook or access websites to gain information on Medicare and private health funds. TAFE NSW (Training & Education Support, Industry Skills Unit Meadowbank) 2012 Page 15 of 60
Activity 2 Complete the following activities: i) Define the term social justice. a) Find article in any relevant textbooks or websites in relation to social justice, e.g. Australian Human Rights Commission, and define the following terms linked to social justice. 1. Equity 2. Equality 3. Neutrality Page 16 of 60 TAFE NSW (Training & Education Support, Industry Skills Unit Meadowbank) 2012
Activity 2 (continued) 4. Consistency 5. fair share 6. fair play 7. Standing 8. Trust TAFE NSW (Training & Education Support, Industry Skills Unit Meadowbank) 2012 Page 17 of 60
Activity 2 (continued) ii) Outlined below are scenarios that involve social justice issues. Identify the social justice issue in each scenario and propose examples of health actions that can be taken to support social justice principles: Scenarios a) The local pharmacy has a free baby clinic, but no-one from the large ethnic community is attending as the advertisements are all in English. All people have the right to have access to health services. Therefore, provide pamphlets in different languages or promote the program over the local ethnic radio or in newspapers. b) The local primary school does not have disabled access to the design classrooms that are upstairs. As a result, disabled students cannot participate in design classes. c) The hospital in the area in which you live is experiencing difficulty employing doctors and nurses. The residents in the area are concerned about the impact on provision of adequate health services. d) A group of workers are concerned about the methods used by their workplace, for storing poisonous chemicals. There are over 20 different types of chemicals that are poorly labelled, or have no labels. e) The bowling club in a small country town is closing down. This club is used by people of all ages in the community. Some members are concerned that they will be losing their only social outlet. These scenarios have been adapted from the NSW Higher School Certificate (HSC) online site http://hsc.csu.edu.au/pdhpe/ Page 18 of 60 TAFE NSW (Training & Education Support, Industry Skills Unit Meadowbank) 2012
Activity 3 Access an appropriate website to find information and complete the following table, then discuss your findings with your colleagues. Question Medicare Private Health Funds 1. What is it? 2. Who is it for? 3. How is it funded? 4. How does it work? Read the following paragraph Adam Jamrozik in his book Social Policy in the Post-welfare State states that Health services in Australia may be regarded as being amongst the best in the world, but they function in a climate of uncertainty caused by frequent disputes between the Commonwealth and the states about their respective responsibilities for funding and operation. Another source of concern is a powerful private sector consisting of medical practitioners and related professions, the rapidly growing and diversifying medical technology industry and the international pharmaceutical industry. Underpinning the concerns and uncertainty is the absence of a clear commitment from the Commonwealth to the maintenance of health services as a universal and accessible public system. The outcome is a typical one step forward, two steps back situation, as the first action of a new government in Canberra tends to be an undoing of the programs implemented by the previous government. At stake is the question: will Australia succeed in establishing a secure universal health insurance system accessible equally to all citizens, or will it continue with the discriminatory two-tier system, providing health services as a commodity and a source of lucrative profits for private corporations? (2001, pg. 204) TAFE NSW (Training & Education Support, Industry Skills Unit Meadowbank) 2012 Page 19 of 60
Activity 4 In groups of no more than six (6) research and discuss one (1) of the following: 1. The World Health Organization defines health as not merely the absence of illness but a state of complete physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. How can such a state of health be objectively determined and who would have the authority to determine it? 2. T.H. Marshall has argued that access to health services was a fundamental right of citizenship, but like all such rights it entailed certain obligations. What kind of obligations would these be? 3. Health data indicates that differences in the extent of certain ailments and diseases are related to the social class of the person affected. How do we explain such differences? 4. Under the current government policy, public funds are used to subsidise the premiums for health insurance. Does this policy help to strengthen medicare as the government claims or is it a deliberate policy designed to preserve a two-tier system? Present your finding to the class. Page 20 of 60 TAFE NSW (Training & Education Support, Industry Skills Unit Meadowbank) 2012
Activity 5 Complete the following worksheet after viewing the video. The development of Public Health in Australia Video Education Australasia: Additional information can be found in the textbook: Jamrozik, A 2001, Social Policy in the Post Welfare State-Australia on the Threshold of the 21 st Century, Longman, Sydney Useful websites: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: www.aihw.gov.au National Health Practitioners: www.health.gov.au/ 1. Define public health 2. Public health formally started in the 1800 s. What areas of public life and services did it first improve? 3. The biomedical model of health viewed the body as a machine. Much improvement has occurred through this model. The community has developed an expectation of what type of solution? TAFE NSW (Training & Education Support, Industry Skills Unit Meadowbank) 2012 Page 21 of 60
Activity 5 (continued) 4. Whereas a hundred years ago infectious diseases were society s biggest killers, today so-called lifestyle diseases are our biggest health concerns. Name three (3) lifestyle diseases and list the contributing factors. 5. How do governments and organisations influence the health of individuals? Page 22 of 60 TAFE NSW (Training & Education Support, Industry Skills Unit Meadowbank) 2012
Healthcare reform Activity 6 Governments in Australia have introduced many health reforms over the past decades. To assist you to understand why reform is necessary and who was/is involved in introducing it, complete the following table: Access the Australian Government website http://www.health.gov.au/ Read the article on National Health Reform and complete the following table. National Health Reform Improving primary health care for all Australians. Type of reform strategy General practice strategy Rural health strategy National health priority areas Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people s health Nurse practitioners Was reform necessary and why? Who was/is involved in leading this reform? Midwife practitioners Independent midwives National mental health strategy TAFE NSW (Training & Education Support, Industry Skills Unit Meadowbank) 2012 Page 23 of 60