The Elderly and Chronic Diseases

The Australian nation research priority goal of promoting and maintaining good health specifically the areas of preventative healthcare and strengthening Australia’s social and economic fabric.

The Australian health care system is one of the most complex yet comprehensive health systems in the world. With a life expectancy 2 years greater than the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) average and over 85 % of people reporting their health to be good or very good, Australia fares very well in relation to health and well-being status of its population in comparison to most other OECD countries (OECD Better Life Index n.d.).

Australia's Heath status in comparison to other countries has consistently ranked in the top 10 OECD for life expectancy at birth. This makes Australia one of the wealthiest counties in the world. Although there is a widespread problem in Australia regarding chronic diseases, which is the leading causes of death and illnesses in the country. Chronic disease include heart disease, lung cancer, Type 2 diabetes, asthma and other cancers. Behavioural determinants such as dietary, physical activity, alcohol consumption and tobacco use and their effects.

The Australian healthcare system has been evolving since the beginning of the colonisation of Australia. Today, Australia has an extremely efficient healthcare system although it still has several issues. The influencing factors, structure, and current issues of the Australian healthcare system will be throughly discussed and explained in this essay.

As a people, our rate of chronic disease is still 2.5 times higher than that of other Australians, and Indigenous people in this country die 15 to 20 years younger than those in mainstream Australia. More than half of

Australia’s wealthy economy conveys advanced, up to date medical and surgical technology, whereas Portugal’s technology has not been updated since 1988. Furthermore, Australia has more hospitals, 741 public and 525 private compared to Portugal’s 89 public and 82 private hospitals. With Australia’s advanced technology and abundance of hospitals, comes a greater life expectancy of 83 for females and 78 for males compared to Portugal’s life expectancy of 78.2.

Indigenous people of the Australia, New Zealand, USA, and Canada suffer the high mortality compare to the overall population. Amongst them Australian aboriginals suffer highest disparity in life expectancy. Australia’s 5,17,200 Aboriginals make up 2.5% of population and they are the most disadvantaged group. Drug abuse, alcoholism, and infant mortality rates are high in the aboriginals compare to the other people. They also suffer from diseases associated with the poor living condition. Diabetes and Heart diseases are thrice and twice more common respectively in aboriginals between age of 35 to 45 compare to other population. Eliminate trachoma by 2020 was launched by the World health organization (WHO) in 1998. Blinding trachoma occurs still in 54 countries and Australia is the only developed country in that list. Large disparity exists in aboriginals for diabetes mortality. When Indigenous mortality rates were compared with non-indigenous mortality rates in Australia, Aboriginal

Australians continue to experience health comparable to those of other developed countries. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW] (2016) the life expectancy of Australians at birth remains one of the highest in the world. Furthermore, death rates are decreasing and survival rates are improving for many major health issues such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases (AIHW, 2016). Yet, the Australian health care data has shown that improvements can be made in health care.

Charlotte McCormack - Identify pertinent and current Australian morbidity and/or mortality statistics associated with this health topic

The elderly population is growing with 35 million people who are age 65 years or older and half are between the ages of 65 to 74 and the other half are over the age of 75. The population age 85 years or older are the fastest growing population (Dubow, 2017). In 1991 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported that 8 out of 10 people over the age of 60 had one or more chronic diseases or impairments which included arthritis, hypertension, hearing impairment, heart disease, cataracts, deformity or orthopedic impairment, chronic sinusitis,

The indigenous population has a lower average age of 21 years, in comparison to 36 years, which is directly correlative to the higher death rates, which are 1.9 times the general population. The contrast in the differed health status of Indigenous Australians compared with non-indigenous Australians can be comprehended by the considerably lower life expectancy, in 2010-12 the ATSI life expectancy was estimated to be 10.6 years lower compared to the non-indigenous population for males (69.1 with 79.7) and 9.5 years for females (73.7 with 83.1). Similarly, the ATSI population experiences higher rates of hospitalisation, suicide and most other major illnesses and disease (particularly CVD and

There are physiological changes that occur within all systems of the elderly. These changes provide challenges to providing quality care. The following is an example from each of the systems. The integumentary system has a decrease in subcutaneous fat, this increases the potential for decubitus ulcers. The musculoskeletal system has a decrease in bone density, which can contribute to falls. Diminished deep sleep develops due to changes in the neurologic system. This may result in weight fluctuations resulting from changes in appetite. The cardiovascular system causes a decrease in arterial compliance, resulting in increased risk of tachyarrhythmias. The Immune system has a decrease in immune response, resulting in the potential for delayed or incomplete healing. The respiratory system suffers from decreased

Like many healthcare systems around the world, Australia has a complex system in place for the funding healthcare to meet the needs of its citizens. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), in 2011-12 Australia spent an estimated $140.2 billion on healthcare, accounting for approximately 9.5% of the gross domestic product (AIHW, 2014). Australia has seen substantial growth in the cost of healthcare over the last decade due to an aging population, increased prevalence of chorionic conditions, changes in personal incomes, technology, and other economic trends (AIHW, 2014). Government sources account for the bulk of all healthcare funding, with the Australian Government contributing 42.4%, and state and territory

Over the years there has been a decrease of chronic disease in the United States. The decrease of chronic disease amongst the population decreased the mortality rates. Mortality is also known as death. Mortality rates represents the amount or number of deaths in a given time period. One may ask, why the decrease of mortality rates is a good thing. Well, when there is a reduction in mortality rates, that applauds the health officials and or professionals who actually develop plans and policies to that can promote life expectancy. In the year of the 80s there was an episode known as the “reverse of fortunes”.

Patient factors include age, gender, education, ethnicity, socio-economic status and how much patient knows about cancer and cancer symptoms. Age appears to be the major determinants of cancer survival. Cancer survival rate for almost all types of cancers decrease significantly with age. Research has shown that elderly patients generally do not receive the same standard of treatments and care, as compared to younger patients. Elderly patients are also reported to be less likely to receive surgery and the most effective treatment than younger people irrespective of the co-morbidities. This is because healthcare professionals tend to make decisions based on the assumptions that older patients will not be able to cope with certain treatments