Project Outline for Promoting Equal Healthcare among Indigenous Australians
Background Information
Most indigenous Australians are low-income earners, thus facing severe challenges both economically and socially. These challenges are a hindrance to the general access to healthcare among these citizens. The two most critical native groups that suffer the most are the aboriginals and the Torres Strait islanders. The main challenge that these people face is access to healthcare (FISHER et al., 2018). Most of them stay in areas where there are no hospitals completely. On the other hand, some cannot access the hospital services due to a lack of funds and their geographical location (McGough et al., 2017).
Coupled with the economic and health challenge, the social situation among the citizens is now a crisis. Citizens are not able to access other social amenities like clean water, thus making sanitation a tall order on them (Soldatic, 2017). Generally, the citizens are in dire need of essential social services to improve their quality of life. To worsen the matter, most people have resorted to drug and substance abuse as a substitute for the economic, health, and social crises that they are facing. Alcohol consumption and other substance use are on the rise (Dietze et al., 2018). A good percentage of the general population have embraced this practice as a way of coping up with life.
For these varied ranges of challenges to be adequately addressed, this proposal will give out a clear project outline on how to intervene by availing the services that are required by the native Australians. Priority projects that the ministry of health should initiate should begin with the construction of hospitals close to the people and equipping them properly. Due to the economic challenge, hospital charges should be subsidized by the federal government or should be erased to promote accessibility by the people (“Implementation of the Health and Social Care Act,” 2013). Apart from building hospitals, the government needs to embark on a mission to construct sources of clean water and initiate garbage collection programs to combat these enormous challenges. Furthermore, the federal government should consider building rehabilitation centers to reinstate the normal functioning of those who are already into drugs and substance abuse and are fighting with addiction (Matthews et al., 2007).
If this is done in the correct order, then the quality of life of the natives will be significantly improved. Social challenges will be minimized, and the citizens will have enough time to concentrate on their own meaningful and productive activities. They will be able to sustain themselves and more on well with their lives.
Prioritization of the Identified Social Determinants
The identified social determinants directly affect the productivity of the natives include; unequal distribution of income, lack of amenities, excessive use of tobacco, alcohol use, and inaccessibility to health and sanitation services (Malatzky et al., 2018). With these direct effects, people can’t concentrate on their daily activities when they are already suffering. A sick nation cannot participate effectively in nation-building because a healthy society is a wealthy nation. Furthermore, it is imperative to note that availing these services works to improve the quality of life of the citizens. It is also a mechanism of bridging the existing gap between the rich and the poor.
The lack of social amenities for the people poses daily challenges in their operations. Citizens cannot fully concentrate on productive activities but rather think of their problems. If the facilities are available to them accordingly, most of them will think and work differently. A lot of productive activities would go on within the state. This will significantly contribute to their individual economic growth and the expansion of the overall gross domestic product of the nation. Therefore, the amenities must be availed to them accordingly.
It is worthwhile noting that a significant percentage of men and women from the native tribes have resorted to drug and substance abuse (Clifford & Shakeshaft, 2017). The unavailability of their essential needs has highly contributed to this. Therefore, they are using this as a way to cope up. Although this is a negative coping mechanism, it is happening practically. For this to be tackled effectively, essential services should be made available first. Once the basic services are available, those who are addicted to certain drugs should then be considered. Rehabilitation centers should be constructed and their operations beefed up by the government. This will promote the recovery of all those who are currently affected.
Matters sanitation forms part of the challenges that the natives are facing. Unhygienic conditions contribute to the development of severe health problems (Birch, Drage, Thompson, Eaglesham & Mueller, 2015). The issues range from; water-borne diseases, air-bone diseases to other conditions that are caused by microorganisms that breed in the unhygienic states of the people. This situation arises due to the lack of clean water and a lack of defined mechanisms for garbage collection. For this to be solved, the federal government needs to build reliable sources of freshwater and establish agencies to collect garbage and safely dispose of them.
Main Objective
The main objective of this project outline is to facilitate the promotion of equal healthcare among the indigenous Australians by the federal government through the provision of long-lasting solutions to the available social challenges.
Other Objectives
. To fund the construction of hospitals and to equip them accordingly
.To promote accessibility to clean and safe water by building reliable water sources
.To enhance overall sanitation by initiating proper garbage collection programs
.To reinstates the normal functioning of individuals who are into drugs by setting up rehabilitation centers.
Alignment with the Government and the Global Health Agenda
The federal government of Australia, in its national health reform agenda intends to make Australia’s health system, the world’s number one (Smith, Crawford & Signal, 2016). This is enshrined in its health reform document with four main pillars. The first pillar is to improve access to medicines by its citizens through the pharmaceutical benefits scheme. They also intend to support public and private hospitals by improving health insurance. The government further plans to prioritize mental health and invest in health and research (Javanparast et al., 2018). All this is aimed at improving the overall health of the people.
Globally, there are efforts to achieve good health and the overall wellbeing of all the people worldwide by the year 2030. This is the provision of sustainable development goal number 3, where independent countries committed to working towards this course. Goal number 6 also provides that different countries should ensure that its citizens access clean water and that proper sanitation is enhanced (Pradhan, Costa, Rybski, Lucht & Kropp, 2017). All this is in the effort to ensure that the citizens lead a good life.
This proposal is strictly in line with the government’s national health reform plan as well as Sustainable Development Goal number 3 and 6. The main aim is to ensure that citizens get essential services that go a long way in promoting equality in the healthcare system.
Tasks to Implement Recommendation
For these recommendations to be effectively implemented, the federal government needs to establish a task force within the ministry of health, the department of social services and the ministry of environmental services to work towards the implementation of tasks which are meant to address the social determinants that bring about the disparities in healthcare. The responsibilities to implement recommendations include the following;
Identification of sites to build hospitals
Sites for the construction of health facilities should be identified well, and the construction process should begin immediately. Places to be chosen should be easily accessible by the people. This will necessitate their utility by the people.
Construction of Rehabilitation centers
Rehabilitation centers need to be established to cater to people who are addicted to drugs. The centers will help them regain normalcy and be productive members of society.
Establishment of transparent garbage collection agencies
Garbage collection agencies should be established to promote regular garbage collection. This is important since the breeding grounds for disease-causing microorganisms are completely destroyed.
Construction of clean sources of water
The federal government should facilitate the construction of definite and clear sources of water for use by citizens. This is necessary to ensure that people use reliable water, which will not be a source of diseases.
The tasks will be accomplished by the task forces established under the concerned ministries. This is enhanced by the inter-ministerial corporation in the provision of services to the citizens. The construction of hospitals will be a responsibility of the ministry of health. On the other hand, the ministry of social services will be mandated to locate the appropriate site and build a rehabilitation center. The taskforce from the department of the environment will work on garbage collection and establishment and construction of water sources.
Milestones
Upon the approval of the proposal and the release of funds, work will begin immediately. The first month will be used to locate sites for construction of the various social amenities. Upon locating the sites, the taskforces in different ministries will embark on the procurement of resources within the second month. Development of the determined number of social amenities as per the approved budget should be complete within eight months after acquisition of resources. This necessitates proper planning in the next financial year.
Metrics to Monitor Progress
The progress of the whole project will be monitored well to ensure that targets are met accordingly. This aids in the accountability of what should be done and when should it be complete. Methods that will be used include;
.Units completed – This will involve dividing tasks and setting time frames for completion of each task.
.Start and finish time – Establishing when work started and when it should end provides an opportunity for those responsible for doing self-checking.
.Cost to work ratio – A provision for comparing what has been spent and what has been done in order to predict the success of the whole exercise.
Evaluation Criteria
Upon completion of the tasks, an evaluation will be done to measure the level of accomplishment of the tasks. The evaluation will be based on the following;
.Purpose and the intended audience – The project should meet its original intention and serve the intended audience.
Reliability – The project should be reliable and accurately designed to meet the needs of the people.
.Timelines – Should be strictly observed during the task accomplishment phase.
.Objectivity – The tasks need to be accomplished without any bias.
Summary
This project proposal is mindful of the fact that Australia natives are faced with a lot of social challenges that affect their health significantly. The plan provides a clear outline of how to address the problems. When the social challenges are properly addressed as stipulated, the overall health of the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islanders will improve.
References
FISHER, M., BATTAMS, S., MCDERMOTT, D., BAUM, F., & MACDOUGALL, C. (2018). How the Social Determinants of Indigenous Health became Policy Reality for Australia’s National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan. Journal Of Social Policy, 48(1), 169-189.
McGough, S., Wynaden, D., & Wright, M. (2017). Experience of providing cultural safety in mental health to Aboriginal patients: A grounded theory study. International Journal Of Mental Health Nursing, 27(1), 204-213.
Soldatic, K. (2017). Policy Mobilities of Exclusion: Implications of Australian Disability Pension Retraction for Indigenous Australians. Social Policy And Society, 17(1), 151-167.
Dietze, P., Draper, B., Olsen, A., Chronister, K., van Beek, I., & Lintzeris, N. et al. (2018). Does training people to administer take-home naloxone increase their knowledge? Evidence from Australian programs. Drug And Alcohol Review, 37(4), 472-479.
Implementation of the Health and Social Care Act. (2013), 346(apr05 3), f2173-f2173.
Matthews, L., Buys, N., Crocker, R., & Edmund Degeneffe, C. (2007). Overview of Disability Employment Policy and Rehabilitation Practice in Australia: Implications for Rehabilitation Counselor Education. Rehabilitation Education, 21(4), 241-250.
Malatzky, C., Nixon, R., Mitchell, O., & Bourke, L. (2018). Prioritising the cultural inclusivity of a rural mainstream health service for First Nation Australians: an analysis of discourse and power. Health Sociology Review, 27(3), 248-262.
Clifford, A., & Shakeshaft, A. (2017). A bibliometric review of drug and alcohol research focused on Indigenous peoples of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. Drug And Alcohol Review, 36(4), 509-522.
Birch, G., Drage, D., Thompson, K., Eaglesham, G., & Mueller, J. (2015). Emerging contaminants (pharmaceuticals, personal care products, a food additive and pesticides) in waters of Sydney estuary, Australia. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 97(1-2), 56-66.
Smith, J., Crawford, G., & Signal, L. (2016). The case of national health promotion policy in Australia: where to now?. Health Promotion Journal Of Australia, 27(1), 61-65.
Javanparast, S., Freeman, T., Baum, F., Labonté, R., Ziersch, A., & Mackean, T. et al. (2018). How institutional forces, ideas and actors shaped population health planning in Australian regional primary health care organisations. BMC Public Health, 18(1).
Pradhan, P., Costa, L., Rybski, D., Lucht, W., & Kropp, J. (2017). A Systematic Study of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Interactions. Earth’s Future, 5(11), 1169-1179.