How are priority issues for Australia's health identifed?

How are priority issues for Australia's health identifed?

1. Measuring Health Status

   • Role of Epidemiology
     • Study of disease within a group or population
     • What can epidemiology tell us?
       • Inequities within a population
       • Identifying priority health issues
       • Where to allocate resources
       • Who uses these measures?
         • Public health researchers
         • Goverments
         • Health organisations
       • Do they measure everything about health status?
         • They don't give accurate representations on inequalities within a population
         • Don't provide a measure into the impact on quality of life
   • Measures of epidemiology
     • Infant Mortality
       • Number of infant deaths within the 1st year of life per 1000 live births
     • Morbidity
       • Patterns of illness, injury and disease that do not result in death
     • Life Expectancy
       • The length of time a person can expect to live
     • Mortality
       • Number of deaths within a group of people from a disease over a specific time

2. Identifying priority health issues

   • Potential for prevention and early intervention
     • Chronic diseases that could be reduced through behavioural change
     • Environmental factors that affect the ablity to change behaviour
       • Employment Status
       • Housing
       • Support networks
       • Access to health services and information
   • Social Justice principles
     • Promotion of fundamental and universal human rights and the removal of ineqaulity
     • Differences can include:
       • Culture
       • Religion
       • Gender
       • Age
       • Sexuality
       • Socio-economic status
       • History
       • Language
   • Priority population groups
     • Sub-groups with varying health statuses
     • Sub-groups
       • People in remote and rural areas
       • Indigenious people
       • Socio-economically disadvantaged people
       • Veterans
       • Prisoners
       • Overseas born people
   • Prevalance of condition
     • Current number of cases of illness and disease
     • Priority health issues
       • Cardiovasuclar disease
       • Cancer
       • Diabetes
       • Mental health issues
       • Asthma
       • Injury
   • Costs to the individual and community
     • Measured in terms of diability adjusted life years (DALY's)
       • The more DALY's the greater the burden
     • Direct costs
       • Can be measured
         • Money spent on
           • Prevention
           • Diagnosis
           • Treatment
     • Indirect costs
       • Difficult to measure
         • Quality of life
         • Emotional well-being