THE NATIONAL HEALTH PRIORITY AREASUnit 3: Australia’s health / Area of Study 1 Understanding Australia’s Health

National Health Priority Areas (NHPA)

The National Health Priority Areas initiative was Australia's response to the World Health Organisation's global strategy Health for All by the year 2000 and its subsequent revision.

The initial 1996 set of NHPAs included cardiovascular health, cancer control, injury prevention and control and mental health. Diabetes mellitus was added in 1997, followed by asthma in 1999, arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions in 2002 and obesity in 2008. 

AsthmaArthritis &

Musculoskeletal

problems

Diabetes

Mellitus

Cardiovascular Health

Cancer Control

Mental Health

Injury Preventi

on & Control

Obesity

The Cost to Individuals and Communities

Direct Costs

Indirect Costs

Intangible Costs

There are three different recognised costs!

Direct Costs

Include costs that can be accurately quantified and result the prevention, treatment or diagnosis of the disease or illness.

Often expressed in monetary terms

Indirect Costs

Refer to the costs incurred by an individual, their family or community because of the consequences that the illness may have on an individual’s work and social activities.

Intangible Costs

Not associated with a dollar value Include pain and suffering Emotional cost

The cost of health care servicesThe cost of pharmaceuticalsThe cost of prevention strategies

Direct costs to the community

Unpaid careReduced or lost productivity

Absenteeism

Indirect cost to the community

Loss of an individual from a community due to premature death – emotional pain and suffering experienced by others

Intangible costs to the community

The cost of medical care AmbulancePharmaceutical expenses

Direct costs for individuals

Travel costs related to receiving treatment & care

Loss or partial loss of current and future earnings

Additional services now needed

Indirect costs for individuals

Pain and sufferingAnxiety and stress due to reduced productivityLoss of timeLoss of quality of life

Intangible costs for individuals

•Read through the information on the next 3 slides.•As you go, try to identify;

• The risk factors that lead to his condition• Any costs - for Francois (direct, indirect, intangible)

- for the community (direct, indirect, intangible)• What Francois could have done to prevent getting this condition.

•You can use your book (pp91-94) to help and find the answers with the people around you.

Case study.

The condition - Anaemia.

• This is a condition where the body has insufficient levels of haemoglobin in the red blood cells, or insufficient levels of red blood cells entirely.

• As haemoglobin carries oxygen, which is essential for cell respiration, anaemia means your body can’t carry enough oxygen to working cells and the cells won’t work properly.

Francois’s Story

• Francois is a 36 year old male who lives in Melbourne and operates a struggling boutique art gallery.

• He is a vegetarian and doesn’t like the taste of wholegrains, so he eats white bread, rice and pasta.

• Francois started to notice his skin was getting pale, he would get headaches frequently and he would lose his breath walking up the stairs from his basement in the gallery.

• Because Francois has avoided red meat and whole grains for the past 19 years, he has developed iron-deficiency anaemea, as these are the foods that are high in iron. Because he does not have enough iron, his body is unable to produce haemoglobin.

Treatment

Francois’s doctor advised Francois to eat multigrain bread, brown rice, and plenty of green leafy vegetables.

He also needs to take a daily multivitamin, iron supplement pills and blood pressure stabilising medication until his haemoglobin levels improve.

Home life

Francois lives with wife and three kids.he has a best friend whose name is Neville.

When his business was struggling, Neville lent him a sizeable portion of money to help out. He also fills in for Francois sometimes at the shop, when Francois has to be away.

The Answers!

Are they the same as what you got? Do you have any others that are not on

here?

Impacts - Individual

DIRECT Francois has had numerous visits to the

doctor before he was diagnosed, which cost a significant amount of money.

He needs to continue to buy medication. Francois could not work as effectively in

his business and lost money as there was no-one to cover for him.

• INDIRECT• Misses work. Owns a small business so

needs to shut the shop for the day or hire more staff.

• Driving to doctor.

INTANGIBLE Francois was always uncomfortable, unfit,

out of breath and in pain because of the lack of oxygen getting to his brain, organs and muscles.

He felt terrible that he was finding it more and more difficult to repay his friend Neville the money he loaned him to start up the business, because he was losing customers.

Impacts - Community

DIRECT Medicare footed some of the bill for

Francois’s doctors visits and the Pharmaceutical benefit scheme helped pay for his medication.

• INDIRECT• Neville may lose money to fill in at the

shop – can’t work anywhere else.

INTANGIBLE Neville is finding it harder to live without the

money he was expecting to receive from Francois, and there relationship is struggling because of it.

Francois’s mother has taken leave from her job and left the family home in Belgium to be with Francois for a few weeks and help out. She is finding this especially difficult as she does not speak English, and her relationship with Francois has always been testy at best.

Prevention

Francois could have avoided this condition by;

Eating red meat Eating Wholegrains Eating more green leafy vegies. Going to see his doctor, Health teacher

(who are all awesome and know EVERYTHING), or a dietician to develop a nutrition plan because he had made the decision to be a vegetarian.

Case Study

Complete the case study on: The consequences of obesity for the community and the individual.

pp 95 & 96