1. Port Lincoln Aboriginal health service, SA
1.1. Description
1.1.1. The program highlights the needs for Port Lincoln Aboriginal communities’ health care. The program delivers quality care to the Aboriginal population in Port Lincoln in a safe environment. The program works with “Country connect” in the hospital which offers various community-based activities including aged care, patient transport, and psychology (Port Lincoln Aboriginal Health Service, n.d.).
1.1.2. SDH addressed
1.1.2.1. Social protection and inclusion
1.1.2.1.1. Challenge: Despite people are improving society to be more inclusive, there are still areas where the Aboriginal population is excluded and being ignored. In healthcare systmes, Aboriginal populations's needs and health are not being specifically addressed, hence, resulting in less Aboriginal people willing to receive healthcare.
1.1.2.1.2. It is established within Port Lincoln to take care of the health issues of the 6.6% of the Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islander (ABS, 2021). By having an Aboriginal health organisation formed nearby the Aboriginal community, it promotes the Indigenous population to have access to decent healthcare and prevents disparities. It specifically addresses their needs and culture, promoting a safe and inclusive environment for the Aboriginal residents.
1.1.2.2. Education
1.1.2.2.1. challenge: people lack of knowledge of the Aboriginal population regarding their health concerns, the Aboriginal people also require more assistance in educating themselves the potential health problems or how to prevent health problems.
1.1.2.2.2. Port Lincoln Aboriginal health service role : focus on Aboriginal people's health concerns, offering the Aboriginal population health lifestyles to prevent potential chronic diseases that are common in Port Lincoln such as arthiritis and cancer. With education from the health service, the Aboriginal population can have a better understanding of their health concerns and not ignoring the symptoms occured.
1.1.2.3. Access to affordable health services of decent quality
1.1.2.3.1. This organisation provides multiple free services, including antenatal, birth and postnatal care. This allows the population with less income to have access to healthcare. Through this, more people are able to afford the cost of their treatment, hence, motivating more people to get an examination when they are feeling unwell.
1.1.2.3.2. challenge: the limited income of the residents can be barriers for them to access to healthcare as it can be chanllenging to afford medical bills.
1.1.3. Alignment with other MM6 towns: Across the regional towns, the main Social Determinants of Health that are covered by the innovative health programs are "education", "social inclusion", "Access to affordable health services of decent quality" and "access to health care". The effect of the innovative health organisations including "enabl[ing] patients and communities to have resources and environments to enable healtheir behaviours"(Valentine., 2022). This results in promoting "optimal functioning and performance of health systems" which addresses the potential challenges of the patients in order to minimise the barriers that stop the patients from receiving treatment (Valentine., 2022).
1.1.3.1. comparison between the aboriginal health service and the other health innovations: While the health innovations across the towns in MM6 category share the similarities in addressing the Social Determinants of Health and focusing on overcoming the health disparities in the healthcare system and achieving health equity by providing care to people who reside in regional areas with insufficient health resources. However, on the otherhand, there are also differences across the towns. First of all, the Port Lincoln Aboriginal health service focuses on Aboriginal population's need specifically while having the organisation mainly operated and maintained by the Aboriginal people. Through this, the organisation futher addresses the importance in minimising social exclusion which act as a barricade for the Aboriginal population to receive treatment.
1.1.3.1.1. The reason that each town has a different innovation is due to the different needs of each town. For instance, Port Linoln focuses more on each population's needs while Carnavorn focuses more on the access of healthcare of all people from that area. Because of their different needs, there are different innovations appeared to address the SDHs and provide healthcare. Additionally, RFDS provide healthcare access to regions that are isolated and lack of medical support while Tasmanian Kedney Community also provide healthcare regarding kidney health to places that are geographically isolated. Both these two health organisations are established because of the geographical isolation and the hardhip for the medical support to access areas, yet, Port Linoln health service was established because of the attention paid toward the Aboriginal population. This is the difference between their motivations and therefore the difference in the service they provide.
1.2. Role of the nurse
1.2.1. current role: Nurses participate in health organisations such as hospitals and clinics, including working in the Aboriginal organisation in helping the patients to do health checks, home visiting and assist in kids clinics (Port lincoln Aboriginal health service, n.d.).
1.2.2. Even though nurses are involved in health organisations, there are still skills that can be used.
1.2.2.1. Nurse practitioners can be involved in reggional, rural and remote areas. This is suggested that the nursing practioners can "make final decisions about clinical care independently" when there is an absence of "diagnostic services" in rural areas (Wilson et al., 2021).
1.2.2.1.1. With nusing practitioners, nurses can lead the health services in rural areas more instead of using technologies such as telehealth or require long-time travelling for the patient. Their skill of diagnosing and treating patients can be effectively utilised in regional areas innovative organisation. This helps the process of diagnosing and treating patient to be more efficient and accurate when there is an absence of medical doctors. In doing so, for the patients who are out of the scope of practce of registered nurses such as prescribing medicine or diagnosing patients, nurse practitioners can fill in the needs or consult with GP on call to work together and treat patients.
1.2.3. Multidisciplinary team
1.2.3.1. Nurses are activly engaged in the community's multidisciplinary team from various perspectives.
1.2.3.1.1. It is suggested that nurses help the patients to get health checks by demonstrating that "a Nurse or Aboriginal Health Worker may check your blood pressure, blood sugar levels, height and weight" or for intensitve home visiting program, the"families will receive support from a Registered Nurse and an Aboriginal Health Worker" (Port lincoln Aboriginal health service, n.d.). This exhibits that nurses and other healthcare professionals are working closly together to deal with problems, showcasing their scope of practice of taking care of the patient and providing emotional support to the families.
1.2.3.1.2. Nurses are also engaged with "family support counsellor"and "senior case manager"to educate the residence in Port Lincoln to not ignore their health concerns. (Port Lincoln Aboriginal health service, n.d.). This demonstrates the healthcare workers and the nurses in the organisation work collectively in educating people regarding their health and take care of their emotional health. With the family support and senior case managers' help on reminding people to pay attention to their health concerns, nurses can then provide thorough health check since the patients are more willing to attend the service.
2. Reference List
2.1. Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Carnarvon 2021 Census All Peoples QuickStats. https://www.abs.gov.au/ Australian Bureau of Statistics. (n.d.). Port Lincoln 2021 Census All Persons QuickStats. https://abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/LGA46300 Mathew, S., Fitts, M. S., Liddle, Z., Bourke, L., Campbell, N., Murakami-Gold, L., Russell, D. J., Humphreys, J. S., Mullholand, E., Zhao, Y., Jones, M. P., Boffa, J., Ramjan, M., Tange, A., Schultz, R., & Wakerman. (2023). Telehealth in remote Australia: a supplementary tool or an alternative model of care replacing face-to-face consultations?. BMC health services research, 23(341), 1-10. Nguyen, G. N., Lantzke, N., & Burgel, A. V. (2022). Effects of shade nets on microclimatic conditions, growth, fruit yield, and quality of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.): A case study in Carnarvon, Western Australia. Horticulturae, 8(8), 696. Perche, D. (2022). Out of sight, out of mind? Markets and employment services in remote Indigenous communities. DESIGNING SOCIAL SERVICE MARKETS, 105. Port Lincoln Aboriginal Health Service. (n.d.). Health Programs and Services. https://plahs.org.au Short, A. D. (2020). Northwest Division. Australian Coastal Systems: Beaches, Barriers and Sediment Compartments, Springer. Tasmanian kidney community. (n.d.). Retrieved August 21, 2024, from https://www.facebook.com/taskidney The Royal Flying Doctor Service. (2024). The RFDS in WA. https://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/wa/ Valentine, N., Ajuebor, O., Fisher, J., Bodenmann, P., Baum, F., & Rasanathan, K. (2022). Planetary health benefits from strengthening health workforce education on the social determinants of health. Health promotion international, 37(3), daac086. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daac086 WA Country Health Service. (2024). Carnarvon Health Campus. WA Country Health Service. https://www.wacountry.health.wa.gov.au/ Wilson, L., Rice, C., & Thompson, S. (2024). Social participation and loneliness in older adults in a rural Australian context: individual and organizational perspectives. International journal of environmental research and public health, 21(7), 886.
3. Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) in Carnarvon, WA
3.1. Description
3.1.1. FIFO medical services (emergency response, primary care, specialist consultations) (RFDS, 2024)
3.1.1.1. Medical evacuations, outreach clinics, telehealth, chronic disease management (RFDS, 2024)
3.1.2. SDH addressed
3.1.2.1. Access to Healthcare
3.1.2.1.1. Challenges
3.1.2.1.2. RFDS Role
3.1.2.2. Income and Employment
3.1.2.2.1. Challenges
3.1.2.2.2. RFDS Role
3.1.2.3. Indigenous Health Disparities
3.1.2.3.1. Challenges
3.1.2.3.2. RFDS Role
3.1.2.4. Education
3.1.2.4.1. Challenges
3.1.2.4.2. RFDS Role
3.1.2.5. Social isolation
3.1.2.5.1. Challenges
3.1.2.5.2. RFDS Role
3.2. Comparison Across Towns
3.2.1. Key Health Priorities
3.2.1.1. Chronic disease management
3.2.1.1.1. Diabetes (5.1%), Arthritis (6.6%) (ABS, 2021)
3.2.1.2. Emergency response due to flood risks (Short, 2020)
3.2.1.3. Mental health support for isolated communities and Indigenous populations (Wilson et al., 2024)
3.2.2. RFDS, Carnarvon Health Campus, community outreach (WA Country Health Service, 2024)
3.2.3. Resources
3.2.3.1. Public health education and telehealth expansion (Matthew et al., 2023)
3.3. Role of the Nurse
3.3.1. Current Role
3.3.1.1. Nurses play a key role in emergency care, chronic disease management, health education, and collaboration with Indigenous health teams (RFDS, 2024)
3.3.2. Multidisciplinary Team
3.3.2.1. Collaboration with doctors, paramedics, and local healthcare providers to attend patients across Australia (RFDS, 2024).
3.4. Potential Role of the Nurse
3.4.1. How the nurse’s skills could be utilised
3.4.1.1. Expanded involvement in telehealth, disaster preparedness, and chronic disease education (Matthew et al., 2023)
3.4.1.2. More focus on mental health support for isolated and Indigenous populations (Wilson et al., 2024)
4. Tasmanian kidney community, Strahan, Tas
4.1. Description
4.1.1. The Tasmanian kidney community is a Facebook page is a community dedicated to renal patients and their families, used to share information as well as linking to various other support programs around the state. (Tasmanian kidney community., n.d.)
4.1.2. SDH adressed
4.1.2.1. Education
4.1.2.1.1. Challenges
4.1.2.1.2. Role of the innovation
4.1.2.2. Social inclusion
4.1.2.2.1. Challenges
4.1.2.2.2. Role of the innovation
4.1.2.3. Access to healthcare
4.1.2.3.1. Challenges
4.1.2.3.2. Role of the innovation
4.2. Comparison across towns
4.2.1. Similarities
4.2.1.1. Designed to address issues largely caused by geographic isolation with a focus on preventative measures and education
4.2.2. Differences
4.2.2.1. Provides no F2F care to patients, rather relying on education and a supportive community to address shortfalls in SDH catagories. Additionally, rather than address a specific demographic such as the program in Port Lincoln, this program is designed to support individuals and families suffering from kidney disease
4.3. Role of the nurse
4.3.1. While the role of the nurse in this program may not be as direct, the community facebook page allows individuals to connect with resourses heavily utilising nursing staff. Additionally there are nurses present on the page that often assist with answering enquiries.
5. Similarities:
5.1. Reducing Health Disparities: The goal of the Port Lincoln Aboriginal Health Service and other health initiatives, including the Facebook kidney disease support group in Strahan and the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) in Carnarvon, is to lessen health disparities in regional locations. In an effort to promote health equity, they offer vital healthcare services to populations that are isolated geographically and have limited access to healthcare resources.
5.1.1. Emphasis on Social Determinants of Health: Within the MM6 category, these services primarily address the following SDHs: social inclusion, education, access to high-quality, reasonably priced healthcare, and assistance with managing chronic illnesses. By tackling systemic barriers to accessing quality healthcare, these programs aim to empower communities to get the resources they need to live healthier lives.
5.1.1.1. Preventative and Educational Approach: The Aboriginal Health Service in Port Lincoln and the renal illness support group on Facebook in Strahan both highlight the importance of preventative healthcare and education in empowering individuals. For instance, the Tasmanian kidney disease organisation shares educational tools online, and Port Lincoln distributes newsletters to the community educating them about chronic diseases. These programs emphasise how critical it is to raise health literacy in isolated and rural communities.
6. Differences:
6.1. Focus on Chronic Disease: The main area of innovation in each town's health care system varies as well. Whereas Strahan's Facebook group focusses on renal disease, Port Lincoln places more emphasis on maternal care and the avoidance of chronic diseases like cancer and arthritis in Aboriginal population. This shows how local health concerns must be taken into account by regional initiatives, reflecting the distinct healthcare demands of every municipality in the MM6 category.
6.1.1. Challenges with Resource Availability and Access: Although Strahan is fortunate to have access to a large healthcare infrastructure and is geographically isolated, Port Lincoln is able to offer complete healthcare services. As a result, online support and education are prioritised. By providing fly-in, fly-out medical services, the RFDS fills this vacuum in Carnarvon, solving the accessibility issues of a sparsely populated location where residents may live distant from healthcare institutions. The differences in resource availability and access constraints between rural and remote towns in the same MMM category are shown by this contrast.
6.1.1.1. Preventative and Educational Approach: The Aboriginal Health Service in Port Lincoln and the renal illness support group on Facebook in Strahan both highlight the importance of preventative healthcare and education in empowering individuals. For instance, the Tasmanian kidney disease organisation shares educational tools online, and Port Lincoln distributes newsletters to the community educating them about chronic diseases. These programs emphasise how critical it is to raise health literacy in isolated and rural communities.