Current health issues in relation to the Australian Health Care System Essay

Current health issues in relation to the Australian Health Care System - Essay Example Health Issue Statistics e.g. Incidence According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 6% of Australian adults experience depression on a regular basis. Among employed Australians, 3.6% Australians experience depression on a regular basis. The financial cost of depression, which is estimated to be more than 50 billion dollars annually in Australia, includes the direct treatment costs as well as indirect costs such as lost productivity. Depression also exacts financial as well as emotional costs within the family of the affected individuals. While Australian adults of different age groups have reported suffering from depression at one time or another, it would appear to be most prevalent among women in their 20s, men in their late 30s, and in elderly Australians of both genders (Haywood, Garrat, and Fitzpatrick, 2005). Many Australians do not feel that their negative feelings may actually be characteristic of depression. This makes them quite reluctant to seek for medical trea tment until they are almost driven to attempt suicide by the negative feelings. Population type affected e.g. gender, age, group etc According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2009), one in six Australian adults will experience serious depression on an annual basis. The high risk groups include teenagers, young adults, and the elderly people. While women are more likely to report feeling depressed and seek a relief for the negative feelings, Australian men are more likely to seek for more permanent ways, such as suicide, of dealing with depressing feelings. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2009), depression among Australian men is linked to other illnesses such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Australian men are more likely to leave episodes of depression unreported than Australian women. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2009), Australian men who are 65 years of age and above have the highest suicide rate in the nation, accounting for 29 suicides per 100,000 cases. A new Women's Health Australia research study has also provided evidence that Australian women between the ages of 28 and 33 tend to experience depression even more than their mothers, or even grandmothers, did. According to this study, one in five of these women goes regularly to doctors so as to get prescriptions for anti-depressants (Haywood, Garrat, and Fitzpatrick, 2005). Identify a range of factors which may affect the health of this client group including risk factors. Give consideration to any specific health and social circumstances of this client group. It is difficult to determine the exact factors that cause people to be depressed because there are so many factors that can trigger an episode of depression. In an Australian society, there are multiple factors that affect indigenous groups such as the Aboriginal community and result in an almost community-wide state of depression which afflicts the young as well as the old (Hunter, 2007). The Aborigines have to deal with racism, poverty, and feelings of detachment that are caused by the fact that their traditional values are for the most part irrelevant in the modern world (Hunter, 2007). This has spurred generational drug and alcohol abuse among the Aborigines which further exacerbates the incidence of depression among the community’s citizens. Among other Australians, there are factors such life traumas