Disadvantaged Australians and the Challenges in Health and Oral Healthcare

Answer

Disadvantaged Australians and the Challenges in Health and Oral Healthcare

Oral health is a major concern when looking at Australian natives. Research claims that poor oral health contributes to 4.5% of the problem that non-fatal diseases cause. This is alarming as comfort is important in an individual’s life. It reduces stress and depression.  The institute of AIHW (2021) clearly confirms the array of damage that oral infections cause. Conditions such as tooth loss result in poor nutrition; they also enhance existing diseases while disabling the physical and psychological ability of the body (AIHW, 2021). The people of Australia face a major health concern as oral diseases are prevalent in society. The impact of poor oral health is damaging to society as individuals experience impaired well-being. The patients are neither able to speak effectively nor have reputable self-esteem as the disease causes physical damage (AIHW, 2021). Butten et al. (2019) explain poor oral health is linked to stress, financial challenges, and physical health.

It is undoubtedly evident that overall health is deeply and actively affected by social factors. In Australia, the indigenous communities (the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders) are either positively or negatively affected by social factors. One of the common determinants is the lifestyle of individuals. Substances such as tobacco and alcohol have been linked to deteriorating oral health. Intake of these substances not only causes dental infections but also disrupts the effectiveness of medication (Tynan et al. 2020). Research details that, lower socioeconomic status, as seen in Australian natives, is a barrier to effective healthcare delivery.

This and coupled with land ownership conflicts and racial discrimination are enforcers of poor oral health.

However, social determinants of health also influence the delivery of appropriate oral healthcare. This is achieved as a result of oversight institutions focusing on marginalized sectors of the community. Unfortunately, salient factors interfere with this agenda. Looking at education, higher levels have been situated with access to valid health information and sensitization thus reducing spread while improving the body’s health. Additional social parameters such as individual and community perception of the disease and healthcare measures involved is equally relevant to the choice of procedures that healthcare providers will improvise (Tynan et al. 2020).

Jamiessen et al. (2020) expands on the research findings and state an interesting theme. They suggest that institutionalized and systematic racism promotes healthcare inequities in indigenous communities. They subsequently imply that health services are owned and controlled by oversight institutions, and an unequal supply means that racism and discrimination are the reasons for the disparities of services.

Despite measures issued by healthcare associates to reduce oral diseases, patients and their primary caregivers pose a threat in events such as denying diagnosis. As argued by Onyeka (2010), this transmits a number of challenges such as delay of diagnosis, refusing therapy, avoiding terminologies relating to the disease, treatment non-compliance, and defaulting treatments. These setbacks push the disease to a higher, unmanageable stage which would have been prevented. Cancer patients also demonstrate these traits. Macleod & Smith (2021) however dispute psychosocial stressors as agents of physical diseases. The authors argue that there is not enough evidence to link physical diseases to psychosocial trauma. In light of the psychosocial problem at hand, Hudson, Remedios & Thomas (2010) offer solutions to alleviate instances that are common to erupt after diagnosis. The researchers propose psycho-educational support intervention for primary caregivers of the patient. This coupled with problem-solving techniques and cognitive restructuring will prepare the patient and his/her care providers to accept the diagnosis and cope with the disease. It will open up treatment procedures.

It is undeniable that challenges often arise when delivering care across all healthcare sectors and professions. In this case, the delivery of dental care has encountered numerous challenges that have affected the transition to the core. Research identifies false perception of diseases as one of the major issues. Amin & El Salhy (2014) discovered that pregnant women believe that losing teeth is normal. They unconsciously believe that the pregnancy drains calcium from their teeth to nurture the embryo when it is not the case at all. This perception discourages pregnant women from seeking dental care thus resulting in poor oral health.

On another account, oral health is not routinely addressed as it is supposed to, during prenatal care. Research link this finding to two possible explanations, either oral health providers are not included during pregnancy since the team is more concerned of the pregnancy than oral health or there is little or no inter-professional education on oral hygiene and impacts of poor oral hygiene (Morelli et al. 2021).

Poor and high costs of dental care and geographical disparity are also influencers of poor dental care delivery (Al-Hussyeen, 2010). Dentists and on-premise healthcare workers need to consider improving the quality of their services to measure up with changing environments. One would shy away from seeking dental care as a result of its high cost. Since indigenous Australian communities are economically unstable, food is more important than dental care.

Delayed dental care and lack of access to routine dental care consequently disrupt the delivery of care (Patient Safety Network, 2020). Some care facilities experience a high number of patients than the facility can handle. This leads to delay in services and access to routine dental care. Mittal et al. (2019) are concerned with the utilization of oral healthcare funds for older adults. They are less educated, therefore highly unlikely to partake in the funds. Higher learned and economically stable younger people are the only beneficiaries in spite of the fact that they are not at great risk as opposed to their older counterparts. Equal distribution of oral healthcare funds requires organizations to prioritize focus groups.