Achieving a Socialised Model of Health Care in Australia with Nurse Leadership
The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) is calling for a fundamental rethink of Australia's approach to health care in the next term of government, with the current system persistently failing to address key factors that affect health and wellbeing, like poor nutrition, housing and poverty.
An ACN White Paper, Achieving a Socialised Model of Health Care in Australia with Nurse Leadership proposes a fundamental shift away from the current model, which focuses on diagnosing and treating diseases rather than addressing social determinants of health.
A more holistic approach to health is critical amid growing inequities in health and soaring rates of chronic disease and lifestyle-related conditions, many of which are preventable.
Implementing a 'socialised healthcare model', where more attention is given to preventive health and circumstances that lead to illness would better address the health needs of the most vulnerable in the community. In such a system, a patient struggling with homelessness would be more likely to be referred to a housing provider, or to support services for substance use or mental health.
Nurses are already delivering socialised care in Australia via nurse-led primary care clinics, school-based youth health nursing initiatives, and mobile nurse-led street health services, but they are excluded from access to Medicare.
"It is a travesty that nurses have to battle very traditional funding models in their effort to deliver care to Australia's most vulnerable, people often not catered to by traditional healthcare facilities," said ACN CEO, Adjunct Professor Kathryn Zeitz FACN.
"The existing biomedical healthcare model in Australia puts medicine at the centre of care, rather than people. Causes of disease are not being addressed promptly, leading to poor health that requires increasing amounts of care, attention, and treatment.
"As the largest, most geographically spread, and appropriately educated and qualified health workforce, nurses are ideally placed to provide much-needed health services to vulnerable and disadvantaged people who have difficulty accessing the services they need when they need them most," said Adjunct Professor Zeitz.
"ACN wants to see a seismic shift to embrace a socialised model of health care, which identifies the role that the social determinants of health play in poor health outcomes and impeding equity-based health care.
Recommendations
The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) urges federal, state, and territory governments to:
- Review the health care funding model to include socialised models of health care and funding for nurse-led models of care.
- Develop national guidelines for health education providers to embed socialised models of health care into all aspects of the Nursing and Midwifery curriculum.
- Promote a workplace environments that encourages understanding and awareness of social determinants of health.
