Nurses' Role In Essay On Iron Deficiency Anemia Among Australian Women Aged 50+: Government Plan.

Critical review the determinants of health

The paper is centred on the condition of Australian women concerning the condition of the nation in terms of Anaemia among its women population (safetyandquality.gov.au, 2022). Hence, the vulnerable group chosen for the paper are the women population of Australia above 50 years of age to be specific. In general, anaemia among Australia women is a very common health issue where over 11% of the conceiving and postnatal mothers are reported to show symptoms of the disease (Majoni et al., 2021). During the age group 40-55 years, women generally go through a transition in terms of life experiences corresponding to perimenopause stage that consequently led to “iron deficiency anaemia (IDA)” among them (Shand et al., 2020). The paper aims provide with an overview of the scenario of iron deficiency anaemia among Australian women and discussion on the role of nurses in this issues with explanation of an already existing plan laid by the government and way ahead in the near future.

Low iron levels among women in the age group above 40 years are very common and to be specific, women ageing 50 years and above. However, for the case of Australia, low iron levels of women in the age group is a matter for grave concern for the government and physicians (Shand et al., 2020). Lower iron levels have contributed to case of “iron deficiency anaemia (IDA)” which estimates to numbers as high as 1.1 million women of the nation (aihw.gov.au, 2022). If the issue of greater public health concern is remained unaddressed for some coming years in the future, this could lead to a state of epidemic in Australia due to IDA and government along with its think tanks will not be left with too many options to deal with the issue. Iron plays a vitally major role in human body which caters to the major role of acting as agents of blood-oxygen transporters in all the cells of the body (betterhealth.vic.gov.au, 2022). Hence, lower levels of iron is indicative of breathing problems, impaired levels of oxygen in the body, lesser concentration, reduced cognitive skills, and even mental health concerns at large. For the Australia women in the age group of 50 years and above, lowered immunity and iron deficiency are the key areas to be addressed by the policymakers (Majoni et al., 2021).

As a major social determinants of health (SDH), socioeconomic position of Australian women play a key role in governing prevalence of IDA. There are diverse and pluralistic population groups in the nation with different kind of socioeconomic indicators (Majoni et al., 2021). It is found that over 70% of the Australian women are iron-deficient due to socioeconomic conditions, especially when women population of the Aboriginal groups are concerned in Kimberly, and the Northern Australia at large (betterhealth.vic.gov.au, 2022). In the Northern Territory, 11% of the households live in poverty-ridden conditions with lesser access to healthcare, means of employment, and other necessary amenities for living a decent life. Housing and homelessness is the next SDH that contributes to IDA among the population group as over 1116,00 women in Australia are homeless and are living lives of extreme hardships as per the census of 2016. Work and employment is another SDH which governs IDA among women that are 50 years of old and above. It was found that unemployment rates in the country is near 5% among which 1.4 million families in Australia are jobless since 2017 accounting to over 300,000 women to live lives without proper nutritious diet and other health supplements (aihw.gov.au, 2020).

Role of nurses

Nursing professionals of Australia have a major role to serve in removing alarming rates of IDA and iron deficiency among women population of the nation. As nurses, they have to work hand in hand with the health consumers though rates of health literacy varies accordingly (Galvin et al., 2018). Empowerment of the consumers such as promoting community advice for continuously catering to the direction of proliferating health promotion and health awareness in various community settings such as in the Northern Territory and the Aboriginal Women community to be specific (Khodaveisi et al., 2017). Education and awareness level among the women and families of the community are not considerably good. Hence, some diseases can alone be prevented in the community when health promotion can be carried out efficiently. In this cases, nursing professionals shall commit themselves in addressing the issue to the community by active lecture, seminars, community awareness programs, and educating families of the community (Talbot & Verrinder, 2017). Primary health care in Australia play a major role in governing the output and condition of public health of the nation. It refers to the stage where people are encountered to the healthcare system, specifically at the entry level (aihw.gov.au, 2022). A broad range of activities and services should be delivered to the target community or age group of IDA-affected women. Further, in terms of health promotion, nurses can also cater to proliferate and promote health prevention much before stepping into the stage of IDA (rightsinaction.org, 2022). As per the Ottawa Charter’s health promotion concept, initial diagnosis plays a major role in this direction as pathological implications are key to a successful health and disease prevention. Moreover, as per the charter, treatment and management of chronic conditions come much later but when a disease is diagnosed as early as in the beginning stage, there are ample ways by the district heath administration to address the concerns right form the grassroots level (who.int, 2022). Nursing professional attached with primary health care in the affected areas concerning the target population group with iron deficiency shall be prioritized. In these care settings, interventions such as preliminary diagnosis and detection of pathological parameters such as iron deficiency in blood of the women of the age group of 50 years and above should be traced in the first stages of the disease. In addition to that, community nurses shall also engage family members of the women population so that they can be aided in their homes and better hygiene, nutritional intake, and proper health awareness could be ascertained. This is how, nursing professionals can serve the purpose remarkably and IDA could be brought down under manageable limits.

One major existing program for countering the issue of iron deficiency and IDA among the Northern Territory women is the “Early Childhood Nutrition and Anaemia Prevention Project” can be exemplified in this case (kams.org.au, 2022). The aim of the initiative rolled out by the government is to provide collaborative care and extending access and affordability of healthcare directives to women in particular. Goal of the program was to ensure more acceptability and feasibility among women of the state in terms of nutritional support. Nutritional support is the key to eliminate disparities in the system (Queensberry, 2017). Hence, the major aspiration of the program was based on nurturing and feeding women that has recently conceived or even after 2 years of childbirth. Home-based micronutrient implementation and fortification such as the use of sprinkles are mandated in the initiative.  Initially, the plan was rolled out in six most remote places of Northern Australia, Kimberly and Northern Queensland. In the Kutjungka region of Australia, the plan is also very popular in the name of “Tjiitji Marrka Manguwa” which means that the coming kids will be strong (kams.org.au, 2022). When the project is evaluated, major signs of success of the plan are found such as the successful mitigation of IDA and dropping down the prevalence of iron deficiency among women 50 years and above. Over 84% of the women population form the three aforesaid provinces participated in the plan and after enrolment, marked levels of improvement were recorded among the offspring or newborns from the mothers affiliated to the plan (health.wa.gov.au, 2022).  Moreover, readiness and consensus were generated among Aboriginal families concerning prevention of IDA and accommodating appropriate diets in this direction. Remote places of the Northern Australian places were comprehensively covered under the plan and proper insights were found concerning the dietary patterns of the conceiving women and women thereafter. Better community health awareness and preventive attitude in response to IDA rose significantly. Aboriginal community based workers (ABCWs) and primary health care nurses laid major roles in this project. Policymakers are also thinking to extend the plan for women of 50 years and above concerning the increasing rates of IDA among the target group (kams.org.au, 2022).

One existing health promotional program targeting a particular health issue

Conclusion

The paper provided with an overview of the scenario of iron deficiency anaemia among Australian women and discussion on the role of nurses in this issues with explanation of an already existing plan laid by the government and way ahead in the near future. Lower iron levels have contributed to case of “iron deficiency anaemia (IDA)” which estimates to numbers as high as 1.1 million women of the nation. It was found that nursing professionals have a tremendous role to play in this direction which is based on the Ottawa Charter’s health promotion concept that initial diagnosis plays a major role in this direction as pathological implications are key to a successful health and disease prevention. Moreover, as per the charter, dealing with varying health literacy, change and health promotion in primary health care, and empowerment such as community advocacy along with interventions by governments both federal and the states, and policymakers could synergistically serve the purpose of addressing iron deficiency among the target group and reduce rates of IDA.

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