Needs Analysis
The population of Australia is aging, and the forecast data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2009) show that the proportion of people aged 65+ will increase from 13% of the total population observed in 2007 to the expected 23 – 24% in 2056. In Ballarat, Victoria, the picture is quite similar with 7.1% of the city’s population being the people of 65+ years as estimated for 2006 and reported by the ABS (2009). Such large numbers of elderly people naturally mean the growing needs of health care in Ballarat (Home Delivery, 2009). Currently, the central health care needs of elderly people in this city include the need for palliative care, dementia care, advising in Alzheimer’s disease issues, cancer and trauma consulting services.
The above listed needs are viewed as central ones for elderly people in the city of Ballarat, Victoria on the basis of two main reasons. First of all, elderly people, according to Home Delivery (2009) are more inclined to suffer from such illnesses as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, dementia, etc. Obviously, their health care needs at the age of 65+ are focused on care and assistance with handling these health issues (Home Delivery, 2009).
The second reason proving the major importance of these health care needs is the fact that the local social organizations concentrate their activities on presenting the services to satisfy these needs of elderly people in Ballarat (Home Delivery , 2009; VGHI, 2009). In accordance with the above stipulated health care needs, the service mapping should be carried out to identify the major health care services accessible to elderly people in Ballarat.
Service Mapping
The city of Ballarat provides the wide range of health services to its elderly citizens. According to Home Delivery (2009), these services range from simple food delivery to specific health care consulting and emergency services. The examples of the former category of services include Meals on Wheels Association and Dial-An-Angel service, while the latter are comprised of Alzheimers Australia, Dementia Care Australia, Palliative Care Australia, The National Relay Service, Virtual Cancer Center, and The Cancer Council Australia (Home Delivery, 2009).
Moreover, the Department of Health of the Victoria State Government provides the Health Independence Programs for the senior citizens of the state and Ballarat as its largest city as well (Home Delivery , 2009; VGHI, 2009). Finally, the elderly Ballarat citizens are provided with the telephone numbers they should dial in cases of hearing or speech impairments (1800 555 660), threats to life (000), need to access the Aged Care Informational Line (1800 500 853), or the Commonwealth Respite and Carelink Center (1800 052 222) (Home Delivery , 2009; VGHI, 2009).
Drawing from the above presented considerations, there are seemingly no groups of elderly people (aged 65+) in Ballarat that do not have access to health services or the services as such in this city (Home Delivery , 2009). All the groups of elderly people, differentiated on the type of their health needs, can have the timely consulting or health care help as soon as they feel the need for it due to the coordinated and properly structured work of the social organizations like The National Relay Service, The Cancer Council Australia, etc., and the Department of Health of Victoria State Government.
References
ABS. (2009). Future Population Growth and Aging. Web.
Home Delivery. (2009). Ballarat In-Home Personal Care. Web.
VGHI. (2009). Improving Care for Older People. Web.