"She'll be right, mate!": Do Australians take their health for granted?

Harris, Paul, Salehi, Asiyeh, Kendall, Elizabeth, Whitty, Jennifer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5886-1933, Wilson, Andrew and Scuffham, Paul (2020) "She'll be right, mate!": Do Australians take their health for granted? Journal of Primary Health Care, 12 (3). pp. 277-288. ISSN 1172-6164

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Abstract

INTRODUCTION Health consciousness highlights the readiness of individuals to undertake health actions and take responsibility for their health and the health of others. AIM To examine the health consciousness of Australians and its association with health status, health-care utilisation and sociodemographic factors. METHODS This quantitative cross-sectional study was a part of a larger project aiming to engage the general public in health-care decision-making. Adults from Queensland and South Australia (n=1529) were recruited to participate by a panel company. The questionnaire included the Health Consciousness Scale (HCS), health status, health-care utilisation, sociodemographic and socioeconomic variables. RESULTS The health consciousness of Australians was relatively low (mean score=21), compared to other international administrations of the HCS, and further investigations revealed that more health-conscious people tended to live in South Australia, be female and single, experience poorer physical and mental health and were more frequent users of health-care services. DISCUSSION The general approach to health in this sample of the Australian public may reflect 'here and now' concerns. It appears that an attitude of 'she'll be right, mate' prevails until a change in an individual's health status or their exposure to the health system demands otherwise. These findings need to be investigated further to see if they are confirmed by others and to clarify the implications for primary health programmes in Australia in redressing the public's apparent apathy.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	health consciousness health status health-care utilization australia,public health, environmental and occupational health,sdg 3 - good health and well-being ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700/2739
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Norwich Institute for Healthy Aging
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	05 Oct 2020 23:59
Last Modified:	20 Apr 2023 18:34
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/77126
DOI:	10.1071/HC20025

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