Reading log entry criteria
- The correct citation of the reference;
- The main thesis of the reference;
- Any predictions or applicability to future states or about what might happen next;
- How you felt about what you have read in terms of accuracy, applicability, reliability,
validity and generalizability; - Issues in the reading that you agree with;
- Issues in the reading that you disagree with
- Why the material read is useful (or not).
The Task
pick two articles from the course reference resources/bibliography plus one that is not on
the list (has been discovered by literature searches etc.) So for each module you will select 3
articles, 2 that are in the course and one non-course.
Enough references to be supplied
Using the above seven (7) criteria listed as sub headings in the rationale section, write at
least 200 words and no more than 300 words on each of the reference materials selected
For the article that is non-course (that you found by literature search it should be PEER
REVIEWED) you must supply a copy of the reference by:
o scanning and attaching to your reading log; or
o supplying a hyperlink to the actual article.
o Failure to do so will mean that all marks (see mark allocation below) for that part of the
log will be forfeited.
The non-course supplied reference must be applicable to the course module being studied
prior to the due date of the Reading Journal Entry. - Each set of three (3) readings for each of the modules are worth a total of 100 marks and
when aggregated, this accounts for 40% of the total mark for this subject. See mark
allocation below.
Funding healthcare in Australia
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2013). Closing the Gap Clearinghouse. - READING LOG 2
- Palmer, G & Short, S 2000, ‘Perspectives on health policy’, in Health care & public policy :
- an Australian analysis, 3rd ed, Macmillan Education Australia, South Melbourne, pp. 37-
- 57.
- Marks
- Mark allocation for Assessment Item “ Reading Logs “ For each group of three references
- per module:
- 1 x non-course supplied reading entry 200 words log entry 40 marks
- 2 x Course supplied reading entry 200 words log entry 60 marks
- TOTAL 100 marks
- Marking criteria
- Criteria Marks
- Citation 2
- The main thesis 8
- Predictions and applicability 15
- Opinion on accuracy, reliability and validity 15
- Issues you agree with 20
- Issues you disagree with 20
- Why is this article useful/not useful 20
Reading log
Funding healthcare in Australia
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2013). Closing the Gap Clearinghouse. Retrieved
27 th April 2014, from http://www.aihw.gov.au/closingthegap/
This ‘Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’ article addresses the strategies and
practices applied in Australia for promoting the well being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people where the most concern pertains their social and emotional health. The article
READING LOG 3
discusses the cultural affiliation and engagement in the social and emotional wellbeing of the
Indigenous people in Australia, and thus generalizing by showing that they positively related.
According to the report in the article, programs that have been successfully conducted at a
recognizable evaluation towards the Indigenous people specifically are very few. These is
expressed in few existing Family Wellbeing programs for health and wellbeing check up while
some recently approved programs are Marumali and We Al-li programs both in central Australia.
‘Bringing Them Home Program’ is currently referred as Social and Emotional Wellbeing
Program where counseling ranging from individual, family and even community counseling is
offered. This is usually a satisfying service which is expected to hold on together with other
Indigenous programs which have been evaluated and thus can improve as well as increase self-
esteem more especially among the young people in future. The report makes a consideration of
successful programs in Western Australia, thus giving hope for future advancement in welfare
since most Indigenous young people are engaged in the Mental Health services. In addition, the
culturally adapted motivational care programs which are incorporated in Mental Health services
play important role in closing the gap through offering of this programs, a concept I support
since it gives future applicability of youth advancement.
Even though Indigenous programs have not specifically much succeeded, evaluation of
some mainstream programs like MindMatters, Resourceful Adolescent Program as well as
Positive Parenting program are effecting promotion of social and wellbeing in Australia. The
author’s perspective of viewing the programs as successful cannot be agreed to however, the
article gives more hope in successful programs in future since the current number of youth
participation in the programs is increasing with government support.
READING LOG 4
As noted by Lloyd and Wise (2010) in the article ‘Efficient funding: a path to improving
Aboriginal healthcare in Australia’, factors which contribute to un-considerations of the
Aboriginal health include out-resourcing. These out-resourcing can be compacted by funding for
the move towards full implementation of Aboriginal programs in Australia, a factor I support in
relevance to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2013) article assertion. Insufficiency in
health system capacities are the key to undermining of the Aboriginal health, and thus funding of
the Healthcare would reduce the inadequacy of resources thus giving hope for future improved
healthcare hence giving more accuracy in the assertion.
The extent in which the Aboriginal healthcare is funded is focused in the Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare article as low on which I disagree. The article contradicts the
current statistic and therefore, low funding was evident in the past but currently the healthcare
system is well funded. Funding of Aboriginal healthcare specifically is disrupted by complicated
and inflexible funding arrangements while other funds fail to have effective intervention, an
issue I agree from support by Lloyd and Wise (2010) and thus failing to build the Aboriginal
healthcares as planned. Since the article deduces that money is mostly invested in these
programs, then we may agree that distribution brings the complication as communities lack
control on their own. In bringing improved future services, monitoring the healthcare funds chain
of distribution will improve efficiency and performances through the money spend. This
however requires implementation of Aboriginal healthcare policy for the systems funding to be
successful in the future, a step which the Australian government has already achieved and thus
the authors gave more hope for the future funding of Australian healthcare
Perspectives on health Policy
READING LOG 5
Palmer, G., & Short, S. (2000). ‘Perspectives on health policy’, Health care & public policy: an
Australian analysis. (3 rd ed.). Macmillan Education Australia, South Melbourne, pp. 37-
- Retrieved 27 th April 2014, from
http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/6541328?q&sort=holdings+desc&_=1398705188636&versi
onId=45739476
The article addresses Australian healthcare system using public policy analysis as the
measure on the extent in which health care can be effected. At a point, the authors Palmer and
Short suggest that in the Australian healthcare insurance, healthcare policies should be
responsible to giving guide on how compensations are facilitated, in addition to expressing the
system by which financing of health services can be done. The article also addresses how perfect
healthcare services can be facilitated through monitoring of the healthcare workforce, giving
more hope in future Australian healthcare. In order to facilitate the services at current world
standards, the authors suggests that medical services should be advanced with respect to the
changing technology and suit to the digital world, a concept I support towards improved
standards of healthcare.
At a point where the authors suggest that there is continued margining of the
disadvantaged group, I disagree to that since the current Australian healthcare has gone a further
step in considering the Aboriginal groups who were previously disadvantaged in healthcare.
Therefore, there is current improvement on consideration of disadvantaged group, rather than
continued margining as the authors suggested. In support to the authors suggestion of future
Australian healthcare, technology change should be compacted by reforming the manner in
which the existing healthcare policies are made, delivered and also reform on the way they are
financed. This article assertion gives more hope on the future improved healthcare policies
READING LOG 6
(through advancing how the policies are made, delivered and reformed) leading to improved
healthcare services in Australia with respect to the current digital world, a concept whose
accuracy is supported by Gallego et al (2009).
Resources allocation through systematic process is one concept which Palmer and Short
(2000) analyzes in their study and thus the biggest challenges facing healthcare systems is
providing patients with access to new treatments while at the same time ensuring the
sustainability of funding. Future for successful healthcare services could be based on effective
resource allocation, a concept the articles states as the backbone to the Australian improved
healthcare. In creating strong bases on how maintaining healthcare policies can lead to
achievement of systematic resources allocation in Australia healthcare, the article supports
(Ward, 2009) in noting that the staff integrity can be monitored in such systematic allocations.
However, medicines prescribed to public hospital are funded from within public hospital
budgets and are thus lacking direct government funding. This concept lacks accuracy from the
past complications in Australian healthcare and thus I support reforms suggested in the article to
change the system of funding into a system which can be monitored for improved healthcare
services (Walshe, 2011). Therefore, I support the study on the attitudes of decision-makers to
access high cost medicines in public hospitals since it reveals concerns about equity of access to
healthcare in Australia. The authors give a future hope in the healthcare policies application as
their study asserts that the decision-makers would want an explicit and systematic process to
allocate resources to high cost medicines as supported by Gallego et al (2009). Moreover, the
future maintenance of effective, equal and appropriate resources allocation in Australia can be
achieved when healthcare policies are strongly adhered for effective monitoring of progress.
READING LOG 7
Perspectives on public healthcare policies and practices
Moore, D., & Dietze, P. (2008). Drugs and public health: Australian perspectives on policy and
practice. South Melbourne, Vic.: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 27 th April 2014,
from http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/33990337?versionId=45436530
In this article, David Moore and Paul Dietze focus on issues of drugs and drug abuse in
relation to the government of Australian policy, as more research included in the article involves
the Public healthcare and drug addiction in the society. The study engages the community in data
collection where they respond to related discussions as they review the changing workplace
cultures in Australia. The article further analyses the treatment approach appropriate in the
challenging like diversion of drugs where the law enforcement must be intervened in the Public
health to ensure effective use and drug abuse control. Effective practices through community
involvement are thus suggested to facilitate the healthcare policies application, with
consideration to the existing improved practices in public healthcare policies (Crinson, 2009), a
concept I support. This gives more predictions towards the future maintenance of public health
care in Australia as community gets involved in the drugs and drug abuse control to uphold the
public health policy.
The general bases of the authors assertion is that involvement of the community in the
current healthcare treatment will lead to a maintenance and adherence to the Australian public
health policies, a concept I support in advancing the Australian future healthcare. The assertion
by the authors that the current treatment approaches can be maintained in future through
transferring of healthcare knowledge to ensure full healthcare policy application has some
accuracy as supported by Ward (2009). From the repeated consideration of the community
READING LOG 8
involvement in the facilitation of public healthcare policies, success can be predicted in the
Australian healthcare in future from their involvement.
In addition, drug abuse control requires unity as all activities occur in the society and thus
the community assists in implementation and more so implementation of the healthcare policies.
However, I disagree to application of the outdated policies and they should either be reviewed or
amended to fit the public healthcare policies into the current treatment standards. The article
therefore gives future hope for improved application of the healthcare policies through patient,
families and the community involvement as supported by Ward (2009). In addition to the
government funding, the law enforcement on drug abuse would perfectly regulate the health
policies in return giving a validity expression of the article.
I would therefore support the article assertion that funding, mixing of skill and full
emphasis on primary healthcare in Australia is more likely to improve the future of healthcare
system standards if the principles are to be followed. Moreover, these future expectations are
already evident in the current Australian progress by involving youth into programs as supported
by Harris and Mortimer (2009). There are improved healthcare systems and guaranteed
healthcare through the implemented healthcare policies and funding in future. Since primary
healthcare is currently improving leading to less demand for hospital services as noted by Ward
(2009), effective practices through community involvement would guarantee improved
healthcare.
Generally, improved early disease and drug abuse prevention in healthcare along with the
reduced differences across subgroups would cater for the future maintenance of outstanding
healthcare in Australia (Longest, 2001). This perspective view by David Moore and Paul Dietze
READING LOG 9
makes the article useful for future prosperity of the Australian Healthcare and maintained
healthcare policies. More so, community involvement makes the control to be on their hand since
drug and drug abuse are used within the community, while other diseases similarly occur in the
community. Therefore, the article can be said to give guide into involving the community in
healthcare facilitation since quality services cannot be maintained without their support and their
enforcement of the health policies (Maynard, 2013).
References
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2013). Closing the Gap Clearinghouse.