Explain the impact of an ageing population on the health service workforce in Australia. (5 marks)
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- Increased demand for aged care services creates workforce shortages. This occurs because more Australians require assistance with daily living activities and chronic condition management.
- Health professionals experience elevated workloads due to complex care requirements. As a result, staff manage multiple patients with conditions like dementia requiring specialised expertise and extended treatment periods.
- Workforce pressure leads to burnout and high staff turnover rates. This happens when healthcare workers face sustained stress from increased patient numbers and inadequate staffing levels.
- The reason for this is that chronic disease prevalence rises with age. Consequently, healthcare systems require additional specialists in geriatrics, palliative care and rehabilitation services.
- Recruitment and training needs intensify significantly. This creates challenges in maintaining service quality whilst expanding workforce capacity through education programs and upskilling initiatives.
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- Increased demand for aged care services creates workforce shortages. This occurs because more Australians require assistance with daily living activities and chronic condition management.
- Health professionals experience elevated workloads due to complex care requirements. As a result, staff manage multiple patients with conditions like dementia requiring specialised expertise and extended treatment periods.
- Workforce pressure leads to burnout and high staff turnover rates. This happens when healthcare workers face sustained stress from increased patient numbers and inadequate staffing levels.
- The reason for this is that chronic disease prevalence rises with age. Consequently, healthcare systems require additional specialists in geriatrics, palliative care and rehabilitation services.
- Recruitment and training needs intensify significantly. This creates challenges in maintaining service quality whilst expanding workforce capacity through education programs and upskilling initiatives.