Community Health Assessment in Australia - Case Study Example

Community Health Assessment Name Instructor Course Community Health Assessment Introduction Australia is a nation that is very multicultural; it is among the most multicultural countries in the globe which are primarily attributed to the successful migration waves (Hugo, 2008). Australia has tried its best to integrate different nationalities into their communities with the aim of avoiding ethnic tensions that have increased in various other nations in the world (Hugo, 2008). The Chinese immigrants to Australia consist of a significant number, with this trend increasing over the years. However, the Chinese migrants to Australia have faced some challenges regarding the provision of health care services (Castles, Hugo & Vasta, 2013). The most prevalent health issue that is affecting the Chinese immigrants in Australia is mental health concerns which affect a significant number of the Chinese population residing in Australia (Castles, Hugo & Vasta, 2013). The paper will, therefore, take to evaluate the demographics of the Chinese migrants to Australia, their mental health issues, as well as the social determinants that lead to the mental health concerns. Demographics of Chinese Migrants to Australia The mainland China is still the biggest nation from which a significant number of migrants go to Australia, overtaking the United Kingdom. China has become the biggest source of Australia’s migrants since the year 2011 (Ip, Lui, & Chui, 2007). China is considered to be the largest two-way trading associate of Australia primarily because of the nation’s proximity to China. As compared to the total intake of Australia’s migrants which is 168,685, the migrants from China alone consist of 30,000 of them annually (Ip, Lui, & Chui, 2007). Additionally, out of the about 23 million Australian citizens, approximately 1 million possess some form of the Chinese ancestry which represents about 4% of the entire Australian population. The migrants from China to Australia mainly live in Melbourne and Sydney cities (Ip, Lui, & Chui, 2007). The Chinese migrants to Australia have historically consisted of those from the Hakka and Cantonese descent, particularly from the Guangdong and Hong Kong province (Anikeeva et al., 2010). Since there are recent migrations from other areas of Taiwan and mainland China, the Mandarin has exceeded the Cantonese in the number of speakers. From the 2011 census, there were about 336, 410 Mandarin speakers which were followed by about 263, 673 Cantonese speakers, according to the Australia Bureau of Statistics (Anikeeva et al., 2010). Therefore, this makes Mandarin and Cantonese be the two most commonly spoken languages in Australia. The total number of individuals speaking the Chinese language or the different variety of Chinese in Australia was about 6651, 328 (Davidson et al., 2009). The second generation of the Chinese Australians or higher generations of the same are usually either bilingual to different degrees with the Chinese language or are monolingual in English (Davidson et al., 2009). As by the census that undertaken in 2011, Sydney was regarded as the main home to about half of the Chinese Australians who are there by birth (Fitzgerald, 2007). On the other hand, Melbourne has just roughly one-quarter of the Chinese-born Australians. The rest of the cities in Australia just consisted of approximately one-quarter of the Chinese-born Australians. Out of the states in Australia, the New South Wales was the only state that had Chinese among its top five nominated ancestries (Davidson et al., 2009). Since Sydney is among the Australian cities with the highest number of migrants from China, with about half of them residing in that State, the Chinese migrants who are living in Sydney will be the main population of discussion in the paper. Health Issues As documented, the migrants from China make up the most of the population in Australia with about half of them residing in the Sydney State. The dominant health issue that the China migrants to Australia face is usually related to the psychological and social stress which is often intensified by their tendency to try and repress feelings or financial security (Blignault et al., 2008). The Chinese migrants, over time, tend to somaticize their psychological and social problems. The vocabulary that they often need to express their psychosocial issues is often limited. The Chinese population is usually reluctant when it comes to embracing their psychosocial intervention or exploration (Blignault et al., 2008). In most cases, the traditional treatments are used to treat these mental illnesses either together with or instead of the western drugs (Chou, 2007). However, the traditional treatment of mental illness is not typical among the Chinese who are educated as they prefer using the western drugs. The migration trajectory of the China people to Australia may be divided into three distinct entities which include the pre-migration, the migration, and the post-migration resettlement (Lam, Jorm, & Wong, 2010). Every individual phase of the migration trajectory is associated with particular exposures and risks. The prevalence of the specific types of mental health issues among the Chinese migrants is primarily affected by the way the migration experience was regarding the adversities that were experienced before, during, and/or after their resettlement (Lam, Jorm, & Wong, 2010). The hardship and stress that the Chinese migrants face when trying to fit in the new environment and community are the enhanced risks of psychosis, particularly for the communities who live in Australia (Chiang & Yang, 2008). The risks of psychosis for these migrants even increases if the conditions that led to immigration was related to trauma or adversities of any form. As for those migrants that entered Australia with the aim of searching for greener pastures, then the risks and rates of obtaining the psychotic disorder are lower (Chiang & Yang, 2008). This is because trauma and adversities lead to them having a distorted perception of life and a rather deranged personality as compared to those who just migrate to better their socio-economic lives (Chiang & Yang, 2008). Another mental issue that is related to the Chinese migrants in Australia is the schizophrenia risks. Since the immigrants are often subjected to social challenges, they are at very high risks of acquiring the schizophrenia mental health illness because as they are exposed to these problems, then they tend to release more in the brain (Poon, Evangelista, & Albaum, 2010). The Chinese migrants and their children tend to have higher levels of dopamine synthesis as compared to the Australian citizens who are not immigrants. When the Chinese immigrants are subjected to high-stress levels, then they tend to release high dopamine levels (Poon, Evangelista, & Albaum, 2010). The changes that continue to take place in the brain might give an explanation of why there are higher risks of developing psychosis which has also been observed in the Chinese immigrants. Several studies carried out on the Chinese Australians living in Sydney has depicted that in the epidemiology of schizophrenia, the primary causes include the feelings of social defeat, discrimination, victimization, and trying to adapt to an urban environment (Blignault et al., 2008). The schizophrenia mental illness among the Chinese immigrants has the possibility of leading to some social and lifelong adversities which finally results in the decline of their life expectancy which is between 10-25 years (Blignault et al., 2008). The Chinese migrants in Australia are at higher risks of acquiring the schizophrenia mental problems as compared to the Australian locals. Social Determinants of Mental Illness Social Support One of the social determinants of the mental health issues among the Chinese Australians is the lack of the necessary social support (Chen, Kazanjian, & Wong, 2008). The social network impacts the mental health of Chinese migrants in Australia through the provision of different types of informational, appraisal, instrumental, and emotional support. Social support is the cognitive appraisal of the migrants being connected to other people in their host country and letting them know that they can get the necessary support if they need to (Chen, Kazanjian, & Wong, 2008). Precisely, the Chinese migrants rely on three distinct types of social support which include the outsiders, peers, and family. The social support which is the support that they need from the social network that is outside of their ethnic community and family is what mainly results in mental health issues (Chen, Kazanjian, & Wong, 2008). The social support that the migrants receive or fail to receive impacts their mental health through various psychological pathways. Precisely, for the Chinese migrants, self-efficacy has been associated with social support and various health outcomes, for example, depression (Mo & Mak, 2009). Evidence of the same population has depicted that the proper social support affects the coping styles of this group of people which may either result in their good mental well-being or adverse mental well-being (Mo & Mak, 2009). Additionally, social support typically operates through the influence of self-esteem, mood, and emotion which are important entities of the mental well-being of the immigrants. Social Integration The social integration impacts the status of the mental health of the Chinese immigrants in Australia. This is because social integration forms the basis for attachment and intimacy for these people as they are subjected to a new environment and work towards adapting to it (Chen, Kazanjian, & Wong, 2008). Therefore, when there is a strong social integration, the migrants will tend to feel the powerful attachments and bonds which are helpful for their mental health. On the other hand, if the social inclusion is weak, then the migrants are likely to face some social challenges which may lead to them having high risks and exposure to schizophrenia (Wong, 2008). Additionally, a significant amount of evidence which suggests that if the migrants have various social roles, then their self-worth and self-esteem is enhanced. This, in turn, increases their prevention of depression as well as gives them mechanisms to adapt to some of the stressful events that they face in life (Wong, 2008). Some factors like the feelings of discrimination have in one way, or the other hindered the ability of the Chinese immigrants to included and integrated into the new community which made them feel socially excluded (Chen, Kazanjian, & Wong, 2008). Also, the lack of adequate social networks which typically manifested itself as the lack of social inclusion, social influence, and social support has been a notable determinant of the mental health of the Chinese migrants in Australia (Chen, Kazanjian, & Wong, 2008). Some of these emotional conflicts are what have led to the increased levels of emotional instabilities which are what leads to the increased levels of mental disorders like schizophrenia. Social Position Another social determinant that could lead to the mental health issues of the Chinese immigrants is their social position among the Australian-born citizens (Beiser et al., 2010). Discrimination and other disadvantaged social positions result in treating these migrants in a different way either because of their socioeconomic status, ethnicity, background, among other factors (Beiser et al., 2010). The social positions are significant determinants of the mental health of the Chinese migrants and a great source of stress. This is associated with various psychological symptoms and the subsequent use of the Australian health services to make these mental conditions better (Beiser et al., 2010). Some of the specific factors of social position which have led to the mental health issues for the Chinese migrants include the weathering effect, disempowerment, perceived control, and low self-esteem among other factors (Beiser et al., 2010). This has then led to cumulative stress because of the socio-economic marginalization and various forms of discrimination. Thus, either the enhancement or the ignorance of the social positions that the Chinese migrants hold in Australia will determine whether they experience social challenges or not, which may or may not result in schizophrenia (Beiser et al., 2010). Conclusion Australia is a nation that is home to different people from different countries. The migration rates have continuously been increasing over the years. Among the migrants, are the Chinese people. The Chinese migrants make up a significant number of the migrants in Australia as from the year 2011 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Most of them reside in the Sydney state. One of the health issues that the Chinese migrants face is mental illness. One of the most prevalent mental health issues is the psychotic disorder specifically schizophrenia. This is primarily caused by the social challenges that the Chinese migrants may be exposed to as they try to adapt to the new country. Some of the social determinants of the mental health issues of the Chinese migrants in Australia include social support, social integration, and the social position. References Anikeeva, O., Bi, P., Hiller, J. E., Ryan, P., Roder, D., & Han, G. S. (2010). Review Paper: The health status of migrants in Australia: A review. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 22(2): 159-193. Beiser, M., Hamilton, H., Rummens, J. A., Oxman-Martinez, J., Ogilvie, L., Humphrey, C., & Armstrong, R. (2010). 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