USE OF SERVICES

The survey asked carers if their children had any contact with selected health professionals in the six months prior to the survey.

Contacts with a doctor, nurse or Aboriginal Health Worker (AHW)

The data indicate that:

  • just under half (49%) of all children had at least one contact with a doctor, a rate significantly below that reported for all children aged 4 to 16 years in the 1993 WA Child Health Survey (59%);
  • 25% of children had at least one contact with a nurse, the highest proportion (42%) being children aged 0 to 3 years; and
  • 15% of children had at least one contact with an AHW.

The number of children having at least one contact with a doctor, nurse or AHW decreased as the age of the child increased. For example, 69% of 0 to 3 year-olds had seen a doctor compared with 39% of 12 to 17 year-olds, while 22% of 0 to 3 year-olds had seen an AHW compared with 9% for 12 to 17 year-olds.

As isolation increased and the availability and access to doctors decreased, the number of contacts a child had with a doctor decreased whereas contacts with nurses and AHWs increased substantially.

CHILDREN HAVING ONE OR MORE CONTACTS WITH A DOCTOR, NURSE OR AHW IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS, BY LEVEL OF RELATIVE ISOLATION

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Contact with a doctor

The survey found that Aboriginal children were more likely to have seen a doctor if:

  • their carers had higher levels of education or if
  • they were children of non-Aboriginal carers (85% of whom were the natural mothers).

Contact with a nurse

The survey also found that children were more likely to be seen by nurses where:

  • their primary carer was Aboriginal
  • where there was no reported access to the use of a vehicle, and
  • where they were living in areas of increased socio-economic disadvantage.

Contacts with AHWs followed this pattern and were also associated with higher levels of family financial strain.

Contacts with a dentist, specialist or speech pathologist

The proportion of children who had contact with a dentist, specialist or speech pathologist in the six months prior to the survey was 21%, 12% and 3% respectively.

Contact with a dentist

  • Children were more likely to have seen a dentist if:
  • Carers had higher levels of education or were non-Aboriginal
  • Carer reported access to the use of a vehicle
  • Children lived in areas of high (but not extreme) relative isolation (32%).

CHILDREN HAVING ONE OR MORE CONTACTS WITH A DENTIST, SPECIALIST OR SPEECH PATHOLOGIST IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS BY LEVEL OF RELATIVE ISOLATION

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Last updated 5 September 2007