Case Study: The case of Aaliyah – Youth, Rural Disadvantage, and Health Inequity Aaliyah is a 19-year-old woman living in a small rural town in New South Wales. | EssayLink.net

 PUBH6000 T3 2025 Case Study

 Please refer to the following scenario to complete Assessments 1 and 2. This scenario is essential for both case study assessments. 

 Case Study: The case of Aaliyah – Youth, Rural Disadvantage, and Health Inequity

Aaliyah is a 19-year-old woman living in a small rural town in New South Wales. She resides in public housing with her grandmother and two younger siblings. Her grandmother, who is in her late seventies and lives with diabetes and heart disease, has been the primary caregiver for the household since Aaliyah was a child. As her grandmother’s health declines, Aaliyah has increasingly taken on managing the household, supporting her siblings with school, and juggling caring responsibilities alongside her own needs.

Aaliyah’s early life was shaped by instability. Her mother passed away when she was 13 due to complications of long-term alcohol use and limited access to timely healthcare. Her father was incarcerated during much of her childhood and has had little contact with her since. Several of her extended family members also face disadvantage, including unemployment and housing insecurity, which has left Aaliyah with few stable adult role models outside of her grandmother.

School was a challenging experience for Aaliyah. She frequently felt excluded due to her family’s socioeconomic circumstances and was bullied about her clothing and reliance on school breakfast programs. Low expectations from teachers and repeated academic struggles left her disengaged, and she left school at 16. Since then, she has worked in casual retail and hospitality jobs when available, but her caring role for her siblings and lack of transport make it difficult to maintain employment. Currently, she is unemployed and receives Youth Allowance, which does not stretch far enough to cover her household contributions and personal needs.

Aaliyah has lived with asthma since childhood but does not use preventive medications consistently because of cost barriers. She has had several visits to the emergency department during flare-ups, often relying on acute care rather than planned management. She also experiences symptoms of depression and anxiety, which worsened after her mother’s death and the responsibility of caring for her siblings.

However, the distance to the nearest GP, long wait times, and her lack of reliable transport make attending appointments difficult.

The rural setting compounds her challenges. There is limited public transport in her town, and she does not have a driver’s licence or access to a car. The nearest regional centre with specialist health services and TAFE courses is over 70 kilometres away. Internet access at home is unreliable, creating difficulties for job applications, online training, and telehealth.

Despite these challenges, Aaliyah shows resilience. She has a close bond with her siblings and expresses strong aspirations for the future. She hopes to study childcare at TAFE and become a role model for her siblings, providing them with the stability she often lacked. However, she feels overwhelmed by financial pressures, poor access to services, and the weight of her caring responsibilities at a young age. Aaliyah dreams of building a more secure life, but her opportunities remain limited without structural support.