Case 1 Tina

Tina is 18 years old and lives with her grandmother, older brother and two younger sisters. At present no one has a full-time job with both the grandmother and older brother currently on welfare. The two younger sisters currently enrolled in high school. Tina’s mother lives in Sydney six hours away. Tina is currently six months pregnant and experiences gestational diabetes and high blood pressure. The house she lives in has two bedrooms and a garage. The garage has been converted to accommodate the older brother. Tina lives in an outer regional town with a population of 1000 people. There is no local maternal medical specialist only a local general practitioner. The nearest maternal medical expertise is either at Dubbo base hospital or the local Aboriginal Medical service. The family rely on a local bus service which runs first thing in the morning and later in the afternoon.

Case 2 Kevin

Kevin is 62 and lives in a one-bedroom apartment by himself. He is separated from his wife but has four grown-up children with families of their own. Kevin was a member of the Stolen Generations and has never had contact with either of his biological parents. Kevin is constantly searching for his parents through organisations such as Link Up. Kevin is currently unemployed but has survived for most of his working life on casual labouring work. Kevin’s diet is poor and he has only recently quit smoking. Kevin was recently been diagnosed with bowel cancer and is currently receiving treatment. Kevin’s bowel cancer was diagnosed late and was not picked up as part of the National Bowel Cancer Screening program.