AOS 2: Promoting Health and Wellbeing Flashcards
‘Old’ Public Health
Government actions that focused on changing the physical environment to prevent the spread of disease, such as providing safe water, sanitation and sewage disposal, improved nutrition, improved housing conditions and better work conditions.
Policies and Practises of the ‘Old’ Public Health
Improved water and Sanitation (sewage system): This provided people with clean water to drink and removed garbage and waste from the streets.
Quarantine Laws: Prevented the arrival and transmission of infectious diseases from other countries e.g. COVID hotel quarantines
Better Quality Housing (Slum): Regulations were introduced such as all houses had to be built with drains and where possible connected to a sewage system. Also have ventilation and building codes.
Better Quality Food and Nutrition: Disease in 1900 most likely originated in the home due to poor hygiene and storage of food. Penalties were introduced to protest the safety of food in public,
Safer Working Conditions: Legislations were introduced to prohibit the employment of children aged less than 13 years old this led to a reduction to child related deaths. In addition the introduction of a minimum wage to guarantee a reasonable standard of living.
Provision of Internal and Infant Welfare Services: This led to better quilt milk (in terms of breastfeeding) and being able to identify issues in newborns/infants.
Mass Vaccination/Immunization Programs (discovering of vaccines): Help to treat a range of infectious diseases. Also helps with the reduction in morbidity and mortality from diseases such as smallpox, polio, tuberculosis, tetanus, polio, measles and hepatitis B.
Public Health Campaigns: Designed to bring change in individuals behaviour by making people aware of the causes of ill health (Prevention)
Biomedical Model
The biomedical approach focuses on the physical or biological aspects of disease and illnesses. Individuals are the focus of this model. It involves the diagnosing, treating and curing illnesses and conditions once symptoms are present. The aim is to return the person to pre illness state. Examples include surgery to replace a hip or chemotherapy to treat cancer.
‘New’ Public Health
- Increased understanding about the role of lifestyle factors play on our health and the role of society in influencing these factors
- Towards the 1970s there was concern that, while the control of infectious diseases had been achieves, the leading causes of morbidity and mortality had changed
- Lifestyle diseases, especially cardiovascular diseases, had become the leading cause of death and disability
- Given that the cause of these diseases was lifestyle related, there was an understanding information. This saw the introduction of a range of health promotions.
Social Model
The social model is an approach that recognises improvements in health and wellbeing can only be achieved by directing effort towards addressing the physical, sociocultural and political environments of health that have an impact on individuals and population groups. This model focuses on the whole community rather than the individual and prevents diseases.
Principles of the Social Model of Health
- Addresses the Broader Factors of Health: When a program focuses on broader factors such as gender, culture, race, socioeconomic status, to encourage individuals to access health promotion programs.
- Empowers Individuals and Communities: Individuals are more likely to participate in healthy behaviors if they feel they have a sense of power and control over their situation
- Involves Intersectoral Collaboration: Easiest principle to identify
When government, non-government organizations, stakeholders and the private sector work together to encourage all interested groups to partake in the program (When one organization works with one or more others) - Acts to Reduce Social Inequalities: When sociocultural factors (gender, culture, race and socioeconomic status) are addressed
- Acts to Enable Access to Healthcare: When programs cater for sociocultural and environmental factors that impact access to healthcare (Language barriers, economic, geographical factors and educational levels)
What is a health promotion?
As defined by WHO - as the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health. Health promotion therefore focuses on prevention rather than cure and uses the causes of disease as the starting point rather than diseases themselves.
Ottawa Charter: Action Areas
- Building Healthy Public Policy
- Create Supportive Environments
- Strengthen Community Action
- Develop Personal Skills
- Reorient Health Services
AA1: Building Healthy Public Policy
Definition: Relates directly to the decisions made by governments and organizations regarding laws and policies that make it more difficult for people to undertake unhealthy behaviors and make healthier choices the easier choice.
Examples:
1. Use of shades over playgrounds in primary schools : Cancer council provided research to justify why this was important.
2. Removing the GST (taxes) on fresh produce : Decreasing their cost, increasing the amount consumed by lower income citizens.
3. Increased tax on alcohol and smoking tobacco : Decreases the purchases as the price increases.
AA2: Create Supportive Environments
Definition: Recognises the impact that broader facts have on health status. It is one that promotes a safe, stimulating, satisfying and enjoyable environment.
Examples:
1. Providing sashes are in primary school playgrounds.
2. Having a smoke free area (restaurants, bars)
3. Personal stories
4. Men Shed: Men feel more comfortable as they are surrounded by other males, free from feminine judgment
5. Creates supportive environments : Gender approtate jobs (female gynecologists)
AA3: Strengthen Community Actions
Definition: Focuses on building links between individuals and the community and centers around the community working together to achieve a common goal if the community has a sense of ownership it will increase the effectiveness of it.
Example:
1. Indigenous community programs
AA4: Develop Personal Skills
Definition: Education refers to gaining health related knowledge and skills that allow people to make informed decision that may indirectly affect their health and wellbeing
(Anything connected to education)
Examples:
1. Cooking classes : Educating unhealthy individuals on how to cook nutritious meals and increase their health and wellbeing
2. Anything to do with fact sheets : Quit Victoria provides facts and statistics to support their customers’ education.
AA5: Reorient Health Services
Definition: Refers to changing the health system so that it promotes health and wellbeing rather than just focusing on diagnosing and treating the illness. This requires doctors taking on the role of an educator.
Examples:
1. Doctors focusing on a discussion around healthy eating rather than medication and surgery
2. Providing funding for a community walking group to encourage exercise rather than telling/forcing them to go to the gym.
Medicare
Australia’s universal health insurance scheme provides Australians, permanent residents and people from countries with reciprocal agreements access to health care that is subsidized by the government.
Services covered by Medicare
- Doctors and specialist consultations
- Most surgical and other therapeutic procedures performed by general practitioners
- X-rays
- Eye tests performed by optometrist
- Pathology such as blood and urine tests
- Fee-free treatment and accommodation in public hospitals
- Dental services for some children under the Child Dental Benefits Scheme
- 75% of the scheduled fee for treatment in a private hospital.
Medicare Safety Net
Provides extra financial assistance for those that incur significant out of pocket costs for Medicare services. Once an individual or family has contributed a certain amount out of their own pocket to Medicare services in a calendar year ($470 in 2019), further financial support is provided by the government, making Medicare services cheaper for the remainder of that year.
Schedule Fee
Schedule fee equals the set amount determined by the federal government, which they will cover for a GP visit. Approximately 30-39 dollars e.g. If I went to a GP that was not bulk billed I would need to pay the patient co-payment (the gap) between the total cost and the medicare schedule fee. Appointment is $100, the schedule fee is $40, the patient is paying the gap $60.
Not covered by Medicare
- Cosmetic or necessary procedures
- Most costs associated with private hospital care (medicare will pay 75% of the schedule fee for treatment in private hospitals but will not contribute to accommodation and other costs)
- Most dental examinations and treatments (unless qualified for medicare-funded dental care)
- Home nursing care and treatment
- Ambulance services
