Changes in Australia's health overtime Flashcards
Infectious diseases
Caused by micro-organisms, such as bacteria and viruses, that can be spread from one person to another.
Infectious diseases - Examples
- COVID-19
- STIs
- Tuberculosis
- Cholera
Lifestyle diseases
Caused by poor decisions people make within their life, such as a poor diet.
Lifestyle diseases - Examples
- Type 2 diabetes
- Cardiovascular disease
Parasitic diseases
Illness caused by a parasite or organism living in a person’s body.
Public health
The ways in which governments monitor, regulate and promote health status and prevent disease.
Old public health
Government actions that focused on changing the physical environment to prevent the spread of disease.
Old Public Health - Policies
- Sewerage systems and improved water and sanitation
- Quarantine laws
- Improved working conditions
- Mass immunisation programs
Old public health - Improved water and sanitation
- what is it
- how did it improve Australia’s health status
Clean water and removed garbage and waste from streets.
Reduction in deaths from infectious diseases such as diarrhoea, typhoid and cholera.
Old public health - Quarantine laws
- what is it
- how did it improve Australia’s health status
Strict quarantine laws due to outbreak of bubonic plague.
Reduced spread of infectious diseases, lowering death rates of bubonic plague.
Old public health - Improved working conditions
- what is it
- how did it improve Australia’s health status
Introduction of minimum wage and banned the employment of children aged 13 and below.
Reduced poverty-related illnesses and workplace injuries.
Old public health - mass immunisation programs
- how did it improve Australia’s health status
Reduced morbidity and mortality rates for infectious diseases such as TB, smallpox and polio.
Biomedical approach to health
Focuses on the physical or biological aspects of disease and illness. It is a medical model practiced by doctors and health professionals and is associated with diagnosis, treatment and curing.
Biomedical approach to health - Features
- focuses on individuals who are ill
- relies on technology to diagnose, treat and cure
- relies on services provided by doctors and hospitals
Advantages of the biomedical approach to health
- explanation
Funding improves technology and research
- Introduced x-rays, antibiotics and anaesthetics, increasing knowledge about illnesses.
Extends life expectancy
- Many causes of death in the past can now be treated and cured, increasing life expectancy.
Disadvantages of the biomedical approach to health
- explanation
Affordability
- Not everyone can afford the resources and medical technology required for treatment.
Not every condition can be treated
- Some can be managed, but not treated.
New public health/Social model of health
An approach to health that recognises that 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.
Social model of health - principles
- Acts to enable access to healthcare
- Empowers individuals and communities
- Addresses the broader determinants of health
- Involves intersectoral collaboration
- Acts to reduce social inequities
Social model of health - Acts to enable access to healthcare
- explanation
Healthcare should be readily available to everyone, taking into consideration culture, gender and ethnicity.
Social model of health - Empowers individuals and communities
- explanation
Building individual’s health knowledge and skills, enabling them to make positive changes to their h+w.
Social model of health - Addresses the broader determinants of health
- what are the broader determinants
- explanation
Broader determinants:
- gender, culture, race, socioeconomic status, geographical location & physical environment.
The broader determinants are shown to have a strong relationship with health status and h+w.
Social model of health - involves intersectoral collaboration
- definition
- explanation
Intersectoral collaboration - having groups from many sectors, such as government, health, public and private sector, working together to achieve a common goal.
Sociocultural and physical environment factors can be more effectively addressed if all groups work together.
Social model of health - Acts to reduce social inequities
- Social inequities examples
Examples - gender, culture, race, SES
These factors must be taken into consideration in order to improve h+w and health status.
Advantages of the social model of health
- explanations
It focuses on vulnerable population groups
- It focuses on promoting equity, so many disadvantaged population groups are the target of health promotion programs
It assists in preventing diseases from developing
- As it addresses the broader determinants of health, it can prevent conditions from developing in the first place.
