Chapter 1: Understanding Health and Wellbeing

Question 1

Health

Answer 1

• A state of complete physical, social and mental wellbeing
• It is not merely the absence of disease or infirmity

Question 2

Wellbeing

Answer 2

• A complex combination of all dimensions of health
• Characterised by an equilibrium where one feels happy, healthy, capable and engaged

Question 3

Dynamic and subjective nature of HWB

Answer 3

• Dynamic – constantly changing
  
  • E.g. someone w the flu has poor HWB, however, rest and med enables them to return to a better state of HWB
• Subjective – influenced by personal beliefs, feelings, opinions and our environment (e.g. media)
  
  • E.g. elderly may view HWB as the ability to independently perform tasks whilst youth may view it as being fit & social

Question 4

Disease vs illness

Answer 4

• Disease – physical or mental disturbance involving symptoms, dysfunctions or tissue damage
• Illness – self-perceived negative state of HWB, where one believes they’re experiencing smth which makes them unwell

Question 5

Physical HWB and its supportive factors

Answer 5

• Functioning of the body and its systems including one’s physical capacity to perform daily tasks and activities
• Regular exercise and maintenance of health body weight
• Strong immune system, contributing to minimal illness
• Balanced diet where nutritional needs are met
• Appropriate amount and quality of sleep

Question 6

Social HWB and its supportive factors

Answer 6

• Ability to form meaningful & satisfying relationships & adapting appropriately to diff social situations
• Having a strong support network
• Overcoming conflict in relationships
• Having strong communication skills
• Having empathy for others

Question 7

Emotional HWB and its supportive factors

Answer 7

• Ability to recognise, understand, manage and express feelings in a positive way
• The ability to display resilience
• Feeling emotionally secure and relaxed
• Having effective coping techniques to deal with emotions

Question 8

Mental HWB and its supportive factors

Answer 8

• State of a person’s mind and their ability to think and process information
• Using logic and making decisions
• Forming opinions independent of others
• Low levels of stress and anxiety
• High self-esteem, confidence and optimism

Question 9

Spiritual HWB and its supportive factors

Answer 9

• Ideas, beliefs, values and ethics in the mind and conscience of people
• A sense of hope about the future
• A sense of meaning which guides one through their life
• Having a sound moral compass
• Living with a set of values and ethics
• Feeling a sense of belonging and purpose in life
• Believing in a higher power

Question 10

Values vs beliefs

Answer 10

• Values – what one feels is important in life
  
  • E.g. Education, fitness and friendship
• Beliefs – what one feels to be true or right
  
  • Even if the belief is not proven
  • E.g. There is life after death

Question 11

Interrelationship between dimensions of HWB

Answer 11

• Dimensions of HWB overlap & influence each other
• Overall HWB is determined by combination of all dimensions
• Change in one dim results in change to 1 / more dim(s)
• Dimensions of health do not work independently

Question 12

Interrelationship between mental and emotional HWB

Answer 12

• Receiving a job promotion ↑ confidence and mental HWB
• Confidence enables people to feel more emotionally secure and relaxed in everyday life, improving emotional HWB
• Emotional security improves people’s ability to think and make logical decisions, further promoting his mental HWB

NOTE: Interrelationship must be discussed in a bidirectional manner (e.g. M → E → M). The response must also be linked to the context of the question.

Question 13

Optimal health and wellbeing

Answer 13

• The highest possible level of HWB considering one’s unique experiences, characteristics and lifestyle

Question 14

Optimal HWB as an individual, national and global resource

Answer 14

• Individual – promotes the dimensions of health
  
  • People can work productively, increasing confidence
  • ↓ risk of illness & chronic conditions, ↑ LE
  • ↓ healthcare costs can promote emotionally security
• National – promotes country’s economy & productivity
  
  • ↓ stress and absences in a workplace promotes a productive workforce which can help ↑ national income
  • ↓ burden on healthcare system allows taxation money to be spent elsewhere (e.g. national education & infrastructure)
• Global – promotes global trade of goods and services, peace, sustainability and economic development
  
  • ↓ emergence or re-emergence of infectious disease
  • ↑ people’s ability to engage freely in economic pursuits worldwide which ↑ global economic productivity
  • ↓ conflict, promoting global peace and harmony

Question 15

Prerequisites for health

Answer 15

• Peace
• Income
• Sustainable resources
• Shelter
• Food
• Education
• Equity
• Stable ecosystem
• Social justice
• Determined by WHO as essential in achieving optimal HWB
• Have significant impacts on global health outcomes

TIP: PISS FEESS

Question 16

Peace as a prerequisite for health

Answer 16

• State of harmony, free from civil disturbance / conflict
• War and violence may cause injury (physical)
• Fear and anxiety due to violence (mental)

Question 17

Shelter as a prerequisite for health

Answer 17

• Housing that provides protection from external enviro
• Promotes privacy, safety & security, ↓ stress & anxiety (mental)
• Provides resources such as sanitation and heating (physical)
• Provides a place for people to gather & form relos (social)

Question 18

Education as a prerequisite for health

Answer 18

• Process of gaining knowledge and building skills, typically in environments such as school and university
• ↑ ability to work productively, providing sense of purpose (spiritual)
• ↑ health literacy and knowledge about nutrition (physical)

Question 19

Food as a prerequisite for health

Answer 19

• Adequate sustenance and nutrition
• Catching up w friends over a meal strengthens social networks
• Food insecurity can cause stress and anxiety (mental)
• Builds strong immune systems, ↓ the risk of disease (physical)
• Central to many cultures, strengthening certain beliefs (spiritual)

Question 20

Income as a prerequisite for health

Answer 20

• Money received through work, investments, social security
• Allows individuals to access nutritious food (physical)
• Providing for a family provides sense of purpose (spiritual)
• Earning an income increases confidence and optimism (mental)

Question 21

A stable ecosystem as a prerequisite for health

Answer 21

• Balance between living and non-living components of an ecosystem
• Provides spaces for leisure e.g. parks, promoting a relaxed state of mind (emotional)
• ↑ access to clean water, can ↓ waterborne disease (physical)

Question 22

Sustainable resources as a prerequisite for health

Answer 22

• Resources meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising resources of future generations
• Sustainable farming enables ongoing access to nutritious foods and prevents food crises (physical)
• Sustainable farming practices helps provide stable employment which can promote a sense of purpose (spiritual)

Question 23

Social justice as a prerequisite for health

Answer 23

• Involves everyone having equal opportunities, freedom from discrimination and fundamental human rights
• ↓ stress and anxiety about discrimination (mental)
• ↓ morbidity from injury via violent discrimination (physical)

Question 24

Equity as a prerequisite for health

Answer 24

• Being fair/just & catering for diff people’s needs
• Tailored support for disadvantaged groups ↑ emotional security
• Promotes employment and education opportunities, increasing opportunities to form relationships (social)

NOTE: Equality ≠ equity. Equity is about responding to people’s various needs, which could involve providing more support to those that need it. E.g. Low-income earners in Australia do not have to pay certain taxes imposed on the rest of the population.

Question 25

Health status

Answer 25

• An individual’s or a population’s overall health, considering aspects such as life expectancy, amount of disability and levels of disease risk factors

Question 26

Self-assessed health status

Health status indicators

Answer 26

• An individual’s overall perception of their own health status at a given point in time
• Subjective; relies on unique interpretations of health
• Influenced by:
  
  • Presence / absence of disability, disease and illness
  • Emotional and mental state (thought patterns)
  • Access to healthcare
  • Energy levels

Question 27

Prevalence vs incidence

Health status indicators

Answer 27

• Prevalence – no. cases of a particular disease or condition in the population at a given point in time
• Incidence – no. new cases of a particular disease or condition that arise in the population in a certain period of time

Question 28

Morbidity vs mortality

Health status indicators

Answer 28

• Morbidity – ill health in an individual and the levels of ill health in a given population
  
  • Used to determine patterns of disease occurrence
  • Data often more incomplete than mortality data
• Mortality – number of deaths in a population
  
  • Routinely collected and readily available

Question 29

Maternal, infant and under 5 mortality rate

Health status indicators

Answer 29

• Maternal – no. deaths of women during pregnancy, childbirth or within the six weeks after childbirth
  
  • Reflects inequities in income and access to healthcare
  • Measured per 100,000 women who give birth
• Infant – no. deaths among children aged under one
  
  • Measured per 1000 live births
• U5MR – no. deaths of children under five
  
  • Also encompasses infant mortality
  • Associated with a population’s access to education, level of economic development and availability of health services
  • Measured per 1000 live births

Question 30

Burden of disease

Health status indicators

Answer 30

• Measurement of the impact of disease and injuries
• Measures the gap between current health status & an ideal situation where people live to an old age, free of disease/disability
• Developed to make international comparisons of health
• Measured by disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)

Question 31

Disability-adjusted life years (DALY)

Health status indicators

Answer 31

• A measure of burden of disease
• Calculated by adding YLL and YLD
• 1 DALY is equal to 1 healthy year of life lost due to premature death (YLL), disability or disease (YLD)

NOTE: When answering questions, you must say “X years of HEALTHY life lost.”

Question 32

Years of life lost (YLL) vs years of life lost to disability (YLD)

Health status indicators

Answer 32

• YLL – healthy years of life lost due to death
  
  • Fatal component of BOD
• YLD – healthy years of life lost due to disease / injury
  
  • Non-fatal component of BOD

Question 33

Life expectancy (LE) vs health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE)

Health status indicators

Answer 33

• LE – no. years a person is expected to live, on the basis that current health conditions do not change
• HALE – LE at birth including an adjustment for time spent in poor health
  
  • No. years one can expect to live in full health based on current rates of morbidity and mortality

Question 34

Reasons for the increase in LE over time

Answer 34

• Improved medical technology (e.g. vaccines, antibiotics)
• Greater awareness of health issues
• Better health promotion & disease prevention strategies
• Better public health (e.g. access to water and sanitation)

Question 35

Reasons for Australia’s high LE

Answer 35

• Effective public healthcare (Medicare)
• Health promotion campaigns (e.g. SunSmart program)
• Preventative strategies (e.g. random breath tests)
• P plate system