Chapter 4: Improvements in Health

Question 1

Reasons for decreased death rates

Answer 1

• Better control of infectious diseases, bacteria & viruses
• Improved hygiene, sanitation and nutrition
• Advancements in medical technology
• Better understanding of dehydration

Question 2

Reasons for the decline in infant deaths

Answer 2

• Improved access and quality of neonatal care
• Reduced preventable disease due to immunisation
• Improved sanitation and hygiene

Question 3

Public health

Answer 3

• Organised response by society to protect and promote health, and to prevent illness, injury or disability
• Actions to improve public health in Australia include:
  
  • Improving and protecting water quality
  • Improving immunisation levels of a population
  • Implementing screening programs for diseases
  • Implementing anti-smoking education campaigns

NOTE: Efforts to improve public health typically target the factors that cause illness rather than treating their consequences.

Question 4

Public health intelligence, programs and infrastructure

Answer 4

• Intelligence – info that identifies trends of ill-health and health in the population and info about the factors
• Programs – development of policy and the planning of strategies that aim to prevent, protect and promote health
• Infrastructure – implemented by the workforce and administrative, legislative, research systems

Question 5

‘Old’ public health

Answer 5

• Focus on disease treatment and improving infrastructure, shelter, water and sanitation
• Health was seen as the absence of illness
• Helped ↓ prevalence of communicable disease (e.g. malaria)
• Does not tend to consider broader determinants of health (e.g. lifestyle choices)

NOTE: The different eras are not examinable.

Question 6

Biomedical approach to health

Answer 6

• Focus on physical aspects of disease and illness
• Diagnosis – identification via medical tests
• Cure & treatment – interventions to control illness
• E.g. blood tests, x-rays and chemotherapy

Question 7

Strengths and limitations of the BMH

Answer 7

• Strengths
  
  • Provides treatment for many conditions (↑ LE)
  • Helps us learn more about disease and illness
  • Can reduce the time people spend in ill health
  • Advances in medical technology
• Limitations
  
  • Incurs ongoing expenses which can be expensive
  • Not every illness or disease can be cured/treated
  • Views the body in isolation to the environment
  • Does not always promote equity

Question 8

Improvements in medical technology

BMH

Answer 8

• Medical procedures e.g. organ transplants
  
  • Transfer of human cells, tissues or organs from a donor to a recipient with the aim of restoring bodily function(s)
  • Improves physical capacity to perform daily tasks
• Diagnostic tools and equipment e.g. MRI scans
  
  • Produce images of internal structures of the body, enabling the accurate diagnosis of illness and disease
  • Allows appropriate treatment to be implemented, reducing the time people spend in poor health
• Medication e.g. chemotherapy
  
  • Cancer and CVD can be effectively treated in many cases, reducing mortality rates

Question 9

New public health

Answer 9

• Focus on disease prevention, health promotion, social support, equity, behaviour and lifestyles
• Considers all threats to health e.g. sustainability & environment
• Individuals are encouraged to take responsibility for their health
• Involves the BMH, SMH and OCHP

Question 10

Social model of health

Answer 10

• Directs effort toward the social, economic and environmental determinants of health
• Works alongside the biomedical model
• E.g. smoking education campaigns

Question 11

Key principles of the social model of health

AREAS

Answer 11

• Addressing the broad determinants of health
  
  • Considering biological, sociocultural and environmental factors and how they influence the HWB of communities (not just individuals)
  • Society is able to share responsibility for health and promote health among the most vulnerable
• Reducing social inequities
  
  • Providing all groups with the same access to resources
• Empowering individuals and communities
  
  • Providing resources and knowledge to give people the opportunity to improve their HWB
• Access to healthcare
  
  • Everybody having access to essential healthcare services
• (S) Inter-sectorial collaboration
  
  • Collaboration between public and private sectors of the economy to achieve health-related goals
  • By combining efforts, determinants of health are better addressed

Question 12

Strengths and limitations of the SMH

Answer 12

• Strengths
  
  • Aims to improve health by preventing, not treating illness
  • Focus on populations rather than individuals
  • Typically more cost-effective
  • Promotes equity (focus on vulnerable groups)
• Limitations
  
  • Hereditary conditions cannot be prevented
  • Health promotion campaigns are not always be successful
  • Relies on individuals making good choices

Question 13

Relationship between the BMH and the SMH

Answer 13

• Biomedical model
  
  • Research a disease and effective treatment options
  • Accurate diagnosis of disease via medical tests
  • Provision of appropriate treatment
  • Improvements in chemotherapy
  • Developing stem cells that can grow new organs for transplants
• Social model
  
  • Promote healthy lifestyles using the media and GPs
  • Providing ads in various languages and forms
  • Introducing compulsory wearing of seatbelts
  • Increasing taxation of tobacco/alcohol
  • Banning smoking in public spaces
  • Legislations to fence swimming pools

NOTE: The two models can work concurrently to achieve a common goal.

Question 14

Ottowa Charter for Health Promotion

Developed by the WHO

Answer 14

• Attempts to reduce inequalities in health
• Developed from the social model of health
• Defines health promotion as the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health

Question 15

OCHP’s three basic strategies for health promotion

EMA

Answer 15

• Enable – supporting people with the info, opportunities, resources and skills they need to make health-promoing choices
  
  • E.g. health promotion campaigns for vulnerable groups
• Mediate – ensuring that diff sectors all share the
  responsibility of delivering health promotion for optimal health
  
  • E.g. smoking cessation campaigns being delivered by the health sector, workplaces, media, etc.
• Advocate – promoting initiatives that improve health and protecting health as a resource using health
  
  • E.g. delivering health campaigns that demonstrate how exercise improves all dimensions of HWB

Question 16

5 elements (action areas) of the OCHP

Answer 16

• Build healthy public policy
  
  • Decisions made by governments and organisations that influence HWB e.g. Health Star Rating System
• Create supportive environments
  
  • Establishing safe and enjoyable living and working conditions e.g. adequate shelter in playgrounds
• Strengthen community action
  
  • Working together to promote HWB as a community e.g. GPs and the media help promote the QUIT campaign
• Develop personal skills
  
  • Gaining life skills and information through health promotion and education e.g. learning about proper nutrition
• Reorient health services
  
  • Moving beyond just a biomedical view and considering health promotion to prevent illness and disease
  • E.g. discussing the benefits of smoking cessation with a patient with asthma

TIP: Bad Cats Smell Dead Rats.