Lecture Psych Med - Ecological Determinants

Question 1

What is an ecological view?

Answer 1

It is a model of health that emphasises the importance of the SOCIAL and PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTS that strongly SHAPE patterns of DISEASE and injury as well as our RESPONSES to them over the entire life cycle.

It emphases the LINKAGES and relationships among multiple factors (or DETERMINANTS) affecting health

Question 2

Describe this ecological view

Answer 2

There are concentric circles with the individual being in the middle. The individual bring the genetic factors like sex, age, etc that affect health and development. Then beyond that is the microsystem of family, school, health services which also influence the individual. There are arrows showing how the different determinants interrelate. There is an eco system where you have mass media (can you access the internet, what is shown on TV etc), or like can you afford the legal services? Then there is the macro system - the outer edge which is the attitudes and ideologies of the culture. All of this sits within a broad culture of idea and beliefs that we take for granted like cultural norms, religion etc. Like, what does your context say about gender roles and how does that affect your development? Like the cultural norms now are different to 150 years ago so time is a big thing

Question 3

Since we don’t use micro, mesh, exo, macro etc - what language do we use for going from a micro level to a macro level?

Answer 3

So, across all level are the ecological determinants that influence our health and development. There are 4 main levels: individual to interpersonal, interpersonal, institutional and community environments and social structures.

Question 4

What factors are at each of the four levels?

Answer 4

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