Major Determinants of Health Flashcards
what is Karl Marx’s definition of health?
‘the capacity to do productive work’
what is Parsons definition of health?
‘(sociologically) a state of optimum capacity for the effective performance of valued tasks’
what is the WHO’s definition of health?
‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’
what are the pros and cons of the WHO definition of health?
pros: emphasis on all three facets
cons: utopian, “Complete” – bit idealistic
how is health sensitive to societies demands?
Health is sensitive to society’s demands – for example there is a different criteria to be defined as a healthy soldier than a health professor.
is childhood obesity a choice?
what factors contribute to it?
Rise in childhood obesity affects children from more deprived families disproportionately
People with less money and time to prepare food are more likely to choose cheap, easily prepared food (e.g. single mums)
Other factors - access to safe spaces for outdoor play and exercise. (e.g. lockdown affluent families had big gardens/nice parks whereas poor families trapped in flats.
The rise in obesity in the last few decades in developed countries is caused 100% by the changes in environment and not at all by the changes in our genes.
what are the 4 determinants of health?
biological
environment
lifestyle
health service
what are biological determinants of health?
Age – strong determinant of health/risk of dying (people’s capacity to overcome diseases is generally reduced as they age) and morbidity
Sex – (Biological factors)
Genetic (predisposed to type 2 diabetes etc.)
what are environmental determinants of health?
Physio-chemical – air, water, radiation
Biological – microbes e.g. TSARS
Socioeconomic & socio-political – inequality, employment, education, political stability, and ‘convenience society’ (very easy access to things that negatively affect health e.g. fast food and cigarettes are very easy to obtain)
what are lifestyle determinants of health?
Smoking – kills up to half its users
Alcohol consumption
Physical activity
Nutrition – malnutrition (prominent cause of child deaths in third world); over-nutrition (obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer -more prominent in first world)
‘Risky’ behaviours
how is health services a determinant of health?
(least important determinant of health)
The massive decrease in mortality in last 2 centuries is primarily due to decrease in infectious diseases
Clinical medicine played smaller role than other changes (nutrition, hygiene, reproductive behaviour – smaller more spaced out families)
Medical care has also had a small contribution in the increase in life expectancy over the last 100 years
However clinical medicine did have a huge role in stopping the spread of polio through the development of a vaccine.
what is the role of clinical medicine?
- preventing death
- improving length & quality of survival in fatal conditions
- improving quality of life in nonfatal conditions
- treating genetic disorders
- care
how do we prevent death?
what are the two types of prevention?
due to acute emergencies (heart attacks) & infectious diseases that respond to antimicrobial therapy (e.g. penicillin)
greater importance of preventing disease occurrence rather than treating as it is better for the patient and cheaper
prevention:
primary – i.e. smoking, diet
secondary – screening programmes
give examples of fatal conditions where life may be improved?
i.e. cancer, diabetes mellitus (insulin injections), HIV/AIDs (suppression drugs)
give examples of non- fatal conditions where life may be improved?
e.g. rheumatic conditions (bad back and arthritis), psychological problems (mental health problems), cataracts, infertility
