Midterm #1 What is Population Health?

Question 1

What is the general understanding of what it means to be “healthy”?

Answer 1

Trick question! It’s subjective, means different things to different people
Health is an abstract concept that is difficult to define

Question 2

WHO’s definition of health

Answer 2

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”

Question 3

Criticisms of the WHO definition of health

Answer 3

• Idealistic and unattainable (are we ever truly healthy?)
• We cannot operationalize this in a practical setting (ex. when working with a client)
• More aspects of health than physical, mental, and social. There’s also financial, spiritual, etc.
• Hard to categorize people, or measure (epidemiology)

Question 4

What are the 2 models of health?

Answer 4

Medical model
Social model

Question 5

What is the medical model?

Answer 5

• Narrow and simplistic understanding
• Medically biased, only considers absence of disease (ex. healthy defined by what BP range the patient is in)
• Ignores wider factors outside of the body
• Based on scientific and expert knowledge
• Emphasis on personal, individual responsibility

Question 6

What is the social model?

Answer 6

• Broad, complex understanding
• Holistic, considers factors outside of the physical body (mental, social, etc.)
• Considers wider influences out of our control (ex. inequality and environment)
• Uses lay knowledge
• Emphasis on collective responsibility
  WHO definition fits in here

Question 7

Which is the better, more correct model?

Answer 7

Neither is wrong, just different perspectives

Question 8

What is a population?

Answer 8

A group of individuals with a common characteristic
Ex. residence, gender, age, experience, etc.

Question 9

What are the 2 types of populations?

Answer 9

Fixed
Dynamic or Open

Question 10

Characteristics of a fixed population?

Answer 10

• Membership is permanent
• Based on an event
• No one new can join
  Ex. Japanese atomic bomb survivors

Question 11

Characteristics of a dynamic/open population?

Answer 11

• Membership is based on a changeable condition (transitory)
  Ex. Residents of a city, hospital patients

Question 12

What is a steady state open population?

Answer 12

A population where the number of people leaving is the same as the number of people entering

Question 13

How would a country (like Canada) see net population?

Answer 13

Through a census

Question 14

What is population health?

Answer 14

An approach/way of thinking to health that aims to improve the health of the entire population, and to reduce health inequalities among population groups
- Looks at and acts upon the broad range of health factors and conditions that influences it
Ex. lower SES has poorer health
- How we intervene and target factors and determinants

Question 15

What are the different types of health research?

Answer 15

Basic, clinical, and population health research

Question 16

Who/what is studied in BASIC health research?

Answer 16

What/who: Cells, tissues, animals in laboratory settings (tightly controlled)
Goals: Understanding disease mechanisms + effects of toxic substances

Question 17

What is an example of BASIC health research?

Answer 17

Toxicology, immunology

Question 18

Who/what is studied in CLINICAL health research?

Answer 18

What/who: Sick patients who come to healthcare facilities
Goals: Improving diagnosis + treatment of disease (not really prevention)

Question 19

What is an example of CLINICAL health research?

Answer 19

Internal medicine, paediatrics

Question 20

Who/what is studied in POPULATION health research?

Answer 20

What/who: populations/communities
Goals: prevention of disease, promotion of health

Question 21

What is an example of POPULATION health research?

Answer 21

Epidemiology, environmental health science

Question 22

What occasion led to the development of the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion and Achieving Health for All?

Answer 22

It was developed at the first international conference on health promotion
Driven by idea to save money on healthcare costs (what if people didn’t get sick in the first place?)

Question 23

What year was the Ottawa Charter developed?

Answer 23

1986

Question 24

What does the Ottawa Charter focus on?

Answer 24

Broader social, economic, and environmental factors

Question 25

At it’s core, what is the Ottawa Charter?

Answer 25

A framework for health promotion

Question 26

How many action areas are there in the Ottawa Charter?

Answer 26

5

Question 27

What are the 5 action areas?

Answer 27

Strengthen Community Action
Develop Personal Skills (only individual-level one)
Build Healthy Public Policy
Create Supportive (physical) Environments
Reorient Health Services

Question 28

What is an example of Strengthening Community Action? (Ottawa Charter)

Answer 28

Developing programmes or networks
Ex. Afterschool PA program led by uni students

Question 29

What is an example of Developing Personal Skills? (Ottawa Charter)

Answer 29

Health literacy/education
Ex. Media literacy initiative in a school

Question 30

What is an example of Building Healthy Public Policy? (Ottawa Charter)

Answer 30

Implementing legislation or taxation
Ex. Tax sugar sweetened beverages

Question 31

What is an example of Creating Supportive (physical) Environments? (Ottawa Charter)

Answer 31

Changing natural or built environment
Ex. Build new bike lanes

Question 32

What is an example of Reorienting Health Services? (Ottawa Charter)

Answer 32

Increasing infrastructure and resources
Ex. Investment in city-wide health promotion campaign

Question 33

What are the core 3 health promotion strategies in the center of the Ottawa Charter logo?

Answer 33

Enable, mediate, advocate

Question 34

What is Public Health?

Answer 34

Activities (e.g., programs and services) provided by government to protect, promote, and restore the health of citizens

Question 35

What is the difference between population health and public health?

Answer 35

Population health: Approach/way of thinking/lens
Public health: Action. actually doing
Ex. Public Health Agency of Canada and AHS are both PUBLIC health organizations that operate through the lens/use a population health approach