Module 1: The Meaning of Health / Social Determinants of Health Flashcards
What is a subjective experience of loss of health?
Only the person experiencing it can say if they are ill.
- the etiology can often NOT be identified (migraine headache)
What is an objective state of ill health?
The pathology of which can be detected by medical science.
- can be diagnosed and measured
- the etiology can usually be identified (e.g. cancer)
Etiology: the cause or causes of a disease
What is seen as subjective?
determined by the person experiencing health
subjective/ objective examples
- describing my pains = subjective
- the scale of diabetes = objective
- disease = objective
- illness = subjective
The definitions of “Health”
- WHO defined it as physical, social and mental wellbeing…
- satisfying needs
- realizing aspirations
- changing or coping w/ the environment
- Health is a resource
Can we be healthy in illness?
Yes, you can be healthy in illness
illness: subjective
=> you can be healthy even if you have illness
disease: objective
Approaches: reports (examples in p17) **
1) Medical
: “You have hypertension and are obsessed, therefore you are at a higher risk for stroke and myocardial infraction”
2) Behavioural
: “You eat poorly and do not exercise enough, let’s provide education so you can make smarter choices and change your behaviour”
3) Socioenvironmental
: “You eat poorly and do not exercise because you are trying to provide for your family and do not have access to…, let’s implement policies and primary health care”
Terminology of the health inequity/ health equity
Health inequity:
- health differences: social economic, environmental disadvantage, genetics, choices
Health equity:
- access
- health care fore all
how will your lenses on the definition of health and healing influnece?
How you practice nursing will depend on your definition of health and healing and what it means to you to be healthy and maintain or achieve health
factors: culture, age and gender, experience, upbringing, socioeconomic background
Impact of health & illness
Individual
- behavioural and emotional changes
- loss of autonomy
- self-concept and body image changes
- lifestyle changes, financial adjustments
- denial, anger, guilt, hopelessness
Family
depends on several factors:
- a member of the family who is ill
- seriousness and length of the illness
- financial demands
- cultural and social customs the family follows
Who are you caring for/ nursing?
1) individual - 1 human being
2) family - 2 or more individuals who depend on each other for emotional, physical or financial support (or all)
3) Group or aggregate - Groups within a population. (for example - youth with diabetes)
4) Community - people and relationships that emerge among them as they develop and commonly share agencies, institutions, or physical space.
: defined by geography, shared status or interest
5) Population - a large group of people who have at least 1 characteristic in common and reside in a community
6) society - the systems that incorporate the social, political, economic and cultural infrastructure to address issues of concern
