Protecting and Promoting the Health of Populations (Public Health

Question 1

What does the american public health association say about public health

Answer 1

• “promoting and protecting the health of people and the communities where they live , learn, work and play. Works to track disease outbreaks, prevent injuries and understand why some are more likely to suffer from poor health than others
  
  • Work to prevent people from getting sick or injured in the first place, promote wellness by encouraging healthy behaviors

Question 2

What are some activties of public health

Answer 2

• Conducting research
  
  • Vaccination
  • Education of risks of harmful things
  • Setting safety standards
    Develop nutrition programs

Question 3

What behaviour change is sought

Answer 3

• Society through public health seeks to change behaviours viewed as harmful which would improve health
  Don’t know when, in what way it is acceptable to change these behaviours

Question 4

Explain individual choice when it comes to society and health care

Answer 4

• Live in a pluralistic society that values individual choice
  
  • People have the right to do things even if it will shorten their life
  • Disease and illness are greatly associated with choices people make (lots of diseases that are self inflicted and caused from bad decisions)
  • We try to reward/ support good choices and punishing/ taxing bad choices but the media also tends to re enforce bad health choices
    Bad health choices can be a drain on the resources of society but also profitable for the ones who they are buying from

Question 5

What responsibilities does society have

Answer 5

Appreciate the effects of racism, poverty and unemployment on the ability of a person to choose whether or not to do things that will put them in harm

Question 6

How can we intervene within peoples choices

Answer 6

• Educate: if people don’t know what behaviours are in there best interests they wont usually do them
  
  • Engineer: redesign or change the environment to reduce risk and avoid harm to people
  • Enforce: make rules and regulations regarding individual and collective behaviours

Question 7

When will a society intervene

Answer 7

• If people through actions or inaction are likely to affect others (restriction of knowingly spreading of STIs
  
  • People are being misled or subject to inappropriate persuasion (harming people through misinformation)
  • People indicate a desire to change but don’t know how to do it on their own

Question 8

What is health promotion

Answer 8

• ” health promotion is the process (that) enables individuals, families and communities to increase control of their lives and improve their health” World health organization

Question 9

11. What are the 5 health promotion strategies defined by ottawa charter (1986)

Answer 9

• Build healthy public policy
  
  • Create supportive environments
  • Strengthen community action
  • Develop personal skills
    Re orient health services

Question 10

What ways of enforcing work the best

Answer 10

• Engineering and enforcement
  
  • But education is the least restrictive alternative and is what we start with

Question 11

What does it mean by “people are often pushed”

Answer 11

• The commitment to individualism and a market economy provides choices that are all shown as acceptable
  
  • Many factors can either be supportive or not in making appropriate choices

Question 12

What is healthy public policy

Answer 12

• Shapes how money, power and material resources flow through society (this affects the determinants of health as depending on where the money goes, your status you may or may not benefit)
  
  • Can take the form of: legislation (acceptable behaviours), fiscal measures (public funding), taxation (incentives or disincentives), organization change (advance priorities)

Question 13

What are supportive environments

Answer 13

• Link between health and the environment
  
  • Aimed to generate living, working and playing conditions that are safe, stimulating and satisfying

Question 14

How do we strengthen community action

Answer 14

• Empower: give communities more control over the choices that effect them (can do this by enhance help/ social support and public participation
  
  • Requires communities to have access to information, learning opportunities, funding

Question 15

How do personal skills affect heath

Answer 15

• Support development by education of health and enhancement of skills
  increase the options people (people with more options can show more control over their own health and environment while making choices that make health better)

Question 16

How should we reorientate health services

Answer 16

• Increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the health care system
  
  • Make partner ships between the providers and patients
  • Support the health needs of the whole person *
  • Shift the emphasis to improving health rather then treating diseases* (make it so people stop being pushed into the river rather then taking them out of the river)

Question 17

How can we focus more on the elderly

Answer 17

• Health care tends to benefit all age groups but since people are living longer this means there will be many more elderly in the future
  
  • As we age the chances of us getting chronic diseases increases
  • Although people are living longer they are not necessarily healthier
  • Through health care we can prevent or delay chronic diseases and enhance those with disability to cope to reduce the need for assistance (it is expensive)
  • If you make choices in your younger years that benefit health everything gets pushed back further and you can live a longer healthier life