Public Health Flashcards
Why do people smoke?
- pleasure
- choice
- advertising
- peer group/ family
- signifier of cultural status
Why do people develop type 2 diabetes?
- genotype
- age
- insulin resistance
- lifestyle risk factors: poor diet, overweight, lack of physical activity
Why do people become overweight?
- low income so can’t afford healthy foods
- time and effort to cook food
- comfort foods
- eat more calories than they burn (possibly due to a lack of exercise)
Are there any trends we can see when looking at a map of the UK?
Yes, in almost all cases e.g. emergency admission rates for children with asthma, COPD, house prices, income etc… we can see that the North and parts of London tend to be affected the most.
How did COVID 19 affect certain people?
Black ethnic groups were affected much worse than white ethnic groups. COVID didn’t create health inequalities, but rather exposed and exacerbated longstanding inequalities affecting BAME groups in the UK.
What inequalities are there as to why COVID-19 affected BAME groups worse?
- Employment
- Income
- Housing
- Health
… all of which could be termed ‘ lifestyle factors’. But a lot of the time your lifestyle is not necessarily a free choice as there are certain set backs we are born with.
What are cultural norms?
Examples: Diet, physical activity, tobacco, alcohol, caffeine
When we tell people to change their lifestyle, are we telling them to adopt our cultural norms or are we telling them to become ‘deviants’ (any action that is perceived to violate a cultural norm)
What makes people sick?
Health outcomes are determined by:
- Income
- Environment
- Occupation
- Culture
- Societal status
- Access to education
What are the social determinants of health?
Non-medical (social and economic) factors that determine health outcomes
What was the cause of the 1850 cholera outbreak?
The cause was bad water and contaminated.
What was the cause of the cause?
- overcrowding
- social issues
- not enough money
What are the domains of public health?
- Health protection
- Health improvement / promotion
- Improving health services
What does health protection protect?
- Infectious diseases
- Chemicals and poisons
- Radiation
- Emergency response
- Environmental health hazards
What does health improvement involve?
- Lifestyles
- Inequalities
- Education
- Housing
- Employment
- Family/community
What does a health manager do?
- commissions health services
- Rising patient demand
- Government targets
- Limited resources
What does a public health Dr do?
- Worried about worsening inequalities for the poor, the voiceless and the marginalised
- Trying to keep the peace and balance views between the doctors, managers, media, government, etc…