Theme 3 key areas

Question 1

Define health literacy

Answer 1

The cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to and use information in ways which promote and maintain good health.

Health literacy is the relationship between poor literacy skills and health status.

Question 2

Define health promotion

Answer 2

The process of enabling people to increase control over their health and its determinants, and thereby improve their health.

Health promotion has 3 components:

1. health education
2. Disease prevention
3. Health protection

Question 3

Describe the relationship between health literacy, primary health care and health promotion

Answer 3

Health literacy increases an individual’s understanding of health promotion instructions/activities. There is also strong correlation between health literacy and an individual’s ability to function within a primary health care setting.

Question 4

What are the 3 levels of health literacy?

Answer 4

The 3 levels of health literacy include:

1. Basic/functional - sufficient/basic skills in reading and writing to be able to function in everyday situations.
2. Communicative/interactive - more advanced cognitive and literacy skills which together with social skills can be used to actively participate in everyday activities.
3. Critical - skills can be used to critically analyse information to exert greater control over life events and situations.

Question 5

How do we identify signs of low health literacy?

Answer 5

Frequently missed appointments
Incomplete registration forms
Non-compliance with medications
Unable to name medications or explain their purpose
Identifies medications by looking at them, not by reading the label
Unable to give coherent sequential history
Ask fewer questions
Making excuses
Loss of follow up tests or referrals

“I forgot my reading glasses”
“I’d like to discuss this with my family first, may I take the instructions home?”
“I don’t need to read this now, I’ll read it when I get home”

Question 6

How does health literacy affect health outcomes?

Answer 6

Health literacy often correlates with the ability to effectively self manage health.

Low health literacy leads to mistakes, misinformation and misunderstandings.

Lower health literacy leads to poorer health outcomes.

Question 7

Why is health literacy important?

Answer 7

Health literacy is important because it affects people’s ability to:
>Understand the information of prescription bottles and nutrition labels
>Act on health related news and announcements
>Share personal health information with healthcare providers
>Manage chronic health conditions
>Understand and act on concepts like preparedness and risks associated with unhealthy behaviour and environmental issues
>Understand how to locate and access affordable healthcare for them and their children
>Recognise bias in health information reported by the media

Question 8

Discuss some principals we can use when communicating or teaching individuals

Answer 8

Always assume that everyone has poor health literacy until proven otherwise.

Increase the individual’s interest in their own health.

Provide health education.

Limit the use of medical jargon.

Adults learn best when they need to so make sure the individual understands the underlying health issue before teaching.

Progress from the known to the unknown - one concept at a time.

Make sure what you’re talking about is relevant and practical.

Respect the learner.

Question 9

What is antimicrobial resistance?

Answer 9

Antimicrobial resistance is the ability of a microbe to resist the effects of medication that once could successfully treat the microbe.

Question 10

What is the Ottawa Charter?

Answer 10

The first International Conference on Health Promotion held in Ottawa, Canada in November 1986. The aim of the conference was action to achieve Health for all by the year 2000 and beyond.

Question 11

What are the key elements of the Ottawa Charter?

Answer 11

The are 5 key elements of the Ottawa Charter:

1. Building health public policy - laws, regulation and policy.
2. Reorient health services - increased focus on research as well as changes in professional education and training to adapt to changes in the focus on disease.
3. Creating supportive environments - the link between people and their environments.
4. Strengthening community action - empowering the community, giving them as sense of control over decision making.
5. Developing personal skills - encourage lifelong learning within schools, homes and communities to increase knowledge and skills in a social, family and spiritual context.

Question 12

How does health promotion relate to disease prevention?

Answer 12

Levels of disease prevention include - primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. The idea that an individual is able to have a say in the decision making process at any one of these levels is key to health promotion.

Question 13

What is the health belief model?

Answer 13

one of the most widely recognised models of health behaviour.

Designed to explain behaviour by understanding better what an individual’s beliefs are about health.

It is based on the theory that our behaviour is guided by consequences - according to the model, an individual will weigh up the pros and cons of changing heir behaviour and choose the approach if it is seen to provide some sort of benefit.

There are 3 main elements that explain whether or not a person will follow a recommendation:

1. Do they feel ready to change their behaviour?
2. Costs and barriers to the change of behaviour
3. Are there any negative side effects of the behaviour change?

Question 14

Understand the Com-B model of health promotion

Answer 14

The idea that behaviour is understood by understanding individual capabilities, opportunity and motivation for change.

It is a simple model for understanding the capability, motivation & opportunity of an individual to change.

It provides an understanding of the context for behaviour which provides a basis for intervention.

Question 15

Understand the stages of change model of health promotion

Answer 15

A behaviour change model based off the idea that behaviour change is a process not a an event and that individuals can be found at various levels of motivation and readiness to change.

although it looks like a cyclical process, individuals can go forwards and backwards and in and out whenever.

Stages are as follows:

1. Pre-contemplation - has not even thought about change
2. Contemplation - know that there are benefits to change and thinking about how to change
3. Preparation - ready for change and considering making the change
4. Action - some sort of concrete effort has been made to change
5. Maintenance - change is incorporated into life and steps are taken to prevent relapse
6. Relapse - return to the behaviour they waned to change
7. Stable lifestyle :)

Question 16

What are some health promotion strategies?

Answer 16

Health promotion strategies include:
>Health education
>Healthy settings
>Community development
>Social marketing
>Harm minimisation
>Public policy

Question 17

How does health promotion relate to social media?

Answer 17

The relationship between health promotion and social media is complex.

Positives:
>Can be a powerful way to change opinions and behaviours
>A relatively cheap way to reach a large number of people.
>Plays a key role in informing people.

Negatives:
>Needs to be regulated to ensure correct information is provided.
>Promotes what is normal and desirable.

Question 18

Why do we evaluate in health promotion?

Answer 18

Evaluation is an important way to measure the efficiency of a health promotion strategy.

Evaluation needs to happen at the very start of a plan too - this can be the difference between getting funding and not. You need to provide evaluation at the end of a program too in order to remain accountable to funding bodies - you need to prove that your program has met it’s goals.

There are 3 types of evaluation:

1. Outcome evaluation - evaluating the overall goal of the program.
2. Impact evaluation - what objectives were identified that you needed to achieve your goal?
3. Process evaluation - evaluating the activities undertaken during the course of the program.

Question 19

What is social justice?

Answer 19

Social justice is the view that everyone deserves equal rights and opportunities — this includes the right to good health.

Question 20

What is the process and reasons/goals for health promotion?

Answer 20

The core goal of health promotion is to enable individuals and communities to take control over their own health and give them an opportunity to make decisions/shared decisions with their healthcare providers.

In health promotion, we need to work upstream - eg. addressing social inequalities, institutional power and policy makers rather than downstream - eg. addressing disease and injury, morbidity and mortality to make a real difference. Policy makers will often choose to address downstream factors because you can see results faster.

Question 21

What is health protection?

Answer 21

Concerned with preventing the spread of communicable diseases by establishing minimum standards, often in the form of environmental, food, toxicological and occupational safety.
eg. Legislation and regulation at a policy level.

Question 22

What is health protection?

Answer 22

Ensuring access to quality, acceptable and available healthcare that is non-discriminatory and economically viable.
eg. Legislation and regulation at a policy level in Australia in the form of Medicare ensures everyone has access.

Question 23

Define mediation

Answer 23

An intersectoral approach and the idea that health is present in all forms of society.

Question 24

Define enabling

Answer 24

Making sure people have equal opportunities and resources to be able to achieve their full health potential.

Question 25

Define advocacy

Answer 25

The act of supporting or lobbying in favour of a cause, policy or idea undertaken to influence public opinion, societal attitudes or to bring about change.

Question 26

Define advocacy

Answer 26

The act of supporting or lobbying in favour of a cause, policy or idea undertaken to influence public opinion, societal attitudes or to bring about change.

Question 27

What is a theory and why is it important?

Answer 27

Theories provide an explanation of how things might work or they can describe and illustrate key principals underpinning an issue.

Theory is important because it drives practice and has an important role in making sure health promotion actually works. it is implemented throughout the planning, development, monitoring and implementation stages of health promotion. In health promotion, theory helps to:
>Assess what patients need to learn.
>Assess health literacy
>Assess patient motivation
>With out understanding of health behaviours

Theory provides us with evidence for frameworks and is important for health literature.

Question 28

What are the leading preventable causes of disease is Australia?

Answer 28

>Tobacco use
>High body mass
>Alcohol use
>Physical inactivity
>High blood pressure