U3 AOS2 Improvements in health status (4)

Question 1

List the three public health activities and processes

Answer 1

Public health intelligence, public health programs, and public health infrastructure;

Question 2

Public health includes..

Answer 2

Identifying public health issues, identifying priority areas, designing and implementing interventions at the population level, target factors, not trat consequences and aims to promote health and prevent illness.

Question 3

Public health programs

Answer 3

Development of policy and the planning of strategies that aim to prevent, protect, and promote health.

Question 4

Public health intelligence

Answer 4

Information that identifies trends of ill-health and health in population and information about the factors.

Question 5

Public health infrastructure

Answer 5

Includes administrative, legislative, information, research and program-delivery systems, and the workforce to implement them.

Question 6

Public health

Answer 6

A collaborative approach, or the organised response by society to promote health, prevent injury illness and disability and prolong life through health care that is done at a government or state level. It is the health of a population as a whole, especially as monitored, regulated, and promoted by the state through implementing interventions.

Question 7

Old public health

Answer 7

An organised approach to try to address the environmental issues and public hygiene that were contributing to ill-health. Additionally aimed to improve access to toilets, sanitation, clean water, improve living conditions as these factors were essential for preventing illness. Thus, focused on specific medical interventions to treat a specific illness.

Question 8

Provide 4 examples of the biomedical healthcare

Answer 8

Blood tests to diagnose illness, x-rays to diagnose fractures, surgery for patients with heart disease, and chemotherapy to treat cancer.

Question 9

List and explain three strengths of the biomedical model of health

Answer 9

It provides treatment for many medical conditions, such as through vaccines which can prevent more illnesses;

Increases productivity as people are able to get back to the workforce quicker as it effectively treats poor health;

Leads to significant advances in medical technology and research;

Question 10

List and explain three limitations of the biomedical model of health

Answer 10

Not all conditions can be treated or cured;

It does not always promote equality as some of the treatments and medications that are not government funded may not be accessible to all people;

It does not encourage or promote good health as it leads to a reliance on the health system to ‘fix problems’ rather than individual responsibility to improve their health and prevent further illness;

Question 11

Biomedical model of health

Answer 11

Focuses on the physical or biological aspects of disease and illness. It is a medical model of care practised by doctors and health professionals, and is associated with the diagnosis, cure, and treatment of disease. The aim of this model of health is to return the patient to their pre-illness state.

Question 12

Diagnosis

Answer 12

When a doctor identifies a disease or illness through the use of a test.

Question 13

Cure and treatment

Answer 13

Refers to the intervention or steps that are taken to control illness.

Question 14

New public health

Answer 14

Refers to an organised response by society to protect and promote health and to prevent injury, illness, and disability by modifying the risk factors. It demonstrates an understanding of how lifestyle and living conditions influence health status, and aims to improve the quality of life. Recognises that health is complex and that a broader range of social factors impact on health, requiring inter-sectorial action and policy change to address them.

Question 15

List the 5 principles of the social model of health (AREAS)

Answer 15

Acts to enable access to healthcare, reduces social inequalities, empower individuals and communities, addresses broader determinants of health, and inter-sectorial collaboration.

Question 16

Acts to enable access to healthcare

Answer 16

Involves providing health services and promotion that is affordable, accessible, and relevant to people’s needs in a culturally appropriate manner (e.g., address the social and environmental barriers that may restrict someone’s ability to access healthcare, such as location, or income).

Question 17

Reduce social inequalities

Answer 17

Reducing the inequities that exist in relation to the health status and provision of health services due to factors such as gender, age, race, SES, location, and physical environment (e.g., reduce the barriers that may prevent people from experiencing good health such as income, race, or gender).

Question 18

Empower individuals and communities

Answer 18

Involves providing knowledge, understanding, and information to empower individuals to participate in decision making about their health – education is a key component (e.g., give people the knowledge and skills needed to allow them to participate in the decisions that positively impact their health).

Question 19

Addresses broader determinants of health

Answer 19

All social, environmental, and economic factors impact on health. Factors include gender, income, and culture (e.g., focus on more than the behaviour factors).

Question 20

Inter-sectoral collaboration

Answer 20

The public and private sector working together in coordinated action to improve health outcomes of all (e.g., government and non-government groups working together to address barriers and improve health outcomes for all).

Question 21

List three strengths of the social model of health

Answer 21

It is sustainable as many of the initiatives focus on education which can be passed on to future generations to help them with their needs;

It aims to improve the situation before illness occurs by preventing illness rather than just treating it;

Encourages good health through disease-prevention and aims to improve the situation before illness occurs;

Question 22

List three limitations of the social model of health

Answer 22

Doesn’t assist those who are already sick;

It relies on individuals making good choices which can prove to be ineffective as some people may ignore health-promotion messages making the model less effective;

Not all illnesses or conditions can be prevented such as asthma;

Question 23

Social model of health

Answer 23

A conceptual framework approach to healthcare that recognises that improvements in health and wellbeing can only be achieved by directing effort towards addressing the social, physical, sociocultural, and environmental determinants of health that have an impact on individuals and population groups. Based on the understanding that in order for health gains to occur, social economic, environmental, social, and physical determinants must be addressed.

Question 24

Describe the relationship between the biomedical model and social model of health

Answer 24

Immunisation has been one of the most successful and effective health-prevention strategies and is a social model of health, the success of this program would not have been possible without the involvement of the biomedical approach to health, which played an important role in researching disease, developing an effective antigen for each one and creating the vaccine.

Question 25

Medical technology

Answer 25

Includes a broad range of diagnostic tools and equipment, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and equipment, new medical procedures, and improved knowledge and administrative support systems.

Question 26

Diagnostic imaging

Answer 26

The use of x-ray, ultrasound, radioactive isotopes, or magnetic resonance to produce a visual display or representation of structural and or functional information of the inside of the human body to accurately diagnose illness.

Question 27

MRI scanning

Answer 27

A scan used for a medical imaging procedure that uses a magnetic field and radio waves to take pictures inside the body. It is helpful when collecting pictures of soft tissue (e.g., organs and muscles) that do not show up on x-ray examinations.

Question 28

CT scanning

Answer 28

A scan that is made up of computer-generated combinations of many x-ray images taken from different angles to produce a cross-sectional image of areas of a scanned part of the body, allowing the user to see inside without cutting.

Question 29

Genetic screening for disease

Answer 29

Involves the study of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) to identify an individual’s risk of developing or passing on a genetic disorder, disease or abnormality.

Question 30

Pharmaceuticals

Answer 30

New vaccines and medications developed, with some being new medications to treat or prevent conditions or that are more effective and have fewer side effects. For example, statins are a medication invented to reduce cholesterol, and tamoxifen is a medication that is used to prevent and treat breast cancer.

Question 31

List three advantages of technology

Answer 31

A wider range of alternative treatment options;

More common and more accurate diagnosis and therefore earlier and more specific treatment;

New technology may lead to increased survival rates for diseases such as cancer;

Question 32

List three disadvantages of medical technology

Answer 32

Equity regarding availability;

The advances are often driven by the pharmaceutical industry and technology companies rather than the healthcare industry;

Ethical considerations, and cost;

Question 33

Co-payment

Answer 33

The price an individual pays for a medication covered by the pharmaceutical benefit scheme and it is dependent on their situation. For example, general patients pay up to $30 for medication covered by PBS with concession card holders paying $7.30.

Question 34

Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS) safety net

Answer 34

Once an individual has spent $1486.80 in any year on medications, they will only need to pay the concession rate of $6.60 per prescription. Any individual who is a concession card holders spending over $3160 on prescription medications are covered by PBS at no cost.

Question 35

Reciprocal pharmaceutical benefits scheme (RPBS)

Answer 35

Available to provide subsided medication to war veterans and their dependents. It provides similar coverage to that provided by the PBS, but it provides a wider range of pharmaceuticals.