Unit 4 AOS 1 SAC 2

Question 1

Sustainability

Answer 1

Meeting the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

Question 2

Social sustainability

Answer 2

Refers to creating equitable society that meets the needs of all citizens and can be maintained indefinitely.

Social sustainability aims to ensure that all people have their human rights upheld, can participate in society and make decisions that affect their lives and equal access to resources such as food shelter, education, healthcare, clean water etc.

To be socially sustainable, progress must lead to improvements in health and wellbeing of all people over time.

Social sustainability can achieved when:

• gender equality
• peace and security
• elimination of poverty and the provision of social security systems
• promotion of political and legal rights
• access to safe and legal working conditions

Question 3

Social sustainability and its role in the promotion of health and wellbeing

Answer 3

Education:

• physical: educated individuals are able to understand health promotion messages, earn higher income, afford basic prerequisites for health
• social: builds effective communication, meaningful relationships, teamwork skills, allows greater participation in community
• mental: education increases confidence, self esteem, self belief

Health care systems:

• physical: reduces spread of diseases globally
• mental: enhanced as individuals should be able to get treatment regardless of their ability to pay reducing stress and anxiety.

Legal and political systems:

• physical: improved with strong legal and political systems as this will result in low levels of corruption, violence and conflict, and lead to increased stability worldwide
• mental: improved as all groups will be represented and due to low levels of corruption, crime and violence and there will be lower levels of stress and anxiety
• spiritual: when there is effective political and legal systems, there is an increased sense of belonging in the community as people feel they have their voices heard.

Social support systems:

• physical: lower levels of diseases and illness on a global scale
• mental: through the provision of social support, stress and anxiety levels are decreased, improving mental h+w

Gender equality:

• physical: reduction in violence and discrimination against women and girls improves overall
• social: is enhanced as women and girls can be involved in the community and are valued members of society
• mental: gender equality results in a decreased level of stress and anxiety as they are not living in fear of violence
• emotional: women and girls who are educated are able to display stronger levels of resilience as they are equipped with the knowledge and are less vulnerable than those who are uneducated.

Question 4

Environmental sustainability

Answer 4

Relates to ensuring the natural environment is used in a way that will preserve resources into the future.

Environmental sustainability is a challenge for developing countries as their natural resources are often exploited to generate income and facilitate trade.

This can be achieved through:

• responsible use of renewable and non-renewable resources (use of natural resources
• sustainable agriculture practices
• waste management (removal)/pollution control
• biodiversity
• climate change

Question 5

Environmental sustainability and its role in the promotion of health and wellbeing

Answer 5

When governments invest in sustainability farming techniques communities and farmers can grow crops to sell and feed their families without impacting and destroying the land. This improves their mental health & wellbeing as it reduces the stress and anxiety they may experience.

When sustainable farming techniques provide food security for farmers the Physical Health & wellbeing of population improve, less malnourishment, more energy, less illness and disease.

Question 6

Economic sustainability

Answer 6

Means ensuring that average incomes in all countries are adequate to sustain a decent standard of living and continue to rise in line with inflation and living costs in the future

This can be achieved through:

• trade
• employment
• economic growth
• innovation and diversity in industries

Question 7

Economic sustainability and its role in the promotion of health and wellbeing

Answer 7

Employment:

• physical, mental, social: High levels of employment and increasing incomes, ensures money is used to invest in infrastructure such as education, hospitals
• spiritual: greater opportunities in employment also allow people to be more connected to their community

Trading opportunities:
- all: essential that countries experience fair trading opportunities when trading their goods on a global market, especially low and middle-income countries, as this is a major factor in reducing poverty levels and enhancing all dimensions of h+w.
Increased trade, increases income which can be spent on essentials to alleviate poverty on a worldwide scale.

Question 8

Inter-relationship between the 3 dimensions

Economic, Environmental, Social

Answer 8

Environmental: (e.g. biodiversity, conversation, natural resources, waste management)

Social: (e.g. culture, governance, education, quality of life

Economic: (e.g. industry, trade, employment, innovation)

Question 9

Human development

Answer 9

creating an environment in which people can develop to their full potential

It is about expanding people’s choices and enhancing capabilities (the range of things people can be and do), living, and participating in the life of their community and decisions affecting their lives

Purpose of human development: The basic purpose of [human] development is to enlarge people’s choices.

Human development means being able to:
- lead long healthy lives
- have access to knowledge (education)
- Have access to resources needed for ‘decent standard of living’ (food, water, etc) - Participate in the community
- Participate in decisions that affect their lives
lead productive, creative lives according to their needs and interests.
having access to knowledge, health and a decent standard of living

Question 10

Components of human development

Answer 10

What each components of human development relate to:
Develop to their full potential:
- Being free from diseases and disabilities that would prevent people from adequately growing up and living up to the full potential that they otherwise would have been able to.

Lead productive and creative lives in accordance to their needs and interests:
- Being free from disease and illnesses that would inhibit people from being able to work, socialise with their friends and families, have hobbies, follow their passions.

Expand peoples choices and enhance their capabilities:
- Through education, people learn and can develop their literacy and numeracy skills, enhancing the things they are capable of doing. In doing so, they increase their
employment prospects, therefore expanding the choices (what field of jobs they want to go into) they have.

Access to knowledge, health and a decent standard of living:
- This notion relates to having access to quality education, health services, an equitable health care system, food security, shelter, water, and hence, good living
conditions

Participate in the community and decisions affecting their lives:
- Having the opportunity to participate in the community (e.g both men and women can have a say in the community) and the ability to make decisions for themselves.
For example, in many developing countries, women are not able to make decisions about their own lives; fathers usually marry their daughters off at a young age.

Question 11

Human development index

Answer 11

a tool developed by the United Nations to measure and rank countries’ levels of social and economic development. It provides a single statistic based on three dimensions — a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living — and four indicators — life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, expected years of schooling and Gross National Income per capita

Question 12

Human development index strengths and limitations

Answer 12

Advantages:

• HDI index captures and compares the majority of countries and compares development levels which reveal clear global patterns
• It is a simple statistic combing 3 dimensions and 4 indicators into one figure which makes comparisons to other countries easier as it is multidimensional yet does not require separate comparisons of 3 pieces of data
• The HDI does not just focus solely on economic development through measures of a countries GNI, however takes into considerations that there are other, more social ways to measure human development including life expectancy and education
• Improvements in infrastructure can be seen when there are improvements in a countries education and health indicators

Limitations:

• Access to safe water and sanitation, available of employment and range of industries, access to social security and gender equality are not considered
• Data collected from developing countries may be quite unreliable and difficult to confirm there are some countries with no data at all
• Education simply by mean and expected years may not measure quality of education. Life expectancy may not also measure good health as a person can live many years in poor health
• There is also unequal access to resources such as education within a country particularly in rural and remote locations
• Many countries experience unequal distribution of wealth within the country and therefore GNI per capita does not capture this

Question 13

Dimensions and indicators or the HDI

Answer 13

The dimensions relate to broad concepts that have an impact on the level of human development experienced. These are:

• A long and healthy life
• Knowledge
• A decent standard of living

Whereas the indicators are the measurable aspect of each dimension. The four indicators relate to:

• life expectancy at birth. An indication of how long a person can expect to live; it’s the number of years of life remaining to a person at birth if death rates do not change (AIHW, 2008).
• mean years of schooling. The average number of years of education achieved by those aged 25 years and over.
• expected years of schooling. The number of years of education expected for a child of school entrance age.
• Gross National Income per capita. The overall income of a country after expenses owing to other countries have been paid, divided by the population of the country

Question 14

Global trends

Answer 14

– Climate change (rising sea level, changing weather patterns and more extreme weather events)
– Conflict and mass migration
– Increased world trade and tourism
– Digital technologies that enable increased knowledge sharing.

Question 15

Climate change

• Define
• Causes
• Effects/Impacts

Answer 15

Refers to the increase in the earth’s average surface temperature

Climate changes such as rising temperatures, changing weather patterns and extreme weather events are the result of global warming.

Climate change is mostly caused from human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels including coal and oil. This causes the release of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, into the earth’s atmosphere and contribute significantly to global warming

Between 2030-2050 climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths each year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress.

When asked to discuss the impact of climate change on health and wellbeing use an example linked to either

• Rising sea level
• Changing weather patterns
  
  • Extreme heat conditions
  • Changing rainfall
  • More extreme weather events

Question 16

Climate change: rising sea levels

Answer 16

Increased atmospheric temperatures have led to polar ice caps melting at an increased rate, and as a result we are seeing sea levels increase.

Rising sea levels put the lives and livelihoods of millions of people worldwide at risk. About 40% of the global population live within 100km of the coast.

Rising sea levels will lead to:

• loss of homes
• loss of land for crops and livestock
• loss of habitat for wildlife
• increased risk of flooding
• increased risk of erosion
• impact on drinking water

Question 17

Climate change: changing weather patterns and extreme weather events

Answer 17

Atmospheric warming as a result of climate change has been shown to be responsible for more frequent and more severe extreme weather events such as flooding, drought and extreme heat. In Australia, mean surface air temperature has increased by about 1.0 degree since 1910

In recent decades, heat waves have been experienced more regularly and for longer, flooding events have increased in frequency, while we have also seen an increase in areas suffering from drought.

Increased temperatures, changing rainfall, and increased extreme weather lead to:

• increased risk of injury and death from extreme weather events
• loss of livelihood income
• loss of access to water for crops and drinking
• damage to homes

Question 18

Climate change

Impact on h+w

Answer 18

Physical:

• reduced access to sufficient food sources impacting nutritional intake reducing efficiently functioning of the body
• increased risk of injury and death as a result of extreme heart and flooding events
• loss of infrastructure such as hospitals during extreme weather events may impact ability to access healthcare
• increased risk of waterborne and vector borne illnesses

Emotional:

• loss of lives and homes as a result of extreme weather can lead to feelings of sadness and grief
• people at increased risk of weather events may have difficulty feeling secure in their environment and may have a reduced ability to remain resilient after disasters occur

Mental:

• loss of income generating sources and loss of shelter can increase feelings of helplessness and stress
• living in fear of extreme weather can increase anxiety and make it difficult to cope with day to day demands

Social:

• rising sea levels and increased frequency of extreme weather events may require individuals to leave their homes and communities, resulting in loss of community interaction and participation
• loss of infrastructure such as schools can reduce education opportunities for children, restricting social health

Spiritual:

• if extreme weather events and rising sea levels cause people to leave their homes and communities, people may lack a sense of belonging
• regular extreme weather events, particularly when they cause loss of life, may lead to people questioning their beliefs and the meaning of life

Question 19

Mass migration

Consequences of conflict

Displaced people

Internally displaced people

Asylum seeker

Statelessness

Answer 19

A migration of large groups of people from one geographical area to another

The consequences of conflict include:

• Physical environment is destroyed with limited access to descent housing, food, education and health care services.
• Limited water, sanitation and electricity supplies.
• Limited education for children and employment opportunities for adults.
• Increase in injuries, infant and maternal mortality and rates of communicable diseases such as typhoid, dysentery and cholera.
• Displaced people (refugee): those who are forced to leave their home because of war or persecution.
• Internally displaced persons; people who are displaced within their own country
• Asylum seeker: a person seeking international protection and whose refugee status is yet to be confirmed.
• Statelessness: a situation where a person does not have citizenship of any country. These individuals have no protection of their human, social or political rights and cannot access education or healthcare or have freedoms of movement.

Question 20

Impact of conflict and mass migration on h+w

Answer 20

Physical:
- increased injury, increased mortality as well as infant and newborn and maternal mortality, sexual assault, malnutrition and increased risk of communicable disease, cholera, diarrhoea, and hypothermia

Emotional:
- living in constant fear and state of anxiety impacts on resilience levels, and individuals may struggle to manage emotions effectively when in such helpless situations

Mental:

• people are living their lives in fear, suffering from extreme stress and anxiety and would struggle to feel optimistic
• increased mental health problems

Social:

• loss of contacts with social and support networks, as children as removed from school, and adults cease working
• many children in refugee camps are alone without their parents, and become isolated and withdrawn from society

Spiritual:

• sense of belonging is lost, as people are forced to fell their familiar lives and homes
• peace and harmony is destroyed
• refugees may struggle to see purpose and meaning in their life

Question 21

Increased world trade

Positives

Negatives

Answer 21

The increase in world trade has become a product of increased globalisation - which can be seen as a process of interaction and integration among people, companies and governments of different nations

Positives:
Increased world trade has greatly benefited people in low-income countries by increasing average incomes, creating more jobs, especially small business opportunities and providing a greater choice in products which decreases the price of goods and services

Negatives:

• labour is the highest cost associated with increased trade. With the expansion of global world trade, this has seen large multinational companies looking to low-middle income countries to manufacture their products at a low cost
• the h+w of many of these workers is not considered as a large number of working in low/middle-income countries are forced to work long hours in dangerous conditions for an unfair wage. Many of these countries have very few safe workplace regulations in place.

Question 22

Impact on health and wellbeing of increased world trade

Answer 22

Physical:
- increased trade, increases countries, and an individuals income and therefore more money can be directed towards healthcare, food and adequate shelter, ensuring diseases can be treated effectively, reducing rates of malnutrition and impacts of inadequate shelter such as injuries and infectious diseases

Mental:
- increased trade opportunities within a country, which enhances employment options, providing opportunities for small scale business owners. With a fair and steady income, there is less stress and anxiety experienced. When employment levels are increasing, so are optimism levels of a country and its people

Social:
- increased trade allows for more job opportunities, especially for those previously unemployed such as women. The workforce provides opportunities for people to expand their social networks of friends and build positive and productive relationships. Increased incomes also allow more children to attend school where social health and wellbeing in enhanced.

Spiritual:
- many people find a sense of purpose and meaning in life through meaningful employment which can be a result of increased trade and job opportunities within a country

Question 23

Tourism

Why it’s important

Answer 23

Tourism is one of the world’s fastest-growing industries worldwide. It represents international trade in services and accounts for 10 per cent of the world’s exports in goods and services or GDP.

Tourism plays a key role in developing jobs for local people as well as promoting local culture and products. It is a key driver of economic progress. In 2017, tourism was responsible for providing 1 out of every 10 jobs and 10 per cent of the world’s economic output or GDP.

Question 24

Tourism

How it promotes h+w

Answer 24

• Tourism promotes inclusive and sustainable economic growth
• Tourism contributes to social inclusiveness and employment
• Tourism promotes resource efficiency and environmental protection
• Tourism preserves cultural values, diversity and heritage
• Tourism promotes mutual understanding, peace and security.
• physical: increase in average incomes due to tourism enables people to be able to purchase nutritious foods, water services and adequate shelter; whilst increased tax revenue collected allows countries to invest in health care facilities, transport and education.
• mental, social, spiritual: tourism leads to increased understanding between cultures, removing prejudices and promoting cultural pride.
• all: tourism often improves facilities and infrastructure such as leisure facilities which can also benefit interests of the local people enhancing their h+w

Question 25

Tourism

Negative impacts on h+w

Answer 25

• Impact of environmental problems can cause health hazards for local communities. E.g. an increase in water pollution, particularly in areas which lack appropriate sewerage and waste management systems. Damaging ecosystems due to pollutants present in the water. ear, eye, skin and gastrointestinal infections are also common due to swimming in polluted waterways. This impacts negatively on the physical h+w of both tourists and the local population
• The tourism industry can also increase the spread of communicable disease. Infections can be imported from the tourists country of origin or contracted while travelling
• Transmission of sexually transmitted infections often through sexual exploitation, malaria and diarrhoea diseases are some of the greatest concerns associated with an increase in tourism, all impacting negatively on physical h+w

There are also risks to tourist guides - below are some examples:

• Adventure tour guides, risk injury, boat/car accidents, snake bites, disease
• Mountain guides - altitude sickness, injury or death
• Nepalese porta’s risk of bone deformation due to heavy loads and chronic back pain

Question 26

Digital technologies and increased knowledge sharing

Answer 26

Over the last 10 years there has been considerable growth in digital technologies. The world has become increasingly more connected. People, businesses and governments are moving into the virtual world to deliver and access services, obtain and share knowledge, undertake transactions, shop, work and interact with each other.

Developments in mobile phone technology and the rapid expansion of affordable mobile phone networks means that digital technologies are much more available to people, even those living in the most remote, resource-limited areas.

Digital technologies also provide countries with the ability to register births, deaths and marriages, which ensures people have access to legal protection, education and basic human rights.

The expansion of digital technologies means mobile phone technology can be used not only for everyday communication but also for more complex data collection and sharing of health-related information.

The emergence of eHealth is changing the nature of healthcare. eHealth refers to health services and information delivered or enhanced through the internet and related technologies. eHealth has the capacity to increase efficiency in healthcare, which can reduce the cost by avoiding unnecessary duplication of diagnostic or therapeutic services and better communication that reaches more people. Digital technologies can empower people to manage their health and wellbeing and to adopt healthy behaviours.

Question 27

Digital technologies and increased knowledge sharing

Examples of digital technology improving health outcomes

Answer 27

• Maintenance of e-health records
• Mobile tsunami warning
• Mobile bushfire and flood warning
• Mobile and internet based fitness and nutrition programs
• WHO SMS alerts for disease control, such as the ebola virus

Question 28

Digital technologies and increased knowledge sharing

Impact on h+w

Answer 28

• Greater access to health information to increase health literacy reducing spread of disease, improving physical h+w
• Greater ability to access information in the event of health emergencies such as the Ebola outbreak, tsunami and bushfire warning, improving physical and mental health
• Greater access to information to increase trading opportunities and greater income earning capacity, improving mental, social and physical health
• Greater knowledge access and development of technological skills to improve future employment opportunities improving all dimensions of health