Week 11: Health status and inequalities Flashcards
What is the world health organisations definition of health?
Health is a state of physical, mental and social well-being. It involves more than just the absence of disease or infirm
How can we assess individual health status?
Subjective health
Daily physical symptoms
Chronic health conditions - ‘in the past 12 months has a dr diagnosed you with any chronic conditions?’
Are all self-report based
What forms of cancer screening is there?
Breast cancer
Cervical cancer
Bowel cancer
What procedures are used for breast cancer screening?
There are free, 2 yearly screening mammograms for women aged 40 and over
What procedures are used for cervical cancer screening?
National Cervical Screening Program, pap smear for women aged 20-69
What procedures are used for bowel cancer screening?
2-yearly screening to all Australians aged 50-74
Are there any gender differences in seeing a medical professional?
Men tend to not be willing to see a medical professional - women are more willing
What is a limitation to these government-based screening procedures?
Although they are given opportunities, not everyone uses them.
What does ‘health doesn’t happen in a bubble’ mean?
There are things outside of our control - eg. living in a poor country and experiencing famine - it is not relevant to ask if they consume a balanced diet
Explain the flint water crisis in michigan?
There was a change in their local pipe system in order to safe money, however caused high levels of lead to contaminate the water. The government assured them that this was safe.
50% of people are still too scared to use unfiltered water after 5 years - remnants of this will be around for years
What does the Flint water crisis tell us about intergenerational affects?
Children may have drunk this water, doesn’t leave the body - may cause distrust in government
What health impact does this flint water crisis have?
Lead is toxic and stays in the body
What is the diabetes belt?
Refers to geographical location in united states - individuals who live in this belt are more likely to have type 2 diabetes than people who live in other parts of the untied states.
- However a limitation to this is that diabetes may be under-reported in poorer states (might not be able to afford medical attention and diagnosis)
Disadvantaged location and breast feeding babies?
People in disadvantaged regions are less likely to breastfeed their babies
Are there any infant gender differences in breast feeding rates?
Female babies are less likely to be breastfed
Does disadvantage have anything to do with likeliness to smoke?
If you’re poorer, you are more likely to be a regular smoker
And the gaps between groups seems to be widening as well
Are there any gender-based differences in smoking rates? why?
Yes. There is an identifiable reduction in female smokers - may be because campaigns work better for females
What trends are seen in geographical location and obesity?
There is an overall increase in obesity regardless of location, however, poorer people are more likely to be obese
As people get older, what do we see?
A stabilisation or improvement in subjective well being
There is an increase in subjective wellbeing with age in richer countries - is this the same for poorer countries?
No - unfortunately in poorer countries, subjective wellbeing seems to decline with age
What does inequality do?
Weakens the social fabric, damages health and increases crime rates
What are the differences between the direct and indirect influences we have on our health?
Direct - how we take care of our body (eg. smoke, drink, eat well)
Indirect - influences that are not directly under our control (eg. gender, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, wealth)
Explain chronic condition onset in different classes
For poor and working class - chronic conditions are typically greater at an earlier age
What causes early onset of conditions in the poor or working class?
Poor nutrition, housing and healthcare access
