Week 5 - Prevention & Determinants Flashcards
What is a risk factor?
Risk factors may predict substance use and associated problems later in life. E.g. low SES, family breakdown, genetic influence, maternal smoking & alcohol use.
The more risk factors that develop overtime the greater the impact (snowball effect).
Telemere effect Tedtalk
What is a protective factor?
Protective factors mediate or moderate risk factors.
Resilience in the face of adversity and difficult environments is a key protective factor.
What are some examples of genetic risk factors?
- Personality
- Temperament
- Metabolism of certain substances
- Behavioural problems
Why are Indigenous Australians more at risk of alcohol consumption?
There are a number of contributing factors, such as intergenerational trauma. While Aboriginal people drink less than non-Indigenous. those that do, drink at a more hazardous level.
What might be some additional risk factors?
- Family factors (breakdown, conflict within the family, parents might normalise drinking)
- Education (academic failure)
- Personality traits (non-conformity, resistance to authority)
- Peer factors (peer pressure, peer modelling in social learning theory, sensation seeking)
Describe some risk factors for adults, and then provide some protective factors.
- Unemployment
- Mental health problems
- frequent drug use carried over from late adolescence
Well-managed environment for alcohol use, marriage in early adulthood.
Describe risk factors for older adults, and protective factors to AOD.
Risk factors:
- Retirement
- Loss of family/ spouse
- Loneliness
- Reduced social support
- Poor health
Protective factors:
- Good health
- Social support
What are some general protective factors.
- health relationships/ attachments and social support
- positive family relationships with clear and consistent boundaries
- resilience - proactive problem solving
- career goals and aspirations
What is prevention and its aim?
- Prevention refers to delaying the uptake of substance use, or prevent substance use.
- Measures that protect against risk factors
- Reduce harm associated with drug supply and use
What are the 3 levels of prevention?
- Primary = preventing uptake of drugs
- Secondary = reducing risks to experimental users & avoiding transition into more regular use .
- Tertiary = reducing use or potential harms among regular users.
What are the 3 targets of prevention?
- Universal = targeting whole populations. I.e. campaigns.
- Selective = sub-groups with above average risk. I.e. school programs or alcohol free communities.
- Indicated = individuals with detectable symptoms. I.e. counselling & advice lines.
What is Alcopops tax?
Tax on alcohol - however this has not seen to reduce the drinking culture among Australians.
What effects do the broader policies have on mental health?
Broader policies have a direct downstream effect on mental and physical health. For example, increased costs of tuition fees directly impacts equitable education, employment rates, wages, costs of food.
Supporting mental health is about the broader system of social justice, equity, access to resources.
Issue: public policies and social norms are structured to favour some individuals over others, which sets the stage of unequal distribution of opportunity, which further effects social determinants of health.
https://focus.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.focus.20150017
What does upstream refer to?
Upstream = policy changes and large scale prevention efforts; i.e. big hospital system
What does downstream refer to?
Downstream = treatment that targets the individual’s behaviour and health outcomes.
