Workshop 13 - public health Flashcards
what is public health ?
The art and science of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organised efforts of society.
what are the public health approach ?
surveillance, identify risk factors, intervention or evaluation and implement to get from the problem to the response
what are determinants of health ?
age,
gender,
lifestyle choices,
community influences, income status,
geographical location, culture,
environmental factors,
work conditions,
education and access to health services
what are measures of public health success?
life expectancy,
infant mortality,
disability adjusted life expectancy,
tobacco smoking rates, alcohol consumption
and obesity
others to do with lifestyle or other determinants of health are murders, teenage births, educational attainment and social mobility
what are health inequalities?
Health inequalities are avoidable, unfair and systematic differences in health between different groups of people
health status, for example, life expectancy
access to care, for example, availability of given services
quality and experience of care, for example, levels of patient satisfaction
behavioural risks to health, for example, smoking rates
wider determinants of health, for example, quality of housing.
what are Population based policy/legislative changes
Smoking ban in confined public spaces
Cigarette packaging and display
Alcohol minimum pricing
Immunisation programmes
Screening programmes
Needle / syringe exchange programmes
Vitamin supplementation in children
More likely to reduce inequality
More likely to achieve population-level impact
what are public health priorities?
Health protection
Immunisation
Blood borne viruses (HIV strategy soon to be published, Hep C elimination [<5000 chronic inf. Scot])
Substance misuse
Health improvement
Nutrition and healthy eating
Smoking cessation
Alcohol consumption
Disease priorities
CHD, stroke, and cancer
what are problems causes by inappropriate use of antibiotics?
Patient:
Drug toxicity or ineffective treatment
Allergic** and adverse reactions
Healthcare associated infection – MRSA or C. difficile infection (CDI)
Population:
Emerging antimicrobial resistance
what is health economics?
Health economics is the discipline of economics applied to the topic of health care. Broadly defined, economics concerns how society allocates its resources among alternative uses. Scarcity of these resources provides the foundation of economic theory and from this starting point, three basic questions arise:
What goods and services shall we produce?
How shall we produce them?
Who shall receive them?
what are reasons for cost increases in healthcare
Old medicines being replaced by newer technologies
Changing demographics of population
Increased incidence and prevalence of chronic conditions
Lifestyle changes, increased obesity
Patient expectation
National guidelines
Brexit
Covid-19 pandemic related global output slowdown and inflationary pressures
Pro prescribing attitude
Increase in prescribers?
New organisations e.g Walk in Centres
Newly approved drugs are heavily marketed
Manufacturers extending patent protection
New formulations e.g orodispersible
how can we descries drug spend?
Polypharmacy reviews (clinical intervention)
Deprescribing initiatives (clinical intervention)
Realistic medicine
what are methods to improve cost effectiveness?
Prescribing advisers
Clinical Pharmacists
Increased accountability
Information on outcomes
Incentive schemes
Reviewing patient’s medicines
Joint formularies
Best evidence
Relationships with pharmaceutical industry
Engage with public
Reduce waste
Avoid medicine related harm
