Chapter 5 - Changes in Australia's health status Flashcards
(32 cards)
Infectious disease
Can be transmitted from one person to another
Parasitic disease
Occur when parasites such as worms, skin mites, body lice and protozoa enter the body through contaminated food or water or from contact with others who have parasites on their skin or hair
Waterborne diseases
Waterborne diseases are illnesses transmitted through contaminated water
- cholera
Public health
The ways in which governments monitor, regulate and promote health and wellbeing and prevent illness.
- Providing safe water
- Sanitation and sewage disposal improved nutrition, improved housing conditions
- Better work conditions
Health promotion
The process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health.
Old public health
Government actions that focused on the changing the physical environment to prevent the spread of diseases
Old public health initiatives
- Clean drinking water was provided
- Sewage systems were established, and sanitation was improved
- Better quality housing and the elimination of housing slums
- Improved food and nutrition
- Improved working conditions
- Mass immunisation programs
What does it mean clean drinking water was provided
- People were provided with safe water to drink
- Infectious diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera were reduced
What does it mean sewage systems were established
- These were established and sanitation was improved which helps to keep human waste separated from drinking water supplies
- Waste being removed from streets minimisng contamination
- Infectious diseases such as diarrhoea, hepatitis were reduced
- Improved infant and under 5 mortality rates
What does it mean mass immunisations
- With scientific discovery of vaccinations the government funded mass immunisations for diphtheria, tuberculosis, tetanus, poliomyelitis
- Children get vaccinated from deadly diseases like polio and prevent developing symptoms of these diseases
- Improved infant and under 5 mortality rates
- Improved life expectancy
What does it mean quarantine laws
- An outbreak of the bubonic plague in 1900 triggered the introduction of strict quarantine laws to prevent the arrival and transmission of infectious diseases from other countries
- Quarantine laws were also introduced to control the spread of COVID-19
The shift to health promotion
Health promotion refers to the process of enabling people to increase control over and improve their healthy
Biomedical approach
Focuses on the physical or biological aspects of disease and illness. It is a medical model practiced by doctors and health professionals and is associated with the diagnosis, treatment and cure of disease
Features of the biomedical approach
- focuses on individuals who are ill
- concerned with disease, illness and disability
- relies on services provided by doctors, specialists
- quick fix approach
- relies on technology to diagnose, treat and cure
Examples of the biomedical approach
- Chemotherapy to treat cancer
- X-rays to diagnose broken bones
- Surgery to replace hip
- Stitches to assist in healing of a wound
- Medication to lower blood pressure
Advantages of the biomedical approach to health
- Funding brings the improvements in technology and research
- It enables many illnesses and conditions to be effectively treated
- It extends life expectancy
- It improves quality of life and healthy adjusted life expectancy
Disadvantages of the biomedical approach to health
- It relies on professional health works and technology and is therefore costly
- It doesn’t always promote good health and wellbeing
- Not every condition can be treated
- It is not always affordable
What is the social model of health
An approach that recognises improvements in health and wellbeing can only be achieved by directing effort towards addressing the physical, sociocultural and political environments of health that have an impact on individuals and population groups
Advantages of the social model of health
- It promotes good health and wellbeing and assists in preventing diseases
- It takes a more holistic approach to health and wellbeing
- It is less expensive than the biomedical approach
- It focuses on vulnerable population groups
- Education can be passed on from generation to generation
- The responsibility for health and wellbeing is shared
Disadvantages of the social model of health
- Not every illness or condition can be prevented
- It does not promote the development of technology and medical knowledge
- It does not address the health and wellbeing concerns of individuals
- Health promotion messages may be ignored
What is the ottawa charter
- The Ottawa charter for health promotion was developed by the WHO and aims to reduce inequalities in health
- It reflects the social model of health and provides five action areas that can be used as a basis for improving health outcomes
What are the five action areas for the ottawa charter
Bad, Cats, Smell, Dead, Rats
- Build healthy public policy
- Create supportive environments
- Strengthen community action
- Develop personal skills
- Reorient health services
What is build health public policy
Decisions made by government and organisations regarding laws and polices that make it more difficult for people to undertake unhealthy behaviour and seek to make healthier choices
- Speed limit for road safety
- No smoking in public places
- No hat no play sun safety policy
- Increase tax on tobacco
What is create supportive environments
Creating supportive environments that modifies physical and sociocultural settings to support healthy behaviour
- Establishment of Quitline
- Shade over playgrounds
- Free fruit for kids encouraging healthy eating
- Provide safe working environments
