The document discusses psychological and social science concepts related to disease, health inequalities, and strategies for health promotion. It defines disease and ill health, and explains that health issues can be caused by genetics, behaviors, environment, and lead to additional health problems. Health inequalities exist between rich and poor areas in factors like education and environment. Promoting public health involves policies, awareness, and supportive environments. Epidemiology identifies disease distributions and determinants to understand outcomes, while demography examines population characteristics. Theories like social cognitive theory and the health belief model are effective for health promotion by increasing awareness and understanding risks.
2. An understanding of disease and ill-health and the underlying
principles behind inequalities in health
● A disease is a harmful deviation from the
normal functional or structural state of
organisms
● The disease is associated with specific
symptoms and signs and differs in nature in
terms of physical injury (Britannica.com,
2022)
● As per the views of Hong et al. (2020), ill
health is an inferior health condition in which
some impairment of function or disease is
present, yet, it is not a serious condition
3. Contd.
● The main causes of ill health are the genetic
makeup of an individual, lifestyle behaviours
such as smoking, toxic substances exposure, for
instance, asbestos and other reasons (Dhaneesh
et al., 2022)
● Multiple health problems and an illness and its
treatment often led to another illness
● Chronic illness has specific symptoms, yet, it
may also involve invisible symptoms for
example fatigue, pain or mood disorders
4. Contd...
● Health inequalities include education, income, access to
healthy food and green space, profession and areas of
living
● Generally, people in poor areas of the UK have been found
to have more diagnosed illnesses over the past decade,
than those in rich areas (Health.org.uk, 2022)
● The UK government has been taking multiple actions for
eliminating fundamental causes and preventing
environmental influences along with mitigating negative
impacts (Healthscotland.scot, 2022)
5. Strategies to promote and enhance health
● Building policies for public health and creating
supportive environments are effective strategies
for promoting health
● According to the WHO, basic strategies based on
health promotion found in Ottawa Charter had
been to advocate, enable and mediate (Who.int,
2021)
● Advocate for boosting the factors encouraging
health, enable by allowing everyone to achieve
equity in health and mediate with the help of
collaboration, for health promotion (Who.int,
2021)
6. Contd...
● The first International Health promotion conference
was held in Ottawa in 1986 (Who.int, 2021)
● Global conferences for health promotion are
established in different areas
● Almost every country has been focusing on
sustainable development goals
• These can be achieved by integrating effective
strategies and policies for promoting health
7. Contd.
● Devising policies for public health and increasing
awareness among the public are essential strategies for
health promotion
● Creating a supportive environment and improving
community actions are also included in the health
promotion strategy
● Apart from these, the reorientation of health services is
crucial for enhancing healthcare services
(Vichealth.vic.gov.au, 2021)
8. The role of epidemiology and demographics in relation to
public health practice
● Epidemiology is concerned with the identification of
social problems by studying the distribution of diseases
or health problems as well as their determinants in the
social groups
● Epidemiology focuses on establishing the factors leading
to health issues, interventions, appropriate responses and
solution
● The future outcomes can be predicted with the help of
using statistical analysis associated with disease
9. Contd.
● Demography as well as epidemiology, both
are quantitative disciplines that are concerned
with the human condition
● The characteristics and dynamics of the
populations in a particular geographical areas
are explored to take a view of events and
activities
● Therefore, it can be satiated that, with the
help of epidemiology, the rate of spread of
disease and gradual spike in cases along with
many other aspects are understood
10. Contd…
● Studies demonstrate that epidemiology and
demography are essential for understanding
the characteristics of the disease and the
demographic aspects involved in a disease
● According to a CDC report, the major tasks
involved in epidemiology are public health,
analytic studies, linkages, field investigations,
public health surveillance and evaluation are
involved (Cdc.gov, 2021)
● Demographics is helpful in community
diagnosis
11. Theories and approaches of health promotions relevant to
health issues within professional roles or work placement
● Social cognitive theory or SCT focuses on the influence of
experiences of individuals, environmental factors and actions
of others on the health behaviour
● According to the principles of SCT, learning is conducted in a
social context and also in case of reciprocal and dynamic
interaction among an individual, environment as well as
behaviour (Dos Santos, 2020)
● Hence, it has been understood that conducting awareness
campaigns for disease and ill health can be effective for the
citizens to increase their insights
12. Contd.
● The health belief model is used for
guiding healthy promotions along
with “disease prevention programs”
● This is used in nursing to clarify the
perceptions of patients based on risks
and behaviour (Jorvand et al., 2018)
• This model helps nurses to utilise
strategies that are influential for
patients to make healthy changes in
lifestyles
13. Contd.
● The aforementioned theory has been observed to
be effective and helpful for increasing awareness
in the general public regarding certain health
conditions and resolving their issues
● The health belief model has been observed to be
significant for nurses to help patients relieve
their worries and perception of risks
● The opinion of people are affected by using the
principles of this model regarding different ill
health condition and diseases (Jorvand et al.,
2018)
14. Reference list
Britannica.com, 2022, concept of disease,Available at: https://www.britannica.com/science/disease#:~:text=disease%2C%20any%20harmful%20deviation%20from,indicative%20of%20its%20abnormal%20state. [Accessed on 11/10/2022]
Cdc.gov, 2021. Epidemiology, Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dsepd/ss1978/lesson1/section4.html [Accessed on 11/10/2022]
Dos Santos, L.M., 2020. I want to become a registered nurse as a non-traditional, returning, evening, and adult student in a community college: A study of career-changing nursing students.InternationalJournal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(16), p.5652.
Health.org.uk, 2022, major-study-outlines-wide-health-inequalities-in-England,Available at: https://www.health.org.uk/news-and-comment/news/major-study-outlines-wide-health-inequalities-in-england [Accessed on 11/10/2022]
Healthscotland.scot, 2022, health-inequalities-what-are-they-how-do-we-reduce-them, Available at: https://www.healthscotland.scot/media/1086/health-inequalities-what-are-they-how-do-we-reduce-them-mar16.pdf [Accessed on 11/10/2022]
Hong, A., Zampieri, R.A., Shaw, J.J., Floeter-Winter, L.M. and Laranjeira-Silva, M.F., 2020. One health approach to leishmaniases: understanding the disease dynamics through diagnostic tools. Pathogens,9(10), p.809.
Jorvand, R., Tavousi, M. and Ghofranipour, F., 2018. Determinants of the regular physical activity among employees of healthcare network: Application of health belief model. Journal of Education and Community Health, 5(3), pp.4-12.
Vichealth.vic.gov.au, 2021, health-promotion,Available at: https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/about/health-promotion [Accessed on 11/10/2022]
In the medical world, the disease is considered a type of pathology or medical problem, impairment, or defect, whereas illness is nothing but a manifestation of that impairment or disability. Illness is also presented as a medical condition which restricts the functional capability of a person living in a society. The holistic definition of health given by the WHO signifies that health is something more than the absence of a mere disease. However, in a biological model, health has been conceived as the absence of disease only. The disease is often caused due to problems in biomedical points. It can also consist of different behavioural manifestations in the context of human functionality. As the definition of health is not simple, it also raises complexities in defining the disease.
The lack of health in someone or the absence of a mere infirmity does not signify disease, rather numerous germ and non-germ-related conditions often signify that a disease is present. A disease can even be defined in other ways such as it can be a state in which the fluctuation of human capacity happens and it represents a deviation in the context of biomedical standards. Although disease needs medical intervention on a regular basis, not all conditions requiring medical intervention define the disease. In another context, a disease can be defined as a pathological state that is often diagnosed with the help of medical analysis. On the other hand, illness is a reasonably serious form of disease that becomes undesirable due to its incapacitating effects. It is obvious that no one desires to have it because its attributes are negative.
The avoidable and unjust differences between the two different people’s health across a specific population are known as health inequalities. Health inequalities do not cope with the principles of social justice due to their avoidable nature. Moreover, these inequalities do not happen suddenly or on a random basis. Therefore, these are often socially determined by certain circumstances that are far beyond the control of an individual. These circumstances have certain disadvantages in people’s lives as they restrict them from living longer and healthier life. There are a lot of reasons or underlying principles for health inequalities, namely economic forces across the globe, different political priorities across different nations, and unequal distribution of power, income, or wealth.
Research around the world provides relevant evidence about health promotion being effective. Strategies related to health promotion have the ability to change and develop human lifestyles. Subsequently, these strategies create a heavy impact on environmental, social, and economic conditions to determine health. Health promotion is a set of a number of actions that can foster good health and well-being in an individual. However, it is not a promotion in the context of the meaning that the word health promotion defines, rather suggesting people ways to take care of their health is a part of health promotion. Health promotion allows people to have better control over their health and as a result, activities gearing ill-health naturally decrease.
Health promotion consists of several actions such as making people aware of what actions they can take to stay healthy. It can also address certain things in a community that act as influencers in health and well-being so that these can get support. The activities of health promotion are focused to promote health and preventing ill-health rather than only focusing on people who are at risk for some diseases. Activities regarding health promotion are necessary as a survey conducted by the WHO reveals that almost two million people die due to accidents in worksites. The survey further shows that more than one hundred andd sixty million new cases per year are reported that are associated with workplaces.
Researchers across the world have proved that different strategies related to health promotion are beneficial for the development and nurturing of a healthy lifestyle. Similarly, managers of companies around the world are also highly inspired by the benefits of different strategies as these can boost employee well-being. However, the structure of well-defined strategies varies from organization to organization, and a standard of health promotion strategy has been set by the WHO. Strategies of health promotion include devising policies regarding healthy public health, nurturing an environment that can be supportive, and enforcing collaboration in a community. Regulating assessments related to health risk is the most common strategy. It is the process of organizing question-answer sessions with employees to know about their health and well-being.
Epidemiology and demographics provide practical guidance to public health in the context of planning and implementation processes of surveillance and investigation of several disease outbreaks. The exploration of contributing factors to the transmission of disease dynamics and population risk identification is also included in the ethics of epidemiology. Important issues related to public safety and privacy fall under the category of demographics. Although both epidemiology and demography are generally applied to construct several theories in the discipline of problem-solving, their nature and trajectories vary according to groups. Differences are also observed in their methodological traditions as well as substantive interests. However, the perspectives of both are comprehensive and are deeply associated with the health and social well-being of humans.
Epidemiology is related to the study of diseases in a group of populations. Veterinarians and other medical representatives are involved in proposing preventive medicine. These public health professionals utilize several epidemiological methods for the surveillance of diseases or any outbreak investigation. Observational studies related to the identification of risk factors are used in further research to implement control measures for certain diseases. The implementation of “hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP)” systems is highly dependent on the information presented by different epidemiological studies. These methods are then used in the field of epidemiological studies to assess risk factors that have the ability to represent “critical control points” in a production system. Thus, epidemiology refers to the determinants of health-related events in a specific group of populations.
Demography is a scientific form of study that works on human populations. It becomes essential to understand the population structure so that a plan related to interventions of health and public health can be made. The structure of the population can also be termed age pyramids. The growth and decline of a population depend on a number of things such as mortality, fertility, and migration. On the other side, the underlying concepts of epidemiological and demographic health transitions can assist in shifting the population structure dramatically. The patterns of diseases can also be tracked by these concepts. However, measuring demographic statistics is not easy and modelling is often used to provide the comparison of data.
Several theories and approaches are there that support health promotion-related practices along with the prevention of diseases. These theories and approaches are implemented in planning programs of understanding and explaining the health behaviour of an individual. This can even help to guide the assessment and development of interventions. However, it needs to be kept in mind during the identification of a theory or approach that a range of factors can affect the programs of health promotion and disease prevention. These programs are typically drawn from one or more models or theories. The factors of consideration include the health problem being addressed, the population that is taking part, and the context of the program.
“Social Cognitive Theory” is significant in describing various experiences of an individual or actions of others. Several environmental factors that can affect the health behaviours of individuals are also described in this theory. This theory provides different opportunities regarding social support for human beings with the help of instilling expectations, observational learning, and self-efficacy. The theory can be implemented in different sets of populations as a framework. The “Health Belief Model” is another theoretical approach that proves to be useful in guiding several programs for promoting health and preventing diseases. It is generally used to describe or forecast particular changes in the health behaviours of an individual, making it one of the most widely used models in the world to understand health behaviours.
It is observed that most older people in western nations have the desire to live in an independent manner so that they can control their own lives as long as possible and no one else. However, these people are always in need of care and additional support at home. In certain situations of caring, ambiguity and tension may emerge between professionals or clients based on their views regarding health risk prevention. Therefore, following a certain approach is mandatory for them to implement the care system effectively. There are a number of approaches within the context of work placements that need to be selected based on the care system. Some of these are medical, educational, behavioural, societal, and other changing approaches.