This document discusses the effects of lifestyle on health. It defines health using both the medical model and positive health models. The medical model views health as a normal state like a well-adjusted machine, while positive health defines it in terms of physical, mental, social and emotional well-being. Lifestyle factors like diet, smoking, drinking and socioeconomic status directly impact health and influence behaviors. The document also presents a scenario of a nurse dealing with alcohol-related emergencies and discusses the health promotion role of practitioners in addressing lifestyle-related issues at the individual and community levels through education, policy changes and collaborating with other agencies.
2. The Aims of today’s seminar
Basic knowledge of lifestyle influences on
health
To understand the significance of first line
health promotion with regards to lifestyle
influences
To promote health and educate patients and
families regarding treatments and life-style
modifications
4. What is Health? The concept of health
THE MEDICAL MODEL
The traditional view held by many doctors
and nurses, is that health is the ‘normal’
state, similar to that of a well-adjusted
machine.
5. Our personal concepts of health extends
beyond the medical model - not just
physically - Our mental, emotional or social
health can equally be important to us.
Practitioners should remember that these
things are important to their clients, too!
What is Health? The concept of health
THE MEDICAL MODEL
6. The medical model presents some
significant problems
– It relies on an idea of ‘normality’ that is by no
means universally applicable
– It ignores other aspects of health that may be
equally, or even more, important to the people
concerned
– Can encourage a reactive rather than a
proactive role for health professionals.
What is Health? The concept of health
THE MEDICAL MODEL
7. Health promoters need a wider definition of
health
– health promoters do not consider the model to
be adequate for their purposes. There are gaps
in learned writings towards concepts of ‘well-
being’ and ‘wellness’.
What is Health? The concept of health
POSITIVE HEALTH
9. This definition has been criticised because it
presents and unachievable ideal. However,
it is useful because:
– It describes health in positive terms
– It recognises that health is made up of more
than one element
Definition of Health by the WHO:
10. Dimensions of health
Within health promotion, an individual’s
physical state is seen as only one
component of their health.
Ewles and Simnett (1998) suggest that:
– Physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual
and societal are also part of the individuals well
being
11. Health can also be defined in functional
terms. This means that health can be
defined as:
– ‘Resource for everyday life’ (WHO 1984)
Dimensions of health
12. Health Promotion is:
‘The process of enabling people to
increase control over, and to improve,
their own health.’
14. Lifestyle
Is a vague term although it is a popular
concept.
Often it is used to mean only voluntary
lifestyles, the choices people make about
their behaviour and especially about their
consumption patterns.
– In context the most relevant are choices about
food, about smoking and about drinking.
15. Others may include
– Style of living which have cultural and
economic dimensions
• However, the way of life in the city may inevitably
be different to the country, the single from the
married - the north from the south!
Socio-economic factors
– Income, work, housing, and the physical and
social environments are also part of ways of
living
Lifestyle
16. Lifestyle
‘These have to be considered both as having a
direct effect on health and as factors influencing
behaviour.’
17. Environmental factors on health
Housing
– living in unsanitary conditions, neglect from housing agency
Food quality
– food poisoning, levels of hygiene in Restaurants
Air pollution
– Refinery emissions, Carbon monoxide emissions
Water pollution
– caries in water supplies,
Soil pollution
– refuse dumps where domestic and industrial waste are deposited
Climate
– change in temperatures - cold winters
18. Factors leading to ill health
DISADVANTAGE
for example
* unemployment
* low wages
* single parent
* chronic illness
* disability
POVERTY
* poor housing
* polluted environment
* unsafe environment
* inadequate heating
* work-related hazards
* poor diet
* isolation
* poor access to facilities
FRUSTRATION
* stress
* smoking
* alcohol abuse
* drug use
* lack of exercise
* violence
ILLNESS
SOURCE: Lothian Health Board (1991a) p45
22. Discussing activity
This activity has raised important questions
about the difference between physical and mental
health - the ability to carry out a range of
physical activities and the ability to cope
psychologically with the demands of everyday
life.
24. Class participation
SCENARIO
Karen is a nurse practitioner in an A & E Department.
‘It was 9 PM, an ambulance brought in a woman who had been a passenger in a car
driven by a drunk driver. She had suffered massive trauma and there was nothing we
could do to save her. Half an hour later, we treated three young men with stab wounds
who had been involved in a fight outside a pub. Later that evening, we saw a student
who had had a row with his girlfriend, downed a bottle of vodka and tried to cut his
wrists. We also treated casualties from another fight outside a pub at closing time. At
1 am, a man who had clearly been drinking heavily brought his wife in a taxi. She’d
got a broken arm and claimed she’d fallen downstairs, although by the look of the
bruises on her face, I suspected domestic violence. She was staying by her story, so
we reluctantly decided to take the matter no further.
25. Alcohol was an important contributory factor in all these
incidents. I spent the evening, rushed off my feet, trying
to deal with the damage that people had done to each
other and themselves, because people had been
drinking too much. I suddenly thought, ‘What am I doing
here? This is such a waste of energy and resources.’
Class participation
SCENARIO
26. What is the health promotion role of the
practitioner in this situation?
What else could the health professional do
to promote the health of clients?
Do the health professionals and the clients
share the same perspective on health?
What are the priorities of the client
Class participation
Discussing the SCENARIO
27. The overall aim of health promotion is to
help people take control of their lives. This
may involve many interventions on an
individual level, including:
– providing information
– giving emotional support
– providing social support
Wider action on changing
lifestyles
28. A wider health promotion role can involve
working towards improving the physical
and social environment including:
– collecting and monitoring data on health needs
and trends
– improving service provision
– collaborating with other agencies
– Policy implementation.
Wider action on changing
lifestyles - the community level
Basically - Community Health Promotion Strategies
29. Wider action on changing
lifestyles - the community level
Health promotion agencies look more at
community involvement as well as focusing
on individual lifestyles
As with Karen, Alcohol education to young
adults, public health campaigns - such as alcohol
abuse and misuse.
Involvement with schools through
education will hope to shape attitudes for
our future adults.
30. Reflection! Think about…...
How can health be promoted in other
settings, such as psychiatric wards, homes,
Youth Centres, Private sector companies?
What opportunities do practitioners have to
work with ‘well’ people?
What methods are currently used to involve
clients in their own health decisions?
31. Closing address
If ill health is seen as largely ‘self-
inflicted’, then education, persuasion, and
an emphasis on self-responsibility will be
the favoured answers; if it is principally
outside the individual’s control, then social
policy issues will be paramount.
32. Debate has focused on whether policies
aimed at health promotion should be
individualistic, placing responsibility firmly
on the individual and the family, or whether
they should be collectivist.
Closing address
What's your answer?
