Question

1. Define health determinants that affect the health and well-being of individuals. Health promotion and disease prevention may require behavioral modifications. Discuss what modifications and interventions may be utilized.

2. Since 1980, the United States has undertaken a set of “10 year plans” called Health People Initiatives. What are the major differences between Health People 2020 from any of the previous Health People Initiatives?

Answer 1

Many factors combine together to affect the health and wellbeing of an individual and community. Whether people are healthy or not, is determined by their circumstances and environment. To a large extent, factors such as where we live, the state of our environment, genetics, our income and education level, and our relationships with friends and family all have considerable impacts on health.

The range of inter- related personal, social, economic, and environmental factors that influence health status are known as determinants of health.

Some of the factors that affect the health and wellbeing of an individual are as follows:

• Income and social status - Higher income and social status are linked to better health. The greater the gap between the richest and poorest people, the greater the differences in health.
• Education – Low education levels are linked with poor health, more stress and lower self-confidence.
• Physical environment – Safe water and clean air, healthy workplaces, safe houses, communities and roads all contribute to good health.
• Employment and working conditions – People in employment are healthier, particularly those who have more control over their working conditions.
• Social support networks – Greater support from families, friends and communities is linked to better health.
• Culture - Customs and traditions, and the beliefs of the family and community all affect health.
• Genetics - Inheritance plays a part in determining lifespan, healthiness and the likelihood of developing certain illnesses.
• Personal behaviour and coping skills – Balanced eating, keeping active, smoking, drinking, and how we deal with life’s stresses and challenges all affect health.
• Health services - Access and use of services that prevent and treat disease influences health.
• Gender - Men and women suffer from different types of diseases at different ages.

Health promotion mainly deals with the determinants of mental health and aims to keep people healthy or become even healthier. Prevention of illnesses focuses on the causes of risk factors to avoid illness.There are three categories of prevention: primary prevention focuses on various determinants in the whole population or in the high risk group. Secondary prevention comprises early detection and intervention. Tertiary prevention targets for advanced recovery and reduction of relapse risk.
Human behavior plays a central role in the maintenance of health, and the prevention of disease. With an eye to lowering the substantial morbidity and mortality associated with health-related behavior, health professionals have turned to models of behavior change to guide the development of strategies that foster self-protective action, reduce behaviors that increase health risk, and facilitate effective adaptation to and coping with illness.

There are 3 behaviors such as poor diet, little to no physical activity, and smoking that lead to four diseases heart disease/stroke, diabetes, cancer, pulmonary disease that account for 50% of deaths worldwide. This is why so much emphasis in public health interventions have been on changing behaviors or intervening early on to decrease the negative impacts that come with these behaviors. With successful intervention, there is the possibility of decreasing healthcare costs by a drastic amount, as well as general costs to society morbidity and mortality.

Health conditions and infections are associated with risky behaviors. Tobacco use, alcoholism, multiple sex partners, substance use, reckless driving, obesity, or unprotected sexual intercourse are some examples. Human beings have, in principle, control over their conduct. Behavior modification can contribute to the success of self-control, and health-enhancing behaviors. Risky behaviors can be eliminated including physical exercise, weight control, preventive nutrition, dental hygiene, condom use, or accident prevention. Health behavior change refers to the motivational, volitional, and action based processes of abandoning such health-compromising behaviors in favor of adopting and maintaining health-enhancing behaviors.