Health Notes AOS1 The Determinants of Health What is Health?

? Health: A complete state of Physical, mental, social well being, and not merely without disease or infirmity Health Status: An Individuals or populations overall health, taking in various aspects such as life expectancy, amount of disability and levels of disease. Optimal health refers to the best level of health and individual can realistically obtain. Dimensions of health Physical health: The Efficient functioning of the body and its systems, and includes the physical capacity to perform tasks and physical fitness. Freedom from illness, disease and injury Adequate energy levels Ability to complete physical tasks adequately Appropriate levels of fitness Strong immune system Well-functioning body systems and organs Ideal body weight.

Social Health: Being able to interact with others and participate in the community with others and participate in the community in both an independent and cooperative way. Supportive and well-functioning family Supportive network of friends Productive relationships with other people.

Mental Health: State of well being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to make a contribution to his or her own community. High levels of confidence Positive self esteem Low levels of stress or anxiety (or even still healthy levels of stress) Positive thought patterns.

KEY DEFINITIONS Health Status: an Individuals or populations overall health, taking into account various aspects such as life expectancy, amount of disability and levels of diseases risk factors.

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Morbidity: Refers to ill health in an individual and the levels of ill health in a population or group Mortality: The number of deaths during a given period of time and the number of deaths from a particular cause Burden of disease: A disease measure of the impact of diseases and injuries specifically it measures the gap between the current health status and an ideal situation where everyone lives to an old age free of disability and disability. Measured in DALY Disability adjusted life years (DALY): A measure of the burden of diseases, one Daly = one year of healthy life lost due to premature death and time lived with illness, disease or injury Life Expectancy: An indication of how long a person can expect to live, it is the years of life remaining to a person at any age, if current death rates do not change Health Adjusted Life years (HALE): A measure of burden of disease based on life expectancy at birth, but including an adjustment for time spent in poor health. It is the number or years in full health that a person can expect to live based on current rates of hill health and mortality Prevalence: The number or proportion of cases of a particular disease or condition present in a population at a given time Incidence: The number of new cases of a particular condition or disease during a given period of time Under Five Mortality Rate (U5MR): The number of deaths of children under 5 years of age per 1000 live births Maternal Mortality rate: The number of deaths of women during childbirth or pregnancy per 1000 Burden of Disease Disability adjusted life year is calculated by adding YEARS LIFE LOST due to premature death and the number of YEARS LOST DUE TO DISABILITY, illness or injury.

AUSTRALIAS HEALTH Australia is generally similar to that of other cases, better These countries include Japan, Sweden, UK and the USA. developed countries and in many

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- Health status in Australia is comparable to other developed countries. The Rate of communicable diseases is low and the rate of non-communicable diseases is high. Australia has relatively high rates of obesity and respiratory diseases due to life style such as not eating the correct foods and smoking. Determinates of health - The factors that lead to differences in health status are collectively known as the determinants of health Protective factors are those that promote or enhance health, eating a balanced diet and having a supportive family.

BIOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH refers to the structure of the cells, tissues and systems of the body and how adequately they function. Body weight Blood pressure Blood Cholesterol Glucose Genetics

- Birth weight These have a large effect upon the biological determinant. These cannot be modified so it practically stays will you forever

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BEHAVIOURAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH refers to the choices people make in their lives that impact upon their health status - Smoking (Tobacco smoking) - Alcohol consumption - Drug misuse - Physical activity levels - Diet - Sexual behaviors - Vaccination status - Risk taking All of theses determinants have a large impact upon your life as these things can be altered and changed. If youre fat and obese and eat horribly junky foods, obviously, you need to change your behavior and eat healthier foods so then you do not get blood pressure or high blood cholesterol SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH refers to the determinants within the social environment that impact upon health status. These determinants often influence the individuals behavior. Socioeconomic status (SES) based on the social standing of the individual. Its also based on education, income and occupation - Social inclusion and exclusion - Work and unemployment - Stress - Food Security - Quality of housing - Access to transport - Early life experiences - Access to health care These social situations and support is to allow people to get information and help from the community so that the individual can make informed decisions influencing their health-related choices in their life. -