The study of epidemiology is important in the prevention of disease outbreaks from occurring. Epidemiology is the study and analysis of both the distribution and determinants of health and disease conditions in human populations (Nies & McEwen, 2015). With this being said, the study of epidemiology is vital not only in improving the health of populations, but also in identifying risk factors early to help reduce the prevalence of disease. The purpose of this discussion board is to examine the concept of epidemiology in both disease control and prevention. Furthermore, I will also apply the ecosocial epidemiology paradigm to evaluate the risk of mortality in young adults due to heroin use. As mentioned above, epidemiology is the study of the …show more content…
There are two major types of epidemiology: descriptive and analytic. Descriptive epidemiology aims at describing the distribution of disease by time, place, and person (Nies & McEwen, 2015). This form of epidemiology identifies patterns in disease prevalence, while …show more content…
Ecosocial epidemiology accentuates the involvement of maco-level socio-environmental factors in understanding health (Nies & McEwen, 2015). Recently, the news has been overwhelmingly filled with horrific stories of young adults passing away from heroin overdoses. There has been a steady rise in the use of heroin in the United States with the use in the general population increased from 373,000 in 2007 to 914,000 in 2014 (Rollins, 2016). The major question is why there has been such dramatic rise in heroin use. Individual factors, such as age, race, gender as well as social/economic factors were investigated to determine the increase in prevalence of not only heroin use, but also the increase in early mortality from heroin overdose. It was concluded that there were several factors that placed a role in heroin use, including young adults being addicted to prescription opioids, alcohol, and marijuana, young adults who did not have health insurance, young adults living in large metropolitan areas, and young adults from the age eighteen to twenty-five years old who were white males (Rollins, 2016). This information is important because it allows us to predict the population that will be influenced most. Therefore, we can place more effort into education and health promotion techniques to reduce the prevalence of mortality
On the typical day, over 90 people will die at the hand of opioid abuse in America alone (National). In fact, as of 2014, nearly 2 million Americans were dependent and abusing opioids. The Opioid Crisis has affected America and its citizens in various ways, including health policy, health care, and the life in populous areas. Due to the mass dependence and mortality, the crisis has become an issue that must be resolved in all aspects.
The documentary Heroin Cape Cod, USA focused on the widespread abuse of pain medication such as Vicodin, Percocet, and Oxycodone that has led the U.S. into the rise of an opiate addiction. Many of the users within the video explained that it doesn’t matter where you go, there is no stopping, and you can’t just get high once. Instead, those who do it want that high forever. I think that this is a very important concept that those who aren’t addicted to drugs need to understand, no matter how hard it is to. The documentary featured many addicts including Marissa who first popped pills when she was 14 years old, Daniel who stated he started by snorting pixie sticks, and Arianna who started smoking weed and drinking before age 12. Additionally, the documentary interviewed Ryan and Cassie. These addicts explained that in Cape Cod you either work and you’re normal, or you do drugs.
Heroin addiction continues to be an important public health problem for the Edgewater homeless and America today. Addiction compounded with poor living conditions and reduced access to healthcare creates a syndemic that requires social and healthcare programs working together to confront the problem. Structural violence stigmatizes homelessness and heroin addiction, which negatively impacts addicts’ health. Attitudes towards these people must be changed so that all Americans are afforded the basic healthcare they deserve as human beings.
Chasing Heroin is a two-hour documentary that investigates America’s heroin crisis. The documentary details the opioid epidemic and how police offers, social workers, and public defenders are working to save the lives of addicts. The documentary explores the origins and continuing causes behind the heroin epidemic such as; massive increases in opioid painkillers starting at the turn of the century, Mexican drug cartels who are now rooted in upper-middle-class neighborhoods, and the cheap price of heroin when compared to prescription pain killers. A program in Seattle called LEAD is explored. This program channels addicts into a system that points them toward help (rehab, temporary housing, counseling, methadone treatment) instead of prison
International Journal of Epidemiology 36.6 (2007): 1229-234. International Journal of Epidemiology. Oxford University Press, 28 Sept. 2007. Web. The Web.
The rates of drug use by race and gender are disproportionate to the rates of incarceration for non-violent drug crimes. There are numerous ways to measure rates of drug usage. A look at lifetime rates may be useful as it shows how much of the population has ever tried illicit d...
There are an estimated 25,000 heroin users in Victoria (Hodder, p.10). This is a very large amount of people on drugs, in the last 10 years it has been shown to increase and therefore the drug issue is becoming a major problem to all the people in Victoria.
Many environmental factors contribute to a person’s proneness to substance abuse. These factors include but are not limited to stress, early physical or sexual abuse, witnessing violence, peers who use drugs, and drug availability. (Addiction Science) The desire to be accepted within a particular group often creates an enormous amount of stress in teens. This stress and feeling of alienation is a driving force towards drug use. Research has shown that, “Another important environmental factor is the amount and quality of emotional and social support a person receives. Teens who reported having an adult they trusted and could talk to, for example, have a lower risk of addiction than those who don’t.”(Environmental Factors) An impoverished environment increases the likelihood of substance abuse and addiction as well. Those who are apart of a lifestyle of poverty often experience incarceration and dropping out of school. Those who drop out of school, are unemployed or live in unsafe areas are at “higher risk, especially if their home environment has already exposed them to dru...
The human population has a high susceptibility to the contraction of new diseases and outbreaks of these diseases are of high risk. Diseases in recent times that have broken out into the human population are the H7N9 flu strain and SARS. Despite the risk, outbreaks like H7N9 and SARS have been controlled due to epidemiology and other disease control methods. Outbreaks of disease are not uncommon to the human population as they move to new areas around the world with foreign diseases that the native residents would have developed a resistance to.
“Prevent.” The Partnership at Drugfree.org. The Partnership at Drugfree.org, 2011. Web. 18 Dec. 2011. .
Ecological theory is a theory developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner that states that the “systems” around you are vitally important in human development. Within the theory there are many systems including the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. Each system is defined by a different aspect of a person’s surroundings that would affect their development. The systems begin with the aspect that is closest to you, your day-to-day life. The Microsystem includes all of the places, people, and experiences that are found in your daily life. These include school, work, parents. friends, neighbors, and so forth. The next most impactful system is the exosystem. The mesosystem is defined by two entities within your microsysytem affecting each other. The next system is called the exosystem. The exosystem is full of things that don’t affect you directly but will eventually
During the past years, interest in health care promotion has increased which has been due to several factors. The major factor has been the shift from infectious diseases to chronic diseases that has been named as world killers. This shift is commonly referred to as epidemiologic transition characterized by low birthrates, ageing population and increased cost of health care (Kessler et al, 2013). Previously, disease identification was easy but with changing times and the emergence of many diseases, characteristics of diseases hav...
Most people do not understand how a person become addicted to drugs. We tend to assume that is more an individual problem rather than a social problem. However, teen substance abuse is indeed a social problem considered a priority for the USA department of public health due to 9 out of 10 Americans with addictions started using drugs before the age 18 (CASA Columbia University). Similarly, 1 in 4 Americans with addictions started using the substance during their teenage years, which show a significant different with 1 in 25 Americans with addiction who started using at 21 or older (CASA, 2011).
In descriptive epidemiology, data that describe the occurrence of the disease are collected by various methods from all relevant sources. The data is then collected by time, place, and person. Four time trends are considered in describing the epidemiologic data: secular, periodic, seasonal and epidemic. A description of epidemiologic data by place must consider three different locations: where the individual was when disease appeared, where the individual was when he or she became infected from the source, and where the source became infected with the pathogenic agent. The third focus of descriptive epidemiology is the infected person.
Illegal drug use is one of the most common problems that affect Americans every day. Joyce B. Shannon (2010) found that, “More than 35 million individuals used illicit drugs or abused prescription drugs in 2007” (p. 11). The impact can be seen in communities of all types, and people with low and high income levels. Drug use is at the root of many problems with our society. Joyce B. Shannon (2010) referenced a survey from 2004 that states, “32% of state prisoners and 26% of federal prisoners” admitted that they were currently serving jail time for offences committed while they were, “under the influence of drugs” (p. 102). The reasoning behind this issue will be explained from a psychological, sociological, and an anthropological perspective including the benefit of an interdisciplinary perspective to grasp the cause of drug use and it’s affect on society.