World Health Organization defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO n.d). Health status can be measured in a variety of ways. For instance well-being is measured based on self-rated health and self-esteem, health conditions are assessed based on BMI, arthritis, diabetes, CVD, cancer, etc. Human functioning is measured based on disability free life years, activity limitation and finally health status also can be measured by death rates such as infant mortality, life expectancy and mortality from various causes (CIHI, 2010). These measures are helpful to distinguish the health status between different groups and gives direction towards investigating the cause of difference. In a report of Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI, 2006) it is indicated that health status of rural dwellers residing in strong, weak and no MIZ zones is poorer compared with their urban counterparts. The given information is summarized in table 1 (Appendix A). According to this report rural populations have poorer health outcomes in all selected health status measures except one. The only indicator with better outcome in rural settings is incidence of cause-specific cancer. Nevertheless these health outcomes don’t give an explanation of why poorer health status is more observed in rural places. There are abundant studies with sufficient and consistent results implying that health determinants such as income, education, environment and working conditions, social networks, personal health practices and health services lay basis for variety of health conditions including those mentioned in the table 1. In the light of the information on health determinants ... ... middle of paper ... ...im/a05?lang=eng&id=1050491 Stead LF, Lancaster T. Interventions to reduce harm from continued tobacco use. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 3. Art. No.: CD005231. Stead LF, Perera R, Bullen C, Mant D, Lancaster T. Nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD000146. Tanuseputro P, Manuel DG, Leung M, Ngueyen K, Johansen H. (2003). Risk factors for cardiovascular diseases in Canada. Canadian Journal of Cardiology, 19(11): 1249-1260. Vafaei A, Rosenberg MW, Picket W. (2010). Relationships between income inequality and health: a study on rural and urban regions of Canada. Rural and Remote Health (Online), 10(2): 1430. Available: http://www.rrh.org.au World Health Organization. Definition of health. Available from: https://apps.who.int/aboutwho/en/definition.html
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are increasingly becoming a major problem of Public Health around the World. The impact of resources and material deprivation among people and populations has resulted in an increase in mortality rate on a planetary scale. Social determinants of health are defined as the personal, social, economic and the environmental conditions which determines the health status of an individual or population (Gardner, 2013). Today’s society is characterized by inequalities in health, education, income and many other factors which as a result is becoming a burden for Public Health around the world. Research studies have shown that the conditions in which people live and work strongly influenced their health. Individuals with high levels of education and fall within the high income bracket turn to have stable jobs, live in the best neighborhood and have access to quality health care system than individuals who have low education and fall with the low income bracket. This paper is to explain different social determinants of health and how they play ...
The Saskatchewan heath care system is made up of several provincial, regional and local organizations, which provide the people their basic right to reasonable health care (“Health Systems,” 2014). Not having enough health care providers seem to be a problem, which Canada as a whole has struggled with (“College of Family,” 2014). The shortages of medical providers have lead to major discrepancies in the level of patient care between major urban centers and rural areas (Howlett, 2013). In the case of Saskatchewan many communities are facing this challenge, not only rural areas but also the capital city of the province (“Saskatchewan ER,” 2013). Stats Canada has showed that the number of physicians is at a historic high, yet Saskatchewan still face shortages (Howlett, 2013).
This paper will focus on looking at if e-cigarettes and other therapies are a valid way to help stop smoking. Doctors and patients alike need a definitive answer for this. This is a topic which is relevant at the moment as e-cigarettes become more prevalent in the United Kingdom (UK). As “current use [of e-cigarettes has] more than doubled from 2.7% of smokers in 2010 to 6.7% in 2012.”3 This paper will cover nicotine as a neurotoxin and how it affects the brain and body, what mechanisms nicotine uses and adverse signs and symptoms of nicotine use and overdose. This paper will also cover nicotine replacement therapies (NRT’s) such as gum, patches and oral spray but will focus mainly on e-cigarettes. It should be noted that as e-cigarettes have not been tested thoroughly, therefore they can’t be marketed as a nicotine replacement therapy by UK law at time of writing.
Wilkinson, R.G. & Marmot, M.G. 2003, Social determinants of health: the solid facts, World Health Organization.
Humber, N. (2009). The occasional D & C. Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine, 14 (3), 118. Retrieved from http://www.cma.ca/multimedia/staticContent/HTML/N0/l2/cjrm/vol-14/issue-3/pdf/pg115.pdf
Wilkinson, R. G., & Marmot, M. G. (2003). Social determinants of health: The solid facts.
People living in areas such as Playford, has shown to have a lower socioeconomic position, which made them at highest risk of poor health (WHO, 2017). Then, the social determinants of health support the understanding the difference between populations health levels, but also the reasons behind why some groups are healthier than others (Marmot, 2005) and the issue becomes a little bit deeper as people living in different areas related to others differently, so then the social stratification of health is affected by differences in gender, marital status, residential areas and ethnicity (Elstad,
Living in a remote area has always been thought to have negative influences on the individual. There are 35 % of the total population in Australia living in rural area(Phillips, 2009).Rural areas in Australia and all over the world are not geographically isolated and disadvantaged only but also culturally and economically deprived which has great consequences on the health status of the population. The main two factors that have a major effect on rural health are socioeconomic status and cultural issues(Beard, Tomaska, Earnest, Summerhayes, & Morgan, 2009).
Gavin Turrell, B. F. (1999). Socioeconomic Determinants of Health:Towards a National Research Program and a Policy and Intervention Agenda. Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology.
Non-medical determinants of health have the greater impact in people’s health. They are also the most challenging (but not impossible) to interfere/change. In general, education and income are associated with child mortality, being the latter most important, once poverty dictates many aspects of life including opportunities for education.
Because rural environments are not as densely populated as urban ones, public services are not as readily available. This requires people to find other means of getting where they need to go and also effects the way they take care of themselves in regards to health. When asked about how she was effected by the lack of healthcare and transportation, my first interviewee stated that it is a constant struggle for her. She said that because she does not work she cannot afford a car to get around with. She said it makes things especially hard when trying to get groceries. She tries to ride to town with some of her friends whenever possible, but if she cannot find a ride she has to walk where she needs to go. She said the lack of healthcare and transportation was a big problem when her husband had a heart attack. She said they had to bring in the helicopter to get him to the hospital in time and it came with a large bill that she doesn’t know how they are going to be able to pay. The second person I interviewed said that the lack of transportation required him to buy a vehicle. He said it was expensive; however, due to where he lives he has to have a four wheel drive to get down his road. He said that he has to drive over an hour to get him and his family to regular doctor and dentist appointments. Because of the lack of access to
Social determinants of health have attracted the attention of governments, policy makers and international health organisations over the last three decades (Hankivsky & Christoffersen 2008). This is because social conditions which people are born in, live and work play an important role in their health outcomes (WHO 2015). According to Kibesh (1200) social determinants drive health disparities, disrupts the human developmental process and undermine the quality of life and opportunities for people and families (ref). Thus, several theories have been developed over the years to provide in-depth understanding of the social determinants of health and to reduce health inequalities (Hankivsky & Christoffersen, 2008). However, there is still significant
Social determinants of health has been a large topic for many years and can have a positive and negative effect on individuals, families and communities. (World Health Organisation, 2009) The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, including the health system. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels, which are themselves influenced by policy choices. Social determinants have many factors and in this essay education will be the main social determinant of health discussed and how this could have an impact on the physical and mental sides of health.
Not only is it the individuals lifestyle that contributes to their overall health, but it is also things such as their environment that they live and the circumstances they live in (World Health Organization).These are called determinants. When discussing environment pertaining to health, we must take into consideration that this also means the social, economic, physical environment. As stated by Levins and Lopez, “Genes may influence how we relate to our environments, while society can determine the environments that we face..” (p. 270) indiciating that it is not only one factor that determines our health, but many. At a York University Conference held in Toronto in 2002, 14 different social determinants of health were using ranging from Aboriginal status to unemployment, to food insecurity (Mikkonen, Raphael, 2010). There are also factors such as income and social factors, education, genetics, social support networks, health services and even gender that are determinants of health. Something we individuals need to remember is that we cannot blame people for having bad health when some of the determining factors are completely out of their control. I feel that a person 's physical environment are one of the most important determinants of health due to the damage it can do to one if they have a poor environment surrounding them. Where an individual is born and raised is not a choice that people get to
Smoking cigarettes is a very deadly addiction that, unfortunately, affects 42.1 million adults in the United States and 6.4 million children. The reason why so many people get addicted to cigarettes is because of nicotine. Medicinenet.com says that nicotine is “made by the tobacco plant or produced synthetically”. Nicotine has powerful pharmacologic effects (including increased heart rate, heart stroke volume, and oxygen consumption by the heart muscle), as well as powerful psychodynamic effects (such as euphoria, increased alertness, and a sense of relaxation). Nicotine is also powerfully addictive.”