Kp200 Introduction to Health Lecture 1 Notes

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Introduction to Health/Defining Health/Key Terms

Lecture 1 - Tuesday Jan 3

WHO

Created

• World health organization was created April 7, 1948

Objective

• Attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health

Defining Health 

1947

• “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease of infirmity”

1986

• I.H.C expands the long time definition of health and includes the concept of health promotion
• The Ottawa Charter
• “In order to reach a state of complete physical, mental and social well being, an individual or group must be able to identify and realize aspirations to satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment. Health is, therefore seen as a resource for everyday life… health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities”

Types of Health

Physical

• The extent to which our major body systems are physiologically working

Mental

• Presence of mental/psychiatric conditions that may require institutional care, or limit our ability to function in society (Depression)
• Disease related

Emotional

• Linked more to our feelings rather than our mental capacity (sadness)
• Reactions to situations (bereavement/divorce)

Social

• A collective term that refers to populations rather than individuals – ability to form health relationships. /
• Pathology → population with undesirable characteristic (fear, anxiety, natural disaster)

Intellectual

• Ability to process and act on information appropriately

• Crossing the road

Spiritual

• May include religious beliefs and practices, but also focuses on our relationship to other living things

Environmental

• Refers to how; where you live and where you work/play can positively or negatively affect you
• How your surroundings can positively/negatively affect you

Occupational

• Refers specifically to your employment and how it affects you
• Good job = happy worker = better lifestyle = better health

Key Terms

Acute

• Rapid onset
• Short course
• Usually treatable
• Examples → Broken leg, appendicitis, cold

Chronic

• Slow onset
• Long duration
• Not usually treatable/ however it is curable
• Examples → alzheimer's, cancer   

Life Expectancy

• The number of years a person can be expected to live based on their years of birth *******************
• Varies slightly with each successive cohort
• Varies as s function of gender and place of residence

Readings: The Ottawa Charter 

• 1986

• “In order to reach a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, an individual or group must be able to identify and realize aspirations to satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment. Health is, therefore, seen as a resource for everyday life…health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities.”

Lecture #2

Morbidity and Mortality

• Morbidity

• State of being diseased (aka sick)
• The number of sick people or cases of disease in relationship to a specific population
• Number of cases/ population/ year
• Ex. SARs 100/ 100,000/ 2016

• Mortality

• State of being dead
• Reported as rate

• Ratio of number of deaths to a given live population x 100
• Number of deaths/ number alive x 100

Incidence and prevalence

• Incidence

• The number of NEW cases of a specific condition within a specific time period for a specific population
• NEW CASES

• Prevalence

• The number of PRE-EXISTING cases of a condition, within a specific time period, for a population
• PRE-EXISTING

Models of Health- how do we define our health?

• Over the centuries there has been many different theories that scientists and doctors have tried to understand what makes us healthy and what makes us sick
• The prevailing theory for the majority of time has been the medical model
• More recently, that theory has given way to the public health model

• Medical model

• Focus is primarily on the person
• biological/diseased organ perspective
• The person is sick because he has cancer of the liver
• Don’t take into account other reasons why the person is sick

• Public health model

• Aka ecological model
• What makes us healthy (or unhealthy) is a result of how we interact with our social and physical environment
• Disease prevention and health promotion are the two key elements that define the model

Disease prevention and health promotion

• Disease prevention

• Referred to preventative medicine
• Emphasizes the identification and management of early indicators of risk
• The goal is to prevent illness, delay, onset, or lessen the severity
• Disease prevention is divided into three levels

• Primary prevention
• Secondary prevention
• Tertiary prevention

• Primary prevention

• Any intervention the PREVENTS a disease or condition from occurring
• Prevent or avoid risk factors for chronic diseases

• Secondary prevention

• Put into place early after a condition has begun AND before significant impairments have occurred
• Relies on early diagnosis
• Prompt therapy to: shorten the duration of the illness; reduces the severity of illness; reduce the possibility of the disease becoming contagious; limit complication

• Tertiary prevention

• Once the disease has developed this level involves efforts to avoid the development of complications or secondary chronic conditions
• Minimize the progression of a chronic disease once it has happened
• Involves rehabilitation and aggressive preventive measures
• Ex: physical and mental rehab for an individual; +/- immunization; minimizing exposure to situations where one may potentially come into contact with the disease

• Health promotion

• Educating people and developing skills to enable them to increase control over health and to improve health

• West Nile Virus commercials/ flyers
• SARS
• Flu shot
• Public health departments

The Canadian Health Care System

Health -illness continuum

← Death---- illness----health---- perfect health →