Health Science Sample Assignment
Added on 2021-04-24
8 Pages2114 Words35 Views
Health ScienceNameUniversity
The understanding the social, economic and cultural determinants of health helps in understanding the transition from infectious diseases to chronic diseases. Because the choicesthat people make for nutrition, exercise and lifestyle depend on their socio-economic status. The ability or inability to spend on inputs required for health promoting action decides the course of the health of an individual or a family. Better education, an assured source of income, ability to spend on medication and adhere to it are factors that ensure a person's ability to lead a healthy life. People from low socio-economic strata have in the past suffered from infectious diseases and have now transitioned to chronic disease. The improved deliveryof public health programs, such as, immunisation programs, fortified nutrition and treatment with antibiotics has reduced morbidity and mortality due to infectious diseases but more people now suffer from chronic disease. Health determinants shape the accessibility to preventive measures that can be adopted to prevent chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases obesity and cancer. Cultural factors, such as, belongingto a certain race, ethnicity, being an immigrant or practice of religion also impact whether a person will suffer from chronic disease.The theory of epidemiological transition was first proposed by Omran in 1971, when it became clear that the leading cause of mortality had shifted from infectious disease to chronic diseases [ CITATION San14 \l 16393 ]. This change in the pattern of mortality has been observed after increase in life expectancy, lower rate of fertility due to an ageing population and reduced infant mortality. Social determinants of health that underlie the reduction in mortality from infectious diseases include better sanitation, immunisation programs, antibiotic therapy and better public health policy implementation [ CITATION Gaz12 \l 16393 ]. Populations that suffer from poverty and are discriminated against on the basis of race and
ethnicity and are socially marginalised still suffer from greater morbidity and mortality due toinfectious diseases and chronic disease[ CITATION Qui14 \l 16393 ].The quality of the physical environment has improved for the middle and affluent but the poor of the world continue to live in environments where they remain vulnerable to infectious disease. The epidemiological transition to chronic disease is also affected by social determinants of health since where a person is born, where one grows and lives. Conditions in which a person works and ages also has a bearing on the health. The role of social factors is significant and health inequalities in countries and the world are determined to a large degree by the social determinants. Lack of education, segregation on the basis of race, low degree of social support results in higher mortality when death occurs due to chronic, non-communicable diseases, such as, myocardial infarction, cancer and cerebrovascular disease[ CITATION Bra14 \l 16393 ]. According to a study that studied the impact of socio-economic levels on mortality due to chronic disease found that people from low socio-economic levels are 1.6 times more likely to die due diseases associated with risky health behaviours that include alcohol consumption, poor dietary choices and low physical activity[ CITATION Str10 \l 16393 ]. Hypertension, diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Earlier believed to be diseases of the affluent thesenon-communicable diseases are known to afflict people from lower socio-economic populations in developed countries and in countries that are low on the development index. Ina study on the health behaviours of type-2 diabetes patients with 818 participants, it was found that social inequity accounts for higher risk in terms of modifiable risk factors of healthbehaviour and obesity for participants who are from lower socio-economic levels [ CITATION Str10 \l 16393 ].
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