Public Health, Policy and Society

Running head: PUBLIC HEALTH, POLICY AND SOCIETY 1
Public Health, Policy and Society
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PUBLIC HEALTH, POLICY AND SOCIETY 2
1. Introduction
A. A brief introduction to public health policy and society
Public health policies are those policies that intend to define procedures and guidelines
that are used to govern or allocate resources towards attainment a particular goal in health. Public
health policy is the interplay of factors such as politics, power and public interest that influence
government allocation of resources to the public. Public policy is a normal product of
government strategic goal intended to better health care with Australia or to a specific
community. Health policies are always intended to a particular society, for instance, indigenous
communities living in Australia. Since coming into office the government of Australia through
the ministry of health has developed many health policies that aim to better service provision,
improve healthcare or target specific disadvantage group of people within Australia. For
instance, one of the public health policies developed through the ministry of health is rural
healthcare policy with focus on indigenous marginal communities such as Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people. The following essay seeks to explore the importance of policy for health
and example of health policies within Australia.
RURAL AND REMOTE HEALTHCARE POLICY
One of the government of Australian health priority include focusing on rural healthcare
initiative that concentrate on marginalized communities such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander communities (Rickards, 2011). This is due to poor health conditions that these
communities lives in yet currently the government through various healthcare initiative has been
reaching these people in their rural areas. Rural and remote healthcare policy has been the key
pillar for Shed initiative at Mt Druitt and healthcare promotions that are seen across the country.

PUBLIC HEALTH, POLICY AND SOCIETY 3
Statistics show that there is improvement since the inception of rural and remote healthcare
policy in Australia through the ministry of health (Britnell, 2015). Rural and remote healthcare
policy ensures those communities living within remote areas are reached for the purpose of better
healthcare.
B. What is health
Health refers to the state of competency within the physical, mental and social wellness
without infirmity or disease. According to WHO, health is dynamic conditions arising from body
adaptation and adjusting to the changing environment and stress through maintenance of
equilibrium. This definition gives the relationship between human body and the environment
through interaction. Adapting to changes may be due to challenging physical, mental or social
challenges which in a broad sense leading to health challenges. In this sense, environmental and
body interaction play a critical role in the health status of an individual since the two are related
to socio-economic conditions a phenomenon called Salutogenesis. In addition, dynamic
conditions people live in may include social and economic conditions such as housing,
employment status and access to food or education (Golembiewski, 2012).
Health interaction with the environment
Salutogenesis refers to those factors that encourage or foster wellness and health in an
individual. Salutogenesis may include interacting with things that are part of environment people
live in and highly require proper handling to turn them into good healthy things. For instance, the
way an individual reacts to various factors in the environment one lives in will determines the
wellness and the health status of that individual. This association particularly called health
environment interaction. In addition, health interaction with environment allows those people

PUBLIC HEALTH, POLICY AND SOCIETY 4
especially men to draw nourishing for life from activities they do and the environment they lives
in (Lindmark, Wagman, Wåhlin & Rolander, 2016).
Salutogenesis approach is used to address social determinant of the health of Aboriginal
men in Mt Druitt. Within this community, the environment that these men live has a direct
influence on the health status especially depression leading to death. The characteristic of
environment that Aboriginal men live in has massive cultural influence and this is connected to
the health status of these marginalized men. The cultural influence as an environment interacts
with the living conditions of men leading to health status. The pride that forms the basis of the
culture of Aboriginal men is highly affected by racism, incarceration, job, economic and housing
insecurity leading to depression among men hence increasing the number of suicide (Lindmark,
Wagman, Wåhlin & Rolander, 2016).
2. Social determinants of health
According to WHO social determinants of health refer to life conditions under which
people are born, grow, work or life and contributes to the conditions of their daily life. Some of
the common determinants of health include economic policies and systems, social norms,
development agendas, social policies and political systems. To make it more understandable
WHO further categories this determinant into five categories that include economic stability,
education, social and community context, health and healthcare and neighborhood and built
environment (Pega & Veale, 2015). Firstly, economic stability determines some social
conditions that may include the employment of citizens, housing instability, food insecurity and
poverty level within the society. Secondly, education as a social determinant of health
determines the language literacy, early childhood education, the number of those people