PUBH6000:: Socials, Behavioural And Cultural Factors In Public Healths

Introduction

Cardiovascular diseases have been known as a significant cause of death worldwide especially in Australia particularly for people with low socioeconomic status. The target population is low socioeconomic status which is increasingly associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The decreasing trend in cardiovascular diseases in developing countries is more pronounced among people with high economic situation and the gap between the cardiovascular disease occurrence in people with high socioeconomic status, and low socioeconomic status is broadenings. Preventive measures that contribute to the declining of cardiovascular diseases might have a significant effect on the individuals (Badland et al., 2014). Individuals in high economic status can access quality medical care while individuals in low socioeconomic status cannot afford to get quality healthcare services which increase the risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease. The government must ensure that all individuals have access to healthcare. The sports and nutritional sectors also play a vital role in the prevention of health diseases.

Analysis

Individuals with low socioeconomic status are prone to cardiovascular diseases since they do not eat healthy meals. Research indicates that there is a burden in of heart diseases are increasing rapidly in Australia.  They also lack knowledge regarding obesity, physical activities, and other related issues concerning cardiovascular diseases. They have low educational attainment which is associated with cardiovascular diseases (Baum, 2016). Studies have shown that individuals belonging to low socioeconomic and the risk of premature mortality in Australia found an overall inverse association between socioeconomic status and cardiovascular diseases. Environment exposures and body frames are also associated with the occurrence of heart conditions. Besides, individuals in low socioeconomic status are likely to be alcoholics or have diabetes and lower levels of blood pressure and cholesterol than other individuals.

Heart disease pattern

Cardiovascular conditions are responsible for 43.602 deaths in Australia in 2013. Additionally, 8.8% of individuals living with the heart conditions were from low socioeconomic status. In 2016, there were 43,963 deaths caused by heart conditions. This means that 120 Australians die from heart conditions. Heart diseases were the primary cause of 490,000 hospitalizations in 2014 and 2015. There has been an increase in the number of separations due to heart conditions by 8% from 2005 to 20015.  There has been enormous variability in death rates from heart conditions among people with low socioeconomic status. In general, individuals in the lower socioeconomic groups have high rates of hospitalization and death caused by heart conditions than other Australians (Social and Economic Determinants of Health, n.d).

In most regions, individual living in places with the high mortality rates are twice the rate of the people with high socioeconomic status. They do not pose the knowledge about cardiovascular diseases. Hence they don’t know more about how to live a healthy life (What Are the Risk Factors for Heart Disease, n.d). In some developing countries, there has been a substantial reduction in heart condition mortality rate over the current decades. The trends are decreasing mortality rate in Australia is better than other comparable nations. The need for reducing cardiovascular diseases in individuals belonging to low socioeconomic status is necessary for Australia. Widening common approaches to reducing the risk involves addressing the social and structural contexts required for good health.

Public health intervention

Access to quality healthcare services is essential for citizens in Australia. The government must always ensure that individuals receive care that is required to reduce the risks of cardiovascular diseases. The public health department must ensure that there are community health centers that will assist in offering health care services to people belonging to low socioeconomic status (Mitrou et al.,2014). There must be the availability of health experts depending on where the individual lives. The government must also ensure health call centers which act as a way of helping individuals to access health care services information and advice about their health. It is crucial for individuals to be trained on how to use digital health programs which helps in gaining knowledge and promoting the wellbeing of the individuals.

This means that individuals do not have to have a face to face access to a health expert as they do not need to leave their homes. Also, the government is committed to ensuring that everyone has equal access to health care services to reduce cardiovascular diseases sufferers. The hospital management should also ensure that necessary equipment is available in the hospital to provide quality treatment.

Furthermore, they need more education about heart conditions and their impacts on human life. Therefore it is necessary for the government to offer training to the community. This will enhance their capabilities of maintaining their health, for instance, healthy lifestyle and physical activities (Goldberg, 2017). The primary objective of health education is to influence health behavior of people and the society positively. Also, it will help the individuals to prevent illnesses and decrease risky behaviors.

Besides, the government must work together with the public health department to provide employment to the individuals and ensure that they are treated fairly with other people. This will help them to have access to quality healthcare services and also improve the dietary habits that will help them to maintain a healthy body. Employment will give them the opportunity to pay for quality health service in any health facility (Intervention Studies. (n.d). Proper housing is also encouraged to protect them from the risks involved in cardiovascular conditions.

Public health intervention address

Creating awareness is the best way to address the public health intervention.  This can be achieved by organizing public health events and educate people on how to live a healthy lifestyle   (Eldredge et al., 2016). The community members are urged to participate in these events to ensure their safety.  The importance of creating awareness is that the community benefits from the health fraternity by gaining more information about physical activities, obesity, diabetes, and dietary habits. The district will participate in various activities like running, and they are also encouraged to walk or cycle when they are going to work since it will enhance physical activity hence decreasing heart conditions.

Additionally, it will create opportunities for many individuals with low socioeconomic status will to gain health information regarding their conditions and how to prevent several effects on the human body. The government will also provide the required equipment and also give more health practitioners to attend to them at all times and promote the individual’s wellbeing. This will encourage positive interaction between the victims and the health experts. An excellent interpersonal relationship will improve the communication and will enable the patient to open up to and explain their issues (Berkman, Kawachi & Glymour, 2014). Also, counseling services will be offered for this intervention to take place. It will help the people to understand and know how to take care of their health regardless of their socioeconomic status.

Other sectors involvement

The sports sector will be actively engaged to promote a healthy lifestyle. The industry will encourage the community to involve themselves in physical activities like cycling since it reduces blood pressure and also improves insulin sensitivity. The sports sector will sensitize the public about the benefits of exercising (Carey, Crammond & Keast, 2014). Also, the sports sector will team up with the government to put up gyms that will help the community to understand more about exercises. It will work with the community to ensure that those people who already have heart diseases to involve themselves in these activities to lower the risk of heart attack and enhance capacity and quality of life.  The sports sector will also engage in supporting the community events by sponsoring the event and also ensuring that there is active participation from the officials.

The nutritional sector will also assist in providing nutritional advice to improve a healthy lifestyle. The nutritionists will educate the public on how to live a quality life by encouraging them to practice good dietary habits that will lower the risks of heart conditions. The sector will provide nutritional meals to the community once a month since they are unable to acquire it. The sector will focus on advising the community to live in a healthy environment and make nutritional foods easily accessible to the consumer (Keleher, H., & MacDougall, C. (2015). Additionally, it will also participate in community events that will raise awareness about the risks involved if they practice poor dietary habits.

Furthermore, the sector will also inspect the areas to ensure that there is proper sanitation. This will help in promoting a healthy life in Australia (Baum& Fisher, 2014). It will also make sure that the manufacturers process foods with fewer fats to reduce the risk of heart conditions.

In conclusion, the burden of heart diseases has increased in Australia. Individuals with low socioeconomic status since they lack knowledge regarding issues concerning heart conditions. They also have low education attainment related to heart diseases. Therefore, availability of health experts is essential since they will provide vital information regarding heart conditions. The sports sector will ensure that the community participates in physical activities and the nutritional sector will provide guidelines for appropriate dietary behaviors.

Referenes

Badland, H., Whitzman, C., Lowe, M., Davern, M., Aye, L., Butterworth, I., … & Giles-Corti, B. (2014). Urban liveability: emerging lessons from Australia for exploring the potential for indicators to measure the social determinants of health. Social science & medicine, 111, 64-73.

Baum, F. (2016). The new public health (No. Ed. 4). Oxford University Press.

Baum, F., & Fisher, M. (2014). Why behavioural health promotion endures despite its failure to reduce health inequities. Sociology of health & illness, 36(2), 213-225.

Berkman, L. F., Kawachi, I., & Glymour, M. M. (Eds.). (2014). Social epidemiology. Oxford University Press.

Carey, G., Crammond, B., & Keast, R. (2014). Creating change in government to address the social determinants of health: how can efforts be improved?. BMC Public Health, 14(1), 1087.

Eldredge, L. K. B., Markham, C. M., Ruiter, R. A., Kok, G., & Parcel, G. S. (2016). Planning health promotion programs: an intervention mapping approach. John Wiley & Sons.

Goldberg, D. S. (2017). Ethics, Justice, and the Social Determinants of Health. SpringerBriefs in Public Health Public Health Ethics and the Social Determinants of Health,7-15. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-51347-8_2

Intervention Studies. (n.d.). Encyclopedia of Public Health,814-814. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-5614-7_1866

Keleher, H., & MacDougall, C. (2015). Understanding health(No. Ed. 4). Oxford University Press.

Mitrou, F., Cooke, M., Lawrence, D., Povah, D., Mobilia, E., Guimond, E., & Zubrick, S. R. (2014). Gaps in Indigenous disadvantage not closing: a census cohort study of social determinants of health in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand from 1981–2006. BMC Public Health, 14(1), 201.

Social and Economic Determinants of Health. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://afro.who.int/health-topics/social-and-economic-determinants-health

What Are the Risk Factors for Heart Disease?, HHS, NIH, NHLBI. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/hearttruth/lower-risk/risk-factors.htm