Examples Of Behavioral Determinants Of Health

Determinants of health are many factors combined to affect the health of individuals and communities. Health Starts within the environment we live in, the kind of work we do, the schools we attend, our neighborhood and surrendering communities.

Semen containing white blood cells infected with HIV comes into contact with tissue in the rectum and vagina. The virus can then enter the bloodstream of the host through perforations in the tissue surface. The risk of this happening is greatest in anal intercourse, either between two men or a man and a woman.” HIV is spread through a direct exchange of blood or blood products. This mode of transmission is most frequent among IV drug users who share injection needles. It includes, as well, hemophiliacs and other persons who receive blood transfusions, and fetuses of mothers who carry the AIDS virus.” AIDS has sparked considerable interest and controversy since the start of the epidemic. However, in trying to identify where AIDS originated, there is a danger that people may try and use the debate to attribute blame for the disease to particular groups of individuals or certain lifestyles. When the AIDS epidemic became offical in June 1981, it was widely considered exclusively a "gay disease” and this was because many people were confused and uneducated about this new, foreign disease that faced and ravaged our society as a whole. There is no doubt that many people coming from all walks of life were subject to discrimination when other people discovered that they were suffering as victims taken by the disease. The cultural and social response to AIDS portrayed in the film Philadelphia (1993) covered all of these aspects and was

According to the World Health Organization, “globally there are approximately 16 million people that inject drugs and 3 million of them are living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).” Once someone is infected with HIV, it is almost always fatal since there is currently no cure for the disease. A major component of HIV prevention is the Syringe Exchange Programs (SEP’s). SEP’s are one of the main resolutions that targets curbing the spread of blood-borne viruses among injecting drug users (IDU’s). With an estimated 1 in 5 injecting drug users worldwide infected with HIV, the program is vital to bringing this epidemic under control. 60 countries worldwide have reported HIV among IDUs and an additional 40 countries report a rash of

Health care professional, patients, families, and policy makers all struggle to understand how health is affected by behavior, economic and social structure and provided the knowledge to improve the health status of individuals and populations. Our health is affected by behaviors, economics, and social structure. Many behaviors and lifestyle patterns affect our health, such as: exposure to violence, vehicular accidents, alcohol, drugs, and infectious agents (Williams/Torrens). According to our textbook (Williams/Torrens), alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use creates several of problems that affect our health and society.

Sharing of needles used by injection drug users contributes heavily to the spread of blood-borne diseases, accounting for almost one third of new HIV infections outside sub-Saharan Africa (Ball, 2007). Various studies support that blood-borne disease transmission and contraction are strongly linked to injection drug use. A study conducted by Semaan et al. that analyzed data of 10,301 persons who inject drugs in revealed that 32% had shared syringes during the 12 months prior (Semaan et al., 2011). A second study involving 309 injection drug users found HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C prevalence of 42.4%, 80.9%, and 74.1%, respectively. The study also revealed that 63.8% of the participants engaged in indirect sharing practices within six months prior.

There are many health problems that we face globally and each of them are important for us to be aware of and to take precautions and measures to prevent and treat such diseases that affect our global population. HIV/AIDS is a disease that is spread through direct contact with body fluids from a person who is infected with the virus, these fluids include blood, semen, rectal fluid, vaginal fluids and breast milk. There are an approximate 35 million people living with the disease globally as of 2015 and about 1 million of those people are children under the age of 15 (Aids.gov, 2016). There are approximately 1.2 million people in the U.S. living with the disease and of those individuals many became infected with HIV by needle or syringe sharing,

Behavioral determinants of health — examples include patterns of overweight and obesity; exercise norms; and use of illicit drugs, tobacco, or alcohol

The most common vector for the virus to enter the body is through sexual transmission, either by anal, oral, or vaginal sex. The highest risk activity is anal sex, as the mucous membrane inflammation facilitates HIV transmission (McCutchan, 2013). However, other modes such as sharing needles when injecting drugs, tiny cuts or sores on a person’s vagina, mouth, or penis, or simply the birth of a child by an infected mother, can all spread the disease to other

“The main determinants of health include the social and economic environment, the physical environment, and the person's individual characteristics and behaviors” (World Health Organization). As per the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion it is the interrelationships among these factors that determine individual and population health. Determinants of health reach beyond the boundaries of traditional health care and public health sectors; sectors such as education, housing, transportation, agriculture, and environment can be important in improving population health.

Clean needles are very helpful to reduce to amount of blood- borne diseases that are transferred from needle sharing. According to Sullivan (2004), sharing dirty needles has become the primary way of AIDS cases in New Jersey. Drug addicts will reuse or share needles more than once which is how diseases such as AIDS are transferred.

To formulate a strategic plan and competent clinician for promoting health and wellness is by identifying the health determinants. There is significant evidence contributed to our health or the condition of our health that they are commonly called Health Determinants (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2011). There are twelve determinants of individual's health status, such as livelihood, community or social encouragements or assistance, knowledge, career, atmosphere, ancestry or upbringing, sexual orientation and so forth. (Halifax Community Health Board, n .d.).

The range of personal, social, economic, and environmental factors that influence health status are known as determinants of health. Social determinants of health reflect the social factors and physical conditions of the environment in which people are born, live, learn, play, work, and age. According to Florida Public Health, Heart disease was the second leading cause of death in 2012, accounting for41, 643 deaths. The heart disease age-adjusted death rate per 100,000 populations decreased between 1990 and 2012 from 286.5 to 155.3. Heart disease was the leading cause of death among individuals 85 years or older, accounting for 30.0percent of deaths in this age group.

Poverty, healthcare access, and risk taking behaviors are all among the answer. One in 4 African-American women lives in poverty, and people living in poverty also get lower-quality health care in general. Exchanging sex for drugs, money, or to meet other needs causes the increase HIV risk factors. For woman living in poverty with low quality health care gives the HIV infection to advance into AIDS more quickly. HIV is mostly spread to women through sexual contact. Untreated STDs that break the skin, like genital herpes, give HIV an access into the bloodstream. 23% of African American women were infected with HIV by injection drug use. Being under the influence of any substance can cause woman to have high risk behaviors such as unprotected sex and sharing of injection drug paraphernalia.

An array of factors like personal, social, economic, and environment issues influence and determines the health of individual and population, acting in various combination (Knickman & Kovner, 2015). These determinants of health, known as population health determinants generally include genetics, access to health care, individual behavior, social determinant, physical environment (Knickman & Kovner, 2015).

The determinants of health include those of individual, sociocultural, socioeconomic, and environmental factors. These factors act in various combinations to influence an individual’s personal health. The determinants of health can have a positive or negative influence on the health of individuals or populations.