The Perspective of Health
Melody Means
California State University Fullerton
Health is a varying form of perspective, deeply rooted in an individual’s upbringing and circumstance. Health is an end to which there are multiple and different means. There are many different aspects that make up a person’s life, and all of those aspects can be attributed to that individual’s health. When considering a person’s health, other facts besides just scientific numbers and statistics— are important to take into account. Some of the largest influential aspects of health are geographical heritage, cultural background, and an individual’s own personal experience. All of these factors can aid in the study of epidemiology.
Geographical heritage can play an important role in determining the physiological limits in which an individual can survive. According to Wiley & Allen, often beneficial traits must be acquired that are referred to as adaptions, and they are specific to an environmental context (pg. 24). In the film, The Journey of Man, Nina Jablonski describes how the Chuckchi people were able to adapt to their extremely cold environment in Siberia; by reducing the amount of their body surface that was exposed to freezing temperatures. Internally, this adaption prevented their extremities from prevalent conditions such as hypothermia or frostbite. The adaption also helped by reducing the amount of body heat that was released to the environment. Externally, this
The strategy of case studies contributes to a dynamic analysis area of a country with specific characteristics. The determinants of health and diseases emerge from factors that cause imbalance from a phenomenological aspect that affects the culture of the families.
In comparison of the Canadian and Hispanic cultural health traditions to those of the American author, mild variances exist. As the other families, the author uses good eating habits and exercise to maintain health. She practices yoga and prioritizes time spent ridding her body and mind of stress. The author protects her health by receiving immunizations such as the seasonal influenza vaccine. She avoids substances known to be toxic to the body like cigarette smoke. She encourages her family to practice good health habits and teaches them about maintaining, protecting, and restoring health. The author has Hispanic heritage but does not practice as many traditions as S. M. and her family. The author trusts in western healthcare similar in the ways that R. R. and his family do. Residing in American culture has possibly influenced all three families in which they have adopted some alternative traditions.
In this essay I am going to talk the patterns and trends of health and ill health among different social groupings. I will talk about each pattern and trend in its own paragraph, Social class, Gender, Ethnicity, Age and Geographical location. I will talk about the links between these to health issues. I will back these up through the use of evidence such as statistics. I will then conclude what I have found out. Firstly I will talk about each pattern and trend.
The indicators and determinants of health that will impact this case are medical history, cultural background, socio-economic background and
He reader is informed of all the health risk of different ethnic minorities and some of the known causes.
The above discussions shows how Farmer and the members of Partners in Health tried to exemplify the three fields of medical anthropology; ecological-epidemiological, critical and interpretive approaches. This is however not to state these as the causes of these health issues or diseases. They are however some of the contributing or associated factors to these health issues. Each of these approaches helps anthropologists come up with the various causes or factors associated with health issues in certain
The social determinants of health are arguably more important than the biological determinants of health in determining what the health of an individual will look like through their lifetime. There are many social determinants of health such as culture, disability, income, education and social environment but these detrainments do not impact a person’s life individually. Social determinants do not work in isolation rather they indicate that a number of factors and or determinants of heath determine the health and the quality of life of individuals; in Richard Wagmese’s Ragged Company, social environments and culture are two social determinants of health that work off
This report will be investigating the various sociological perspectives on health as well as the models and definitions of health and ill health. These topics will assist in the understanding of how different people and different cultures react to ill health.
There are also general socio-economic, cultural, and environmental conditions to be considered when taking a holistic approach to health promotion, since having only
“The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life” (World Health Organisation (WHO), 2009). The social determinants of health can be divided into 5 categories, age, sex and hereditary factors, individual lifestyle factors, social and community networks, living and working conditions and general socioeconomic, cultural and
Health determinants are the factors that can have a positive or negative impact on a person’s health. Many things can affect how healthy we are, from a complex interplay between macro to molecular influence to influences from society (for example, the prevalence of drug and alcohol use), to individual factors such as genetic make-up. Education, employment, income, lifestyle, psychosocial and physiological factors can also influence a person’s health and wellbeing. Health can also be significantly affected, and modified to some extent, by the quality and timeliness of the health care services we receive, including preventative health care such as education, screening and immunization.
I chose two books on health education, the first one I chose was called Total Health- Thinking about Life’s Changes by Susan Boe, which is a textbook for middle school. The other textbook I chose is also by the same author called Total Health- Choices for a Winning Lifestyle for high school students. At first glance both look like they have a lot of information in them and look well organized.
Acting in different levels, from micro to macro, those determinants have effect in a complex interplay of a multidirectional flow between the individual and the social scope. They are normally and roughly grouped into categories, such as individual factors interpersonal factors, institutional and community environments, broader social, economic and political influences. That concept allows explain why some people and groups are at higher risk for develop some diseases instead of others, and that is a very important key for a better understanding of its prevalence and to design more effective prevention strategies.
Some factors such as education, income, and employment are just a few examples that were the causes that affect a person’s health. For instance, with education it showed those that were in the high class were more likely to have better health and better paying jobs than low class, whereas with income those in low class struggle with being able to provide for their families, and lastly, with employment depending on where the individual worked determined their health. For example,
The determinants of health are economic and social conditions that affect people’s health status. These influence the living and working conditions that impacts people’s everyday living condition. Factors such as the place and the environment we live in, genetics, educational level or work status and income, as well as friends and family are some of the aspects that affects our health condition. On the other hand, the people that have an access to good health care and have financial stability are less susceptible and are often less affected. (NANB, 2009)