Another financial factor that affects our health is living in poverty. One in five people in the UK are living in poverty. Over a third of the population now says that they are just one large heating bill or one broken washing machine away from hardship. Many are finding it difficult to heat their homes or buy essential clothing. Most shockingly, the number of people in the UK that are going hungry is growing. Two children in every classroom in the UK are arriving at school having eaten no breakfast. Many are going hungry because of a failure of the safety net. (Oxfam, 2014) Living in poverty can affect your physical health by getting diseases related to poor housing and diet such as colds and asthma which can occur as a cause of damp in the house. Your mental and emotional health can be affected because you may get upset and depressed about living in poverty and you may get worried about money which can then lead on to social issues such as not being able to afford to go out with friends or not being able to afford medical treatment. Children’s intellectual health can be affected by poverty because parents may not be able to buy them equipment needed for school so they miss out on certain things.
C – Biomedical and social models of health
The biomedical model of health is where people tend to be looked at in a similar way to machines. The body systems are seen as parts that can be easily repaired or replaced. They say that if someone falls ill, they go and see their doctor who will treat them and send them home again feeling immediately better. According to this model, health is absence of disease. They go on to say those other aspects in people’s lives are irrelevant such as unemployment. They also deal with illness and ill health rather than promoting good health. Another key aspect of this model is that the person receiving treatment does not take an active role in the treatment. This model is satisfactory when dealing with short term or acute illness however treating someone with a long term illness would be more complicated.
The biomedical model of health began to fall out of favor in the 20th century for three reasons,
- Decline in number of deaths due to infectious diseases
- Dramatic increase of medical technology and its cost.
- Growing emphasis on quality of life
The social model of health is the opposite of the biomedical model because it recognizes the important influence of factors such as housing, poverty and education. A social model of health recognizes that ill health issues can be cured by addressing social conditions, for example someone moving from a damp, cluttered house into a dry, clean house may improve their health. Public health contributed to social improvements by ensuring the sewerage, drainage and water supplies were controlled by the Local Board of Health. (Fisher A et al. 2012)
Differences
Health education advice
Some people choose not to follow health education advice for a number of reasons:
- Addiction – People may find it difficult to stop something that they are used too for example if someone smokes 5 cigarettes a day you have to respect that it might take some time to stop smoking completely. This links to the social model of health where health issues are down to the individual’s lifestyle choices.
- Fear may be another issue as individuals may be more afraid of the actual change rather than the issue itself for example if someone may be too worried about sticking to a diet plan rather than being worried about what happens if they don’t. This links to the social model as it shows that the patient is in control and its down to their decisions.
- Peer pressure – trying to fit into a group can be more important than giving up drugs for example so this links with the social model as it is not focusing on the individual but the people surrounding them.
- Indifference – The individual may believe that if they fall ill, they will be able to get “fixed” this links to the bio medical model of health because they believe the problem can just be fixed immediately.
For example people still smoke although they are aware of the risks involved because they are addicted so may physically and mentally find it difficult to stop. They may also believe that they are well enough at that moment in time so having no reason to believe they will fall ill.
D – Ill health
Ill health can refer to a disease, a disorder, or as a subjective feeling of illness. As a disease, a medical expert can examine the patient after discussing the symptoms. They can then haven an official diagnosis with a medically named disease. Ill health as a disorder is related to a organ, tissue or body system which doesn’t function properly. For example if your heart slows down them it is not completing its function properly. Ill health as a subjective feeling is when a person feels unwell but there are no symptoms to see or describe.
One condition that effects ill health is Multiple sclerosis (MS) which is a disease affecting nerves in the brain and spinal cord, causing problems with muscle movement, balance and vision. (NHS choices, 2013). This condition affects health in various ways. It affects individuals physically as you often suffer with fatigue and have poor vision which can make it a struggle just to walk around and do everyday activities. You can also be affected mentally as the condition effects nerves of the brain so your ability to think clearly may not be as good as usual. You can be affected intellectually because of this as you may be restricted as to what you are able to think about and your ability to make clearly make decisions. You can be affected emotionally by this condition because you may feel different to other people and have low confidence to do things for yourself so you will also not go out socially because you may think something will happen to you. You may also not feel well enough to meet up with friends and family so you feel you are missing out.
Another condition that affects health is cystic fibrosis which affects the lungs and digestive system. You are affected physically with this disease as you have a persistent cough and constant chest and lung infections. There is no cure for this disease so people who have it can be affected mentally and emotionally as they feel that they will never get better so always feel upset or depressed that there is nothing they can do about it. You can be affected socially by this as you may feel as though you can’t go out as you feel different to people around you.
Bibliography
Fisher, A. et al. (2012) Applied AS Health and Social care 2nd edition. Oxford: Oxford university press.
Well being enterprises (2008), What is wellbeing? Available at: http://www.wellbeingenterprises.org.uk/why-we-do-it/what-is-wellbeing/ Accessed: June 17 2008
2knowmyself, (2011)Why do people drink alcohol? Available at: http://www.2knowmyself.com/Why_do_people_drink_alcohol_psychology Accessed: August 2011
Drink aware,(2013) alcohol dependence, Available at: http://drinkaware.co.uk/check-the-facts/health-effects-of-alcohol/mental-health/alcohol-dependence. Accessed: October 2013
Journal Sentinel, (2013), why does eating healthier cost more? Available at: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/211313901.html. Accessed: October 2011
University of Birmingham, (2013). Obesity in the UK. Available at: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/mds/centres/obesity/obesity-uk/index.aspx. Accessed: January 2013
Fisher, A. et al. (2012) Applied AS Health and Social care 2nd edition. Oxford: Oxford university press.
Oxfam (2014) Poverty in the UK. Available at: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what-we-do/issues-we-work-on/poverty-in-the-uk. Last accessed: February 2014.
NHS choices(2013) Multiple sclerosis. Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Multiple-sclerosis/Pages/Introduction.aspx. Last accessed: February 2014.
A02
In this section I will be researching two service providers and looking at what they do in order to protect the health and well-being of the public.
GPs
A General Practitioner works in primary care and is part of the clinical commissioning group. They are an important part of the healthcare system as they are usually the first point of contact for most patients and they can then be referred on to the appropriate healthcare professionals.
They provide care within the community and can either work in a doctor’s surgery, hospitals or can visit people’s homes if necessary. GPs call on an extensive knowledge of medical conditions to be able to assess a problem and decide on the appropriate course of action. They know how and when to intervene, through treatment, prevention and education, to promote the health of their patients and families.(NHS. 2006) They are therefore important because they reduce the pressure that is put on hospitals by doing what they can so that they don’t have to go into a already crowed hospital.
Being a GP requires a number of personal qualities and skills that help them to do their job well. Qualities refer to part of our personality that comes naturally to us whereas a skill is something that you have learned to do. (Wiki answers. 2014)
Qualities
The ability to care for patients and their relatives
This is an essential part of a GPs job. A GP must have the ability to care for their patients so that they have a friendly manner and the patients feel comfortable with them. They also need to have the ability to care for the relatives of their patients because they may be just as upset of stressed as the patient themselves and the relatives will want to be able to talk to the GP.
Sense of responsibly
A GP must have a sense of responsibility for their patients as they are responsible for their patient’s treatment and health. They are also responsible for making sure the patient is getting the right information and medication.
Ability to seek help where appropriate
A GP must have the ability to seek help where appropriate because they have to notice that they may not have the answers to everything. For example if someone had a injury to their arm but the GP didn’t quite know what the exact problem was then they may have to ask another person that specialises in that area. They may also seek help if they want a second opinion for example they may think they know what the diagnosis is however it may be important that it is right that they ask someone else to confirm it to prevent error.
Patience
A GP needs to have patience because some people may take longer to express their problems so a GP needs to accept that some people may not want to talk straight away and support them.
Maintain professionalism
A GP must maintain professionalism when dealing with patients because they have to remain focused and in control. Also the patient goes to them for a reason so they expect them to be professional.
An open mind
It is good to have an open mind so that you see things from a different perspective for example if a patient is not taking their medication then instead of just telling them how important it is for them to take them then you may take into account other aspects that may be effecting them for example a carer forgetting to remind them.
Skills
Communication skills
Verbal skills are probably the most important skills to have because in order to help the patient and treat them accordingly then you have to be able to communicate with them to find out what is wrong with them. They also need to speak clearly when talking to the patients for example if the GP is telling them what medication to take it has to be accurate.
Written communication is also very important as accuracy of the written word is extremely important. If inaccuracies occur with keeping of formal records, a service user could have the wrong treatment or be given incorrect information with disastrous results. (Fisher et al 2012)
Good listening skills
Listening skills are almost as important as communication skills because you need to be able to listen to the patient so you can find out what is wrong with them. You also want the patient to feel like you are listening to them otherwise they may not communicate effectively.
Decisiveness
You need to be decisive so that you make decisions with a certain amount of confidence. A patient expects you to know what is wrong with them so if you are indecisive then they may not feel comfortable with you treating them.
Hard work/determination
A GP must be prepared to work hard and do a lot of research at home to learn about new treatments. They must also be dedicated to the job so that they can give the best treatment.
B - Preventative methods
GPs use several preventative methods one of them being vaccines such as Flu vaccines and HPV vaccines. Vaccines help reduce the risk of certain infectious diseases by introducing a dead or modified version of the disease-causing organism or inactivated toxin to the person's immune system. Some vaccines offer lifelong immunity. In other cases, booster shots are needed. Serious side effects from vaccines are rare. (Better health.2013)
GP’s do this to stimulate immunity against disease. This is beneficial because it prevents illness and therefore reduces the amount of people needing to go to the doctors with more serious illnesses. This then lowers the financial cost and also helps save recourses for the NHS. Vaccines can be given just once in a lifetime or require booster jabs for example many children get the MMR vaccine when they are young which protects them from measles, mumps and rubella. This particular vaccine requires a booster to ensure that you are fully protected against the disease.
Vaccines meet the needs of the service user by preventing them from getting illness. This is then improving their quality of life. It saves time and money for the NHS and the service user for example if an individual gets HPV then they may have to get time of work which can then increase their chances of becoming financially unstable.
GP’s improve people’s health by providing them with information and treatment such as giving them antibiotics to help with the problems. People go to the GP as the first point of contact and the GP can then refer them to the specialists who can deal with the problem. Another common preventative method is flu vaccines which are available every year on the NHS to protect adults (and some children) at risk of flu and its complications. (NHS. 2014)
A - Dietician
A Dietician is an expert in food and nutrition. They improve people’s health by giving help promote healthy eating habits and develop specific diets for people. (Am dietetics, 2012). They also aim to select the best diets for the individual so that they don’t get health related diseases giving them a better quality of life. They are important in promoting the health and well-being of individuals and a group, ensuring that they are eating what is best for them.
Their roles include:
- Working with people with special dietary needs
- Informing the general public about nutrition
- Offering unbiased advice
- Evaluating and improving treatments
- Educating patients/clients, other healthcare professionals and community groups.(NHS, 2006)
Like GPs, dieticians need various skills and qualities,
Qualities
An interest in food
To be a dietician you need to have an interest in food because you need to have a certain amount of knowledge and understanding to know what types of food are best for certain people.
Interest in people
You need to have an interest in people in order to be able and to want to help them. You will be likely to be dealing with people everyday so you need to be able to have an interest in them to treat them as in individual and help them in the best way possible.
Friendly
To be a dietician you need be friendly because you are dealing with people on a regular basis so you need to be able to interact well with them to build up a relationship with them. You also want them to be able to trust you so that they are then more likely to listen to what you have to say.
Non – judgmental
If you are a dietician then you have to be non – judgmental and have and understanding of peoples individual needs. You need to be able to respect the fact that some people may find it difficult to change their eating habits. Being judgmental of someone may lower their self – esteem and leave them less motivated to stick to the diet plan.
Skills
Communication skills
You need to be able to talk efficiently and be able to interact with people to exchange and obtain information. You may also need to do group talks where your ability to speak clearly and give out the correct information is essential.
Numeracy skills
You need numeracy skills to be able to work out the nutritional value of certain products so that you know what people need and maybe also to work out the specific amounts on certain foods that an individual needs.
Problem solving
You need to have the ability to solve problems and you are continually looking out for new treatments that can benefit the service user, for example a service user may have a disability making it difficult for them to go out and buy the correct food. You then need to be able to come up with a way that the food can get delivered to the service user.
Decision making
You need to be good at decision making so that you can quickly and effectively make choices for example booking in appointments and deciding what people need.
Organizational skills
You need to be organized if you are a dietician as you need to schedule your own daily work to suit your other tasks but be able to deal with problems that may occur during this time e.g. the absence of a patient. You also need to know when you are seeing certain clients and if you are doing group talks then you need to plan what you are going to be talking about.
B - Preventative method
Health education can be used by dieticians in educating the general public about food. Dieticians try and teach people from an early age about the correct foods that you should and shouldn’t eat by coming into schools and encouraging children to eat 5 pieces of fruit or vegetables a day. This encourages children to get into good eating habits so it’s easier for them in later life. Another way that dieticians try to encourage health promotion is by using posters that show how much people should be eating.
These preventative methods meet the needs of the service user because they are trying to encourage people to eat the right foods which can then be beneficial to their health because they are less likely to eat risk of illnesses which if left untreated can be very serious.
Possible implications for these are that when you are trying to educate children about what foods they should be eating then their parents may not be encouraging this at home making it harder for them to encourage their children to eat healthily. Another implication for people not sticking to the health advice could be that they are financially unstable because healthy food can be expensive so people may just find it easier to buy ready meals and cheap food such as sweets compared to apples. The Change4life programme tries to reduce these implications by offering advice and alternatives.
Government initiative
One government initiative that has been introduced in order to reduce illness is Stoptober. Stoptober is an initiative that tries to encourage people to stop smoking for 28 days of October. This lasts for 28 days because if you don’t smoke for that long then you are five times more likely to stay smoke free for good (Stoptober, 2012) Research shows that stopping smoking for 28 days can extend your life by up to 1 week if you remain smoke free. The new ex-smokers across England and Wales are therefore celebrating their first steps towards a healthier, smoke free life, and if they succeed in quitting for good, they could collectively add as much as 4,700 years of life to the population (Gov.uk, 2012) this is designed so that people can stop smoking which has many health benefits such as:
- Reducing the risk of getting illnesses such as lung cancer and heart disease.
- Protecting the health of those around you
- Improving your breathing and general fitness (Smoke free, 2013)
The implications of this initiative may be that the participants may find it too hard to stop smoking because it can be hard for people especially those who are addicted. People may also not have enough willpower and feel that they do not have enough support. When this happens there is plenty of support available such as text messages to keep you motivated and an interactive app that can help you to stay focused. However there are a number of positives to this campaign such as it will have long term health benefits for the individual and will also benefit the economy because there are less likely to be as many smoke related diseases.
Bibliography
NHS (2006). General Practioner. Available at: http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore-by-career/doctors/careers-in-medicine/general-practice/. Last accessed: August 2013.
Wikianswers(2014). Skills vs qualities. Available at: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_quality_and_skills#slide=3&article=What_is_the_difference_between_quality_and_skills. Last accessed: January 2014
Fisher et al. (2012) Applied AS Health and Social care 2nd edition. Oxford: Oxford university press.
Am Dietetics (2012) What does a dietician do?[online]. Available at: http://www.amdietetics.com/about/what-does-a-dietitian-do.Last accessed: December 2013.
Better health. 2013. Vaccines [online] Available at: http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Vaccines_explained. Last accessed: August 2013
NHS choices (2014). The flu jab [online] Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/flu-influenza-vaccine.aspx. Last accessed: April 2013
Stoptober (2012) Stoptober [online] Available at: https://stoptober.smokefree.nhs.uk/. Last accesses: October 2013.
Gov.uk(2012) Stoptober challenge[online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/stoptober-challenge-reaches-new-high-as-countrys-biggest-mass-quit-attempt. Last accessed: October 2013
Smoke free (2013) Benefits of quitting [online] Available at: http://smokefree.nhs.uk/why-quit/benefits-of-quitting/#health. Last accessed: July 2013
A03 – Planning a campaign
In this section I will be making a health campaign to deliver to an audience aiming to teach them about a health issue.
Before we start our health campaign we will hand out a questionnaire to 20 people asking questions regarding their opinions on a range of health related issues. In this questionnaire we will cover, smoking, alcohol use, drugs, unprotected sex and healthy eating. From this we can see what people think of these topics and we can then come up with a campaign related to it. The final question asked ‘Do you think Britain is healthy? What do you think we could do to improve health in Britain?’ 65% of the answers to these questions were about obesity.
After looking at the answers from our questionnaire we have decided to look at other government initiatives that are already in place. One of these is the Change 4 Life programme. It is the country's first national campaign to tackle the causes of . (Wikipedia. 2012) This programme sends out free packages of leaflets giving lots of information to families about what foods to eat and activities they can do to keep fit. This programme is aimed at parents who are trying to change and do things with their family that will benefit them. Change 4 Life say that we are a lot less active. With so many opportunities to watch TV or play computer games, and with so much convenience and fast food available, we don’t move about as much, or eat as well as we used to. (Change 4 Life) This is causing an overweight population which is leading to diseases such as diabetes.
Our target audience that we are doing our campaign to is a low ability year 8 science class. We believe this is a good audience to aim our campaign at because they are old enough to start making their own choices on food and they have also seen how food issues are treated in the media. They are also young enough to be influenced by the effects of negative attitudes towards eating. We know that they have a basic knowledge of understanding of healthy eating but they aren’t aware eating disorders.
We will try and make our campaign as effective as possible by using relevant information that the audience will remember. As we are dong our campaign to a low ability group we will use simple and short sentences on the PowerPoint that will keep their attention. We will also use lots of pictures and diagrams on our PowerPoint so that they can visually look at it and remember it. We will also include activities that will get them involved in the presentation so that they stay interested throughout.
After looking through our questionnaires we found that 65% of people say that obesity is the main issue regarding health problems. However, although not covered in our research, as a group we have also decided to look at eating disorders in our campaign as we believe that it is something that hasn’t been and needs to be covered in school. So our health campaign will be on ‘Healthy attitudes towards eating’
Our aims of our campaign are:
- To inform them on correct eating habits.
- To make them aware of the risks of extreme dieting.
Our objectives of our campaign are:
- To teach them that obesity is not the only eating disorder.
Plan
Lesson 1 – We will be put into groups. In our group is Emily, Amber, Kayla and I. We started by reviewing questionnaires to see what the public think about health issues. We will then create a pie chart showing our results using Microsoft excel so that we can look at what are results are. We will then split into two groups so that we are all actively taking part. Emily and I will start doing research as to what to include in our PowerPoint whilst Kayla and Amber will start preparing the questionnaires to give out to the audience that will see what they already know. By doing a questionnaire before we start the presentation it will give us time to set up the presentation and also wait for everyone to arrive. When we look at what they have put it will also give us an idea as to what they already know.
Lesson 2 – We will start preparing the activity for the start of the presentation which will be a true or false activity which will engage the audience before we start the main content. It will also allow us to see what they already know. By getting them to write on whiteboards and hold them up it will get them interested. We will then start doing research in more depth on topics such as extreme dieting, healthy eating and obesity.
Lesson 3 – In this lesson we will finish off the topics of Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia and talk about BMI. We feel that talking about eating disorders is beneficial as it is not taught on the curriculum but is something that is becoming an issue in today’s society. Recent figures suggest that 1 in100 women has a clinically diagnosed eating disorder.(ABC.2008) We will also put in some images that show the two extremes of dieting by getting images from the ‘supersize vs superskinny’ programme. By getting images from a television show, the audience may have watched it so they can relate to it and see what the risks are. By including pictures, it will also allow them to see what to look out for.
Lesson 4 – In the final lesson before we have to perform our presentation we will do any finishing touches. Emily will add links to the end of the PowerPoint so the audience can look at them if they wish and I will finish adding images. Amber and Kayla will also make cue cards that we can take in with us so that we can expand on our points that we make. We will try and use brief information on our PowerPoint and expand the points from there so that we can still keep the attention of the audience. We will also make sure that we can have whiteboards and post it notes ready for the presentation.
In our presentation, we will talk about the following: Healthy eating, extreme dieting, and obesity, Anorexia, Bulimia and BMI. We feel that eating disorders are a important topic that should be covered as it is not taught on the curriculum so many people are unaware of them, also taking about Anorexia as well as obesity tells them that you’re not just unhealthy if you are overweight but you can also be unhealthy if you are under weight.
I feel our presentation was successful and we took turns reading out each slide.
Potential costs + resources
We will not need to cover any costs during our presentation as the school will provide whiteboards and post it notes. We can also use the school facilities to print of our questionnaires therefore our campaign is cost free. However if we were to do this campaign on a larger scale we would have to use our own printing facilities and get our own resources which could work out quite expensive.
When we do our presentation, we will each take it in turns to read out a slide. At the end, we will ask if they have any questions to ensure that they know everything they want to know. We know that our criteria that we have to cover is that it has to be half an hour long and also have a pre and post questionnaire which will give us feedback.
Outcomes
We hope that the audience will be aware of healthy eating attitudes and also aware of the risks that can be involved through dieting. I feel that we can cover all of this in half an hour however if we feel that it is going to quickly and we will finish before the minimum time then we will expand on our points more and also answer any questions that they have. At the end of our presentation we will have an activity about BMI and we will show a link to the NHS website where they can check their BMI. At the end of the presentation we can show them this and if they are willing they can participate. They might like this as it breaks up the presentation and is a bit different from just listening to us talking. Also if they do it, they will find out if they are a healthy weight.
We made a pre questionnaire(attached) which we will give the audience at the start of the lesson. By getting them to do this we can then see what they already know and what they know at the end so we can compare and see if we have achieved our aims. We have made up five simple questions so that it is not too time consuming and they can answer truthfully. We have also made the questionnaire anonymous so that the audience don’t feel uncomfortable answering the questions.
At the end of the lesson we hand out post it notes which we will get them to write on, one will be asking for feedback on our performance and one will be getting them to write one thing that they have learned. This will be beneficial as it will allow us to see if we have taught them anything new.
Bibliography
Change 4 life. 2013. What is Change 4 life? Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/Change4Life/Pages/what-is-change-for-life.aspx. Last accessed: June 2013.
Wikipedia.(2012). Change4life. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change4Life. Last accessed: August 2013.
ABC. (2008) Anorexia and Bulimia care. Available at: http://www.anorexiabulimiacare.org.uk/information-and-statistics-media. Last accessed: January 2014.
A04 - Evaluation of campaign
Our campaign was based on healthy attitudes towards eating. We presented it to a low ability year 8 science.
Our aims were:
- To inform them on correct eating habits.
- To make them aware of the risks of extreme dieting.
I think our aims were successful as the presentation had lots of information on it about eating habits and disorders, so they now know about them. I also think we made them aware of the risks of extreme dieting because when we gave out our questionnaire at the start of the lesson, many of them didn’t know much about eating disorders but at the end, most of them said that they had learned information about them that they didn’t know previously.
I think our campaign was successful as we delivered all the information that we intended to such as information regarding Anorexia Nervosa, Obesity and Bulimia. When we gave them the pre questionnaire the majority of them said that they know little about eating disorders however at the end of the presentation when we asked them what they learned at least 80% of them said that they now know more information about them. I think using the BMI calculator also was good because it isn’t something that they really knew about and by showing them how to use it means that they can do it themselves at home,
I think our performance was successful as we delivered the information clearly and I think we communicated with the audience well. The audience listened to us throughout and they seemed to enjoy the activities such as using the whiteboards. However to improve our performance we needed to make more eye contact with the audience because we were looking at the PowerPoint quite a lot. At the end of the presentation we got them to write on one post it not one thing they have learned and one thing that we could improve on. Most of them said they learned more information on eating disorders which was one of our aims.
If we were to repeat this campaign and do it to another audience we would change the layout of the presentation to suit the audience. If we were doing it to a large group of adults then we would use more complex grammar and vocabulary so that it seems professional and it also suits the target audience. We would also not use as many pictures to make it look more professional. If we were doing it to a large group we probably wouldn’t use whiteboards but just get them to put their hands up instead so that it is less time consuming.