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Summary P3, M2, D1 Unit 12 Public Health in Health and Social care
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PUBLIC HEALTH TASK 2Gabrielle Elmes (497977) Health and social care level 3 year 2 15/12/2020
UNIT 12 TASK 2
P3 - Describe current patterns of ill health and how they are monitored
Who Monitors Patterns of ill Health?
Epidemiologists- Epidemiology is the study of the spread of infectious disease and
how they can lead to epidemics. Epidemiologists examine the factors that influence
the number of cases of a disease at any one time, it’s distribution, and how to control
it. This applies to such diseases as HIV, Influenza, etc.
In the western world monitoring of diseases such as Cancer and Coronary Heart
Disease is crucial. It is essential in order to identify the health problems that are
occuring in a population in addition to monitoring the diseases themselves. The
monitoring of ill health is interpreted by a range of organisations including:
- THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION - WHO collects data and monitors
health both nationally and internationally to make comparisons between
countries heath. From the monitoring and data from WHO, countries can
improve on dealing with certain ill health by looking for how other countries
with lower prevalence of a disease keep numbers low. It also monitors each
state or county and how certain illnesses increase/decrease depending on
county/state. For example, we can see that HIV is more prevalent in Chad,
Africa than in Botswana, Africa.
- THE GOVERNMENT - The government collects and monitors patterns of ill
health by making policies depending on what the data they monitor on health
informs them they need to deal with. (EX: Information about substance abuse
can inform and cause change to national drug policy. And information about
rising rates of obesity can influence a policy on nutrition.)
- REGIONAL STATISTICS AND REPORTS - This is a key role for public
health observatories so they are able to produce regional information about
population health and monitor the change of health in the region.
- LOCAL REPORTS AND STATISTICS - This monitoring of health is more
localized allowing areas to know what campaigns/ initiatives need to be
introduced to bring certain illness down in a population. By monitoring health
in this type of data, it will be easier to see if significant change has resulted
from a health initiative in improving health.
- EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES - Occasionally, specific studies are necessary
to highlight and monitor certain illness trends (EX: trends in Cancer
highlighted in the ‘Cancer Atlas’ published by the office of national statistics
2005) This allows ill health to be monitored in more detail to see how a
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, specific illness develops. Answering questions such as whether a certain
illness has increased over time or which strain of this illness is more
prevalent.
- PUBLIC HEALTH OBSERVATORIES - They monitor regional data about
health for local planners to use (EX: profiles of alcohol related harm, which
compares local authority areas against national rates, found on the North
West Observatory website)
- THE HEALTH PROTECTION AGENCY - The HPA monitors ill health by
routinely producing reports on communicable disease rates in addition to
specific outbreaks or events and updating this information regularly.
- THE NATIONAL OFFICE FOR STATISTICS - The office for national statistics
monitors health on a national/international level through studies,
questionnaires, trials, and monitors this health through the years to produce
data tables, charts and reports for others to monitor change in health and ill
health. They monitor ill health statistics through birth/death certificates,
national census, hospital and gp visits for certain illnesses. This allows more
precise monitoring on the statistics of ill health in areas such as: rate of
obesity, change in life expectancy, infant mortality, and premature death, etc.
All of these are avenues in which ill health can be collected, updated, and monitored
in addition to being compared and monitored against data from other nations etc. For
Example: a researcher might need to know how a certain illness has increased in
men compared to women or how many more people of a certain age develop a
certain illness. This is why, using the ways above, it is important to monitor ill health
patterns to see how disease increases/changes over time to combat ill health.
PATTERNS OF ILL HEALTH
It is the general consensus that people are living longer than ever before. Boys who
were born in 2019 have been predicted to live until 79.4 years in the uk compared to
the 1900’s when life expectation from birth for a boy was 45 years of age or even
2008 when boys were predicted to live until 77. And girls can expect to live until 83.1
according to the office for national statistics in a 2016-2018 study in the uk. Girls in
the 1900’s were expected to live until only the age of 50 and even in 2008 girls were
only expected to live until 82, so we can see the increase in life expectancy. It was
said, ‘A child born today is likely to live nine and a half years longer than a child born
when the NHS was established in 1948.’ A study done by the office for national
statistics showed that in 2011 life expectancy was double what it was compared to
1841 in England and Wales. The decrease in childhood mortality has decreased
thanks to immunisation for simple diseases such as measles and mumps and better
healthcare since the establishment of the NHS and better access to medical care for
those who are more deprived.
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, While the threat of childhood death from illness has and is falling and infectious
disease of the last century plus have been eradicated through immunisation and
public health policy, the relative proportion of deaths from disease such as cancers,
coronary heart disease, and stroke has risen and now account for around ⅔ of all
deaths.’ Cancer, stroke and heart disease not only kill but are a major cause for ill
health in other areas as well. (2004 White Paper Choosing Health: Making
Healthy Choices Easier) The English Health Report for 2020 says that those aged
85 will hit more than 2 million people by 2031 due to our aging population. A total of
70% on the NHS budget is spent on long term health conditions which are
preventable and this is due to what people eat regularly and the amount of exercise
being seen as more of a suggestion than a healthy lifestyle.
Type 2 diabetes which is known to be caused by a bad diet, now costs the NHS 8.8
billion each year and is projected to rise by one million people in 2035. This disease
leads to an increase in other areas of ill health such as kidney disease, sight loss,
amputation, and heart disease costing the NHS more.
Although it is averaged that we are living healthier and longer lives, health and life
expectancy are not shared equally across the population due to certain areas being
more deprived and not having access to good medical care, diet, environment. In the
early 1970’s death rates among men of working age were almost twice as high for
unskilled groups as they were for professional groups. By the early 1990’s, death
rates were almost three times higher among unskilled groups. In addition to this,
there are regional differences in development of ill health. In the 2008 Manchester
Public Health Report the director identifies that ‘Nationally, men in the local authority
with the highest life expectancy (Kensington and Chelsea 83.7 years) can expect to
live 10 years longer than a man in Manchester.
The Health Profile for 2018 tells us that people in all age groups are all collectively
healthier, but the number of people with a long term condition is rising. Low back and
neck pain as well as skin disease (dermatitis, acne, psoriasis) remain the two leading
specific causes for morbidity in both male and females. A report that was recently
conducted showed that nearly 30% of people in the UK are living below the minimum
income standard. This means those are considered to be living under what is
considered a decent standard of living which is essential to health. Good
employment, which means good income, is a known factor for the deterrent of a
disease or ill health. For example, those who are builders are suspected to have
shorter life expectancies and they are more likely to develop ill health due to the type
of air they are inhaling which is full of air pollutants and how physically demanding
their job is. This is in comparison to someone who has a desk job that requires
minimum effort and regularly breathes healthy air.
Location is also a determinant of public health and the development of ill health.
Those who live in more industrialised areas where air pollutants are higher and there
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, are more fast food options means the development of ill health is more likely than
someone from the country with clean air who eats organic and fresh food more often.
P4- EXPLAIN THE MAIN FACTORS AFFECTING CURRENT PATTERNS OF
HEALTH IN UK
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
SOCIAL CLASS- Since the Black Report of 1980, it has been acknowledged that
those from the lowest social groupings tend to experience the poorest health in
society. Current research suggests that countries with the smallest income
differences have the best health status compared to just ‘rich’ countries. Where
income difference remains great, such as here in the UK with the ‘postcode lottery’
situation, health inequality will persist.
For Example:
- Children in the lowest social class are five times more likely to die from an
accident compared to those in the top social class.
- Someone in social class 5 is four times more likely to experience a stroke
than someone in class one.
- Infant mortality rates are highest among the lowest social groups.
One key difference in health inequalities, rooted in social class, is the difference in
how people access health services. In 1994, Baldock and Ungerson tried to explain
these differences by categorising people’s attitudes to community care services
using a simple model that described four roles people can adopt, which are:
CONSUMERS Expect nothing from the state.
Set out to arrange the necessary care
by buying it themselves.
Believe that using the market gives
them control and autonomy, much like
buying a car.
Know about services but prefer to
purchase their own care.
PRIVATISTS Have learned to manage alone.
Find it hard to come to terms with
increased dependency in later life.
Find it hard to ask for help.
Can become isolated and fail to access
the necessary health care.
Generally do least well of the four in
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