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How culture influences health beliefs essay
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Health is defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as being ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing’. There are many differing perceptions of health in society, some believe health is based on the presence of illness, whereas other people take into consideration their overall wellbeing, and strive to prevent illnesses.
Models of Health have been put into place with the aspiration of making a healthier individual or nation. These differ from simply treating any physical or biological illnesses, to looking at trying to make sure a person does not become ill in the first place.
The biomedical model is the main model of the NHS in focusing on making any person suffering from any illness better. First a diagnosis is needed
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Details of their social lifestyle, and any social causes to the illness do not need to be approached giving the individual a view that they never need to change any habits they have on their health, as the NHS will always provide free treatment, regardless of their lifestyle.
The social model was developed to take into consideration the cultural, environmental and social factors of a person when looking at their health. The main focus is to make sure a community as a whole has broad health knowledge and can then promote this onto themselves. The social model uses collaboration from different sectors such as school nurses, NHS posters, adverts and health and safety guidelines in order to make sure a person is educated about illnesses from all different social
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Icek Ajzen said there are three factors to consider when predicting whether a person will perform an unhealthy behaviour. He looked at the attitude a person had towards the unhealthy act, as well as what’s socially expected of them and the behaviour control the individual has. For instance, if a person favours a behaviour the more likely they are to then perform this behaviour, the individual will also be influenced by the views of others around them, in relation to this act. The last factor will be the perceived behaviour control of that person, as to whether they then control their own behaviour, or begin to submit to the specific
The notion of health is contextual and an interactive, dynamic process between person and environment (Schim et al, 2007). Both wellness and illness are conceptualized by the ‘person’, existing on a continuum across the lifespan (Arnold & Boggs, 2001).
Health behaviour is defined as ‘behaviour patterns, actions, and habits that relate to health maintenance to health restoration and to health improvement’ (Gochman, 1997). An individual’s behaviour towards their health is influenced by their social, cultural and physical environments. Behaviours are categorised as being health-enhancing or health-impairing. Engaging in health- enhancing behaviours, for instance, taking regular exercise and eating a balanced diet, can lead to increased health benefits and reductions in illness. Alternatively, health-impairing behaviours, such as excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and high dietary fat consumption, can have detrimental consequences on health and increase an individual’s susceptibility to disease.
This model considers other aspects of an individual 's life such as their culture and environment. Unlike the biomedical model, the social model tries to prevent the disease in the first place, so it focuses more on educating people and health promotion. The biomedical looks at an individual’s physical disease but the social model also looks at a person’s well-being. According to Stephan Sutton, Andrew Baum and Marie Johnston (2004) the SAGE Handbook of Health psychology ‘a combination of high psychological demands, such as time pressure and low decision latitude increases the risk of psychophysiological stress reactions and subsequent ill
Puffjacket. ( 2010) Why Is Health Difficult To Define? [online] Available at: http://www.etudier.com/dissertations/Why-Is-Health-Difficult-To-Define/35259.html [Accessed:5 Jan 2014].
The biomedical model of health has been criticised because it fails to include the psychological and social causes relating to an individual’s medical illness or health, looking only at the biological causes (Giddens and Sutton, 2013). Therefore, sociologists being aware of the impacts of social structure and lifestyle on health have put in various efforts to place the study of ‘the social’ at the core of health and healthcare examination.
As discussed, it is clear that when it comes to public health the lines are often quite blurred. The Biomedical Model and the Lifestyle Theory Model both have their advantages however a common theme throughout both models is that they are both too reductionist in their approach to health. They failed to consider other health models viewpoints, or incorporate external factors such as the social gradient into their reasoning behind the cause and effect of bad health. Therefore instead of trying to categorise health into definite ‘health models’, health needs to be accepted more for what it is - a forever changing and adapting concept.
Kevin White pp: 5-8k introduction to sociology of health and illness second edition books.goole.co.uk accessed 11-04-2014
Positive health looks at what aspects of health are there and which ones make us healthy.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) came up with the most commonly used definition for health, which has not changed for over 60 years. They say that it is ‘’a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’’ (WHO, 1948), therefore meaning there are many more things to consider with health other than just death rates.
In society today, there is an extensive range of definitions of health and wellbeing which can be seen as both positive and negative. A Holistic view can also be identified and defined. These definitions of health have changed over time and will carry on changing within the future. According to where a family lives or their social class everyone will have different meanings and views of health and wellbeing. This may be due to what one person perceives as being healthy as another person may not. Channel 4 learning (no date) describes that a positive view of health can be seen as when a person is more likely to achieve and sustain physical fitness from exercising and are mentally stable. Therefor a negative view can be described when a person is free from illness, disease, mental distress or anything which may be a symptom of not having good health. The holistic view of health sees the person as a whole instead of just directing at one area and therefore combines physical, social, intellectual and emotional factors together. Consequently, if a person has emotional difficulties such as how they interact with other people or how they may feel but are physically fit and free from illness does not mean that they are healthy overall as one factor has difficulties. It is also vital to consider the two main theoretical concepts known as the medical and social model of health. Polity books (no date) describes that the medical model views health in terms of disease, diagnosis and then treatment and very much views a body to be separate from psychological processes. Causes of ill-health within the body are seen to require expert interference from a doctor to provide treatment to prevent or kill of an illness within the body. The Social model...
The health of an individual and their communities is affected by several elements which combine together. Whether an individual is healthy or not, is determined by their circumstances and environment.1 To a greater extent, factors such as where an individual lives, their relationships with family and friends, the state of their environment, income, genetics and level of education all have significant impacts on health, however the more frequently considered factors such as access and use of health care facilities regularly have less of an impact.6 Determinants of health is a term which was introduced in the 1970s as part of a broader analysis of research and policy on public health. Researchers argued that there was a lot of attention and too much expenditure on health being dedicated to individuals and their illnesses, and little or no investment in populations and their health. It was decided that public health should be more concerned with social policies and social determinants than with health facilities and the outcomes of diseases.7 The determinants of health include social and economic environment, physical environment and an individual’s behaviour and characteristics. The environment of an individual determines their health, holding responsible an individual for having poor health or acknowledging them for good health is inappropriate. Individuals are not likely to be able to control several of the determinants of health. These determinants that make individuals healthy or not include the factors above, and numerous others.6
(Williams and Bendelow, 1998). The social model of health looks at factors such as; the social, environmental, economic and cultural factors which are the broader influences on health instead of diseases and injuries. ‘the social model locates people in social contexts, conceptualizes the physical environment as socially organized, and understands ill health as a process of interaction between people and their environments’ (Broom, 1991, 52). Social model of health perceives health and illness in different ways other than just medical facts, by looking at the broader factors that can cause ill health or be the source of you being ill such as; being in poverty; having poor housing, job-related stress, pollution, family, employment status, working conditions, health services, housing, environmental pollution, friends, income, education, social life, national food deprived neighbourhoods as well as poor life choices, these factors can shape your physical along with your mental health and it is not just science that can shape our physical and mental
It is a community approach to prevent diseases and illnesses. The social model focus is on policies, education and health promotion and goes beyond the focus of lifestyles and behaviour and accepts the need for social change to provide prerequisites for health. It was developed in the late 1970’s 1980’s as some members of the community were not experiencing the same levels as health as others despite the understanding of the impact of lifestyle and behaviours on
Health is described as physical and mental well-being and freedom from disease, pain or defect. However, such descriptions only superficially define the actual meaning of health. There may be many occasions when individuals are not necessarily ill or in pain but may be overweight, stressed or emotionally unstable. Health is a quality of life involving dynamic interaction and interdependence among the individual’s physical state, their mental and emotional reactions, and the social context in which the individual exists. There are many factors that influence your health, but three major components contribute to general well-being: Self-awareness, a balanced diet and, regular physical activity.
As described by Ghezzi, “A health system is the organization of people, institutions, and resources to deliver services that will meet the health needs of target populations” (Ghezzi). Healthcare, in a way, can change someone from the dark side to the light or from the negative side to the positive side. The importance of health care and the maintenance of it is not always recognized. Healthcare as a whole includes all of the regularly scheduled doctor appointments, hospital visits, and more. Every country is different from one another in many aspects and health, or well-being, is just one of the many.