Shane Quizon - PDHPE Assessment Task 1

Student Number: 35661062

PART A - Perceptions Of Health (Describe the concept of dynamic and relative health.
Consider the dimensions of health in your response)

Dynamic Health is a concept that tells us about the fact that health fluctuates constantly and
health can change drastically in short periods. The word dynamic can be defined as constant
change, activity or progress. A person can be completely fine and in a second a person’s
health can change. A person’s health is defined using the 5 dimensions of health social,
emotional, mental, spiritual and physical. If even one of these gets affected then all of them
can get affected. This relates to the concept of dynamic health as one change to the
dimensions of health affects a person’s health and this can happen in a second. One day a
person can be healthy and then the next day their health can fall due to unforeseen
circumstances. An example of this would be if someone was having a great day and their
health was excelling but someone reminds them of their past significant other which they
miss, then their health will decrease due to this affecting their emotional health which then
affects their mental health, which then they are now low energy which then affects their
physical activity. This whole situation affected this person’s dimensions of health within
seconds when they were just happy and healthy. This is an example of how health is
dynamic and is closely connected to the dimensions of health. Health overall most of the
time is a slow gradual change. A depressed teenager who eventually grows up to be a happy
adult with a family and a good lifestyle would be a gradual change. Diseases that slowly
develop due to lifestyle choices are also a gradual change.

Relative health is a concept of how people use others to compare the health status of a
specific person or group. The word relative can be defined as in proportion to something
else. Relative health can be seen when someone decides that an athlete is healthier than a
person in a wheelchair. You can decide that you are healthier and unhealthier than others
but your subjective judgement is most likely wrong when the dimensions of health exists.
Physical appearance is usually how people compare others' health but that's a biased
judgement to make on one's health. To fairly compare one's health you have to factor in all 5
dimensions of health but most people only factor in physical. An example of relative health
in real life is Nick Vujicic. Most people who don’t know him would believe his health to be
worst than most people since Nick Vujicic doesn’t have any limbs, but in reality, his other
dimensions of health are so high he would be healthier than the average human being.

PART B - Perceptions Of Health (Determine the degree to which perceptions of health are
socially constructed.)

The degree to which perceptions of health are socially constructed is extremely large. Health
is a social construct is a concept which means that health is not just an individual's
responsibility and is not just affected by an individual’s choices, instead, health is
constructed by society and the people around us. That means the responsibility for our
health doesn’t just fall under the individual but to society as a whole. A social construct can
be defined as an idea that has been created and accepted by society as a whole. Health is a
social concept that is shaped by determinants of health including environmental,
socioeconomic, sociocultural and individual.

The media, social media and advertisements show definitively how the perceptions of
health are socially constructed in a significant way. The media can show and portray the
average human body as slim, muscular and fit for men and extremely skinny and clear skin
for women. This is not true and not normal by human standards. But due to how the media
portrays this especially social media causes individuals to be influenced negatively and can
negatively affect their perception of health. This then directly affects their dimensions of
health especially physical, social and emotional. This is because a negative perception of
health can cause mental illnesses such as body dysmorphia which is a condition where you
keep finding flaws within your own body no matter what which can lead to risk behaviours
and dangerous levels of malnutrition. ABC News has statistics on how there is an increasing
trend of more young people getting body dysmorphia in recent years especially due to the
sharp increase in social media use. This shows proof of how the media is socially
constructing our health but in a negative way.

The determinants of health show how perceptions of health are socially constructed to a
significant degree as the determinants of health are barely in the individual's control which
leads to their perception of health being socially constructed. An example of this would be a
person’s peers which would be an environmental and sociocultural determinant. A person’s
peers could plant a stigma within a person talking about their mental health which would
end up negatively for a person’s perception of health. A person in a low-income geographical
area could see their health as worse than one of a high-income geographical area which
would then encourage them negatively.

PART C - The Determinants of Health

Analyse the health of Rural and Remote Australians and discuss whether they have poorer
or higher levels of health than Australians who live in major cities. You must refer to the
following selection of determinants of health in your response and use evidence to
support your answer.

Individual factors - knowledge and skills

Sociocultural factors - culture
Socioeconomic factors - income
Environmental factors - geographical location

The health of people who live in rural and remote Australia is undeniably worse than
Australians due to several reasons and factors. These issues include individual, sociocultural,
socioeconomic and environmental factors. The government has implemented services and
ideas to make it safer to live in the rural and remote areas of Australia, but still, overall the
Australians that live in major cities have higher levels of health.

Environmental factors have an important impact on the difference in the quality of health in
remote and rural areas compared to those who live in urban areas. The main environmental
factor is geographical location. The remote and rural location itself leads to less access to
health services and professionals, which tends to become a big problem with the elderly
who are sick in remote areas. Elderly people need extensive care and the limited access to
health services can't provide that care, which significantly contributes to lowering life
expectancy. They can't get the same care they would in urbanised areas in Australia. The
limited amount of health services can also affect those who are not elderly and the number
of infants who have very weak immune systems. The lack of health services can undoubtedly
cause huge risks to these infants and contribute to infant mortality when it could have been
easily prevented by modern medicine if it was accessible to them. This lack of health
services can also affect results in scannings, which means cancers can take longer to detect,
which can be detrimental to a person's survival rate. People living in rural areas have lower
health literacy, which can lead them to not know the detrimental effects of living in rural
areas, which can lead to them not being able to make it out of their making them continue
the cycle of poverty and lower standards of health. Environmental factors can also include
bad weather conditions which can lead to even longer times when an ambulance needs to
arrive.

The individual factors have a large impact on the health levels of those living in rural and
remote Australia in comparison to those living in Australia's major cities. The individual
factors of knowledge and skill are inextricably linked with positive health. The knowledge
component of health in urban areas is significantly better than the ones in remote and rural
areas, which leads to worse health literacy. Worse health literacy leads to higher chances of
doing risk behaviours such as smoking, binge drinking and illicit drugs. Health literacy
promotes protective behaviours which range from being able to read nutritional labels and
making sure you practice safe sex. All these protective behaviours increase a person's life
expectancy and, due to the lower health literacy in remote and rural areas, that just proves
how rural and remote areas have poorer health than Australians in major cities.

Sociocultural factors have a significant impact on the health of those living in rural areas and
cities. Culture is a factor that is unmodifiable and shapes a part of who you are as a person.
The ones who live in remote and rural areas are usually Aboriginal people and they have one
of the lowest life expectancies in Australia. The culture of Aboriginal people in rural areas is
they are dependent on the government to provide for them, which leads them to not be
bothered to work or do anything for their life lives since the government does everything
and provides everything for them. Peers, are another sociocultural factor and in rural areas,
peers can significantly affect your behaviours if your peers have nothing else to do due to
the limited access to activities, then in illicit substances, alcohol or smoking to cope with
their sad situation, which then influences their peers to do the same thing. The same thing
can happen in urban areas and the opposite can also happen. Peers can also influence
others to participate in protective behaviours. We can determine that urban areas have less
health compared to those living in urban cities due to the neglectful and unmotivated
culture attached to the rural and remote areas.

Socioeconomic factors have an extreme impact on the health quality of those living in both
rural and remote areas and major cities. Income is a deciding factor in health overall. The
trend is evident that the higher-income areas have higher levels of health and lower-income
areas have significantly lower levels of health. This is reflected in rural and remote areas
compared to major cities. Major cities have more income, which in turn makes them have
higher socioeconomic status, which leads to healthier lifestyles and a higher life expectancy.
This is the complete opposite for remote and rural areas. Remote areas have less income,
which leads to less healthy lifestyles, as fast food is cheaper than buying vegetables. This
then leads to a lower life expectancy. The income is low, which leads to important services
not being available, such as hospitals, schools and emergency services, which is significantly
worse than in urban areas which have an abundance of emergency services and schools.

Therefore, in summary, the health of rural and remote areas is significantly worse than those
living in major cities. All the determinants of health were relatively worse in remote and
rural areas compared to urban areas and major cities. Fixing this gap would take decades of
effort and millions of dollars.