CORE MODULE ONE: BETTER HEALTH FOR INDIVIDUALS
NOTES:
What does Health mean to individuals?
Meanings of health
Health: is the holistic wellbeing of all
dimensions of health.
DEFINITION: A state of complete
physical, mental and social well being and
not merely the absence of illness or
infirmary.
What is the WHO: Founded in 1948, WHO is
the United Nations agency that connects
nations, partners and people to promote
health, keep the world safe and serve the
vulnerable.
What is the UN: The United Nations is an
intergovernmental organisation whose
stated purposes are to maintain
international peace and security, develop
friendly relations among nations, achieve
international cooperation, and be a centre
for harmonising the actions of nations.
Five dimensions of health:
Physical: physical capacity and strength
and absence from illness
Spiritual: sense of purpose and
connectedness
Mental/Emotional: state of mental
wellbeing where everyday stresses can be
overcome in a healthy way.
Social: having and feeling connected to a
wide group of people and having the ability
to interact with them.
● Relative nature of health: Refers to how
we judge our own health in comparison to
(other, previous health etc)
● Dynamic nature of health: refers to the
constant fluctuations and changes that
occur in our level of health.
LEARN TO QUESTIONS:
Examine the dynamic nature of health by
exploring:
➔ Interactions between the dimensions
The four dimensions of health act
independently on one another to holistically
make an individual healthy. For example if a
person isn’t socially healthy, meaning they
lack a strong support network, this will affect
their mental/emotional health leaving them
feeling isolated and lonely.
➔ The concept of good health
The concept of good health is relative and
dynamic, meaninging it is unique to the
individual and their circumstances, history
and perception. Good health is also
dynamic, meaning it is changing, where
previously health was thought of as physical
strength, it is now recognised to be more
intricate and involve four dimensions.
Therefore, All dimensions of health are
needed to be healthy
.
➔ The health continuum
The health continuum is a scale with good
health and bad health on contracting ends,
with your level of health placed on it. Eg
being sick.
➔ How health changes over time
Health changes over the course of long and
short term time periods. Short term
fluctuations could include developing a cold
or flu and long term changes in health could
include regularly exercising and the long
term health benefits of it (increased muscle
and heart strength + endurance, bone
density, immunity etc)
➔ How might an individual's perception
of health affect their behaviour and
wellbeing?
A person's perception of health is shaped by
the value and importance they place on it.
Someone with a high perception of health
(regard its importance and value highly) are
Perceptions of health
● Everyone’s unique circumstances,
personality, attitude and genetics shape
their perception of health
➢ Influenced by peers, media, past,
environment, beliefs and education etc
● Our personal views and perceptions of
health shape our perceptions of other
people’s health too
➢ Eg someone with a disabled sibling
(personal experience + education) who is
still active may have a more broad
perception of health
Implications of different perceptions of
health-
Exist both on an individual and social level: Similarly, ideas and values voiced by friends
Individual- their perception of health will
strongly influence their lifestyle and
behavioural approaches
Societal- Government policy and funding
priority will be directed by the general
perception of health held by these in power. Explore current research and information to:
Impact of media, peers and family:
Media: constantly disseminating messages
about health or influencing
Family: Key contributors to the
development of attitudes, beliefs and values increases when multiple factors interact.
of health and also set up your early habits
Peers: have a strong influence in the
development of health-related attitudes and illicit substance use is a rising trend among
behaviours.
Health Behaviours of young people:
General trends:
● Death rates decreased as more
education, initiative and
development
● Education: has increased as the
importance and accessibility has
increased
● Cancer: decreased with initiatives +
education
● Diabetes: decreased with initiatives
+ education
Protective + risk behaviours:
Protective behaviours: enhance a
person’s level of health eg sunscreen,
seatbelt
more likely to partake in health promoting
behaviours like regular exercise + a healthy
diet as they hold good health highly and
understand its importance.
➔ Determine the degree to which
perceptions of health are socially
constructed:
An individual’s health is largely influenced by
peers, family, media and the environment
around you and what information they feed
to you. A person’s health is usually a
reflection of the culture around them and the
health related messages received either
directly or indirectly, e.g. social media sends
out strong messages regularly about what a
physically healthy body should look like.
and family will influence your own
perception and understanding, eg a family
that voices and emphasises the importance
of mental health, will likely lead to the
individual having a positive stigma towards
mental health.
Identify prevalence of trends in the health
behaviours of young people
➔ Identify protective and risk behaviours
for health issues relevant to young
people and predict how risk decreases or
Young people are usually the most prone
age group to experimenting with risky
behaviours and actions. Engaging in drug or
young people which leads to both short term
and long term implications. This risk
behaviour and its consequences could be
overcome by engaging in protective
behaviours such as not engaging in this
activity, not associating with peers that
engage in this etc. Another risk behaviour is
becoming sexually active, this brings about
health compromising risks such as
pregnancy, STIs, however protective
behaviours like abstinence, barrier method
contraceptives etc can minimise the
negative effects this may have on an
individuals health. However when
drugs/drinking and sex intercat, these
factors all increase the incidence of risk
behaviour and the health compromising
factors.

Risk behaviours: contribute to the
development of health problems or poorer
level of health eg drugs, speeding
What influences the health of individuals?
The determinants of health
Individual: factors unique to each person
that can determine their health
(age, genetics, knowledge, attitude)
Sociocultural: relate to the society in which
one lives and the cultural values +
expectations
(family, peers, culture, media, religion)
Socioeconomic: Relate to a person’s level
of income, education and employment
(income, education, employment)
Environmental factors: the factors present
in the geographical environment a person
lives
(access, isolation)
What degree of control can individuals exert
over their health?
Modifiable health determinants:
● Knowledge
● Peers
● Education
● Location
Non-modifiable:
● Age
● Gender
● Family history
● Ethnicity
Health as a social construct:
Recognises that people have different views
on health based on their social
circumstances
What strategies help to promote the health
of individuals?
What is health promotion:
Health promotion is the process of enabling
people to increase control over, and to
improve their health.
Identify protective and risk behaviours for
health issues relevant to young people and
predict how risk decreases or increases
when multiple factors interact.
➔List of 4 -5 protective behaviours and
4-5 risk Behaviours
- Having fair skin and freckles→ having
regular skin checkup
- High blood pressure → regular heart
checks and exercise
- Speeding
- Taking unsafe drugs
➔Analyse how an individual’s health can
be determined by a range of factors
acting in various combinations.
A persons determinants of health:
sociocultural, socioeconomic,
environmental and individual all determine
an individual’s level of health by acting in
various combinations. For example,
environmental factors are the factors
relating to where you geographically live:
access to facilities, healthcare, clean water,
electricity etc. Areas of health promoting
and enhancing opportunities such as urban
areas close to health services, gyms, nice
parks and walking tracks will be more
expensive than an area of off putting
opportunities eg; high levels of crime, no
nice facilities, gang violence etc. Clearly
showing how socioeconomic factors
determine where you can afford to live and
that strongly influences an individual's
participation in health promoting facilities.
Another example is,sociocultural and
individual factors combining to shape a
person’s attitude towards health. An
individual's family (sociocultural factor)
forms the early physical activity and eating
habits for an individual when they are too
young to make their own informed choices.
If someone was to grow up in an actively
involved family , who was regularly going for
family jogs, participating in extracurricular
sports and creating healthy meals, this
would develop strong good health habits in
the individual and shape their attitude and
the value they place on sport. Thus
exemplifying how multiple determinants of
health can act in various combination to
influence an individual’s health.
Responsibilities for health promotion:
➢ Individuals
➢ Community groups/ schools
➢ NGOs (Non-Govt Orgs)
➢ Government ( local, state, Federal)
➢ International Organisations
Health promotion approaches and
strategies:
● Public policies:
Government / legislative
eg banning smoking, school zones
● Organisational development
eg health promoting in schools
Preventative health services:
1. Primary: prevention;
eg childhood immunisation
2. Secondary: aims to reduce the likelihood
that a disease will develop;
eg monitoring blood pressure for those at
risk of heart disease
3. Tertiary: aims at preventing chronic ill
health once a condition has been
diagnosed;
eg asthma action plan for asthmatics
Community based work
Eg community transport
Environmental health
Eg water conservation
Health education
Eg drug education in schools
The Ottawa charter as an effective
framework for health promotion:
D/ Developing personal skills
Education; gives tools + empowerment,
eg education about diet
C/Creating supportive environments
Creating an environment that promotes and
endorses health
eg altering workplace conditions
S/strengthening community action
Area/ community empowerment
eg help/support groups, clean up Australia
day
R/Reorienting health services
Moving from treatment of health conditions
to prevention
eg speaker at schools
B/ Building healthy public policy
Government level decisions to enact
➔Assess the degree of control
individuals have over their health
Individuals have a moderate degree of
control over their health. Overall health is a
combination of both non-modifiable and
modifiable components,making it extremely
difficult for individuals to be able to exert full
control over their own health.
Non-modifiable factors such as age, gender,
genetics etc are health influencing factors
beyond the control of the individual; they
can’t modify them. For example someone
with a hereditary genetic condition has no
control over the development or symptoms
of this condition. For example asthma is a
chronic condition that in some cases makes
it extremely difficult to remain healthy and
exercise regularly. This non- modifiable
health factor takes the control of an
individual’s health out of their hand as it
limits their health choices greatly, making it
very difficult to perform physical activity
which will then, like a butterfly effect, affect
the three other dimensions of health. Clearly
displaying how individuals can only exert
some control over their holistic health.
Modifiable factors such as location, peers,
education + knowledge are health
influencing factors that can be modified to
be more health enhancing. For example, an
individual always has the option to change
or modify their peers if they believe their
health values and behaviours are
contradicting with their own. Peers that
engage in risk behaviours such as drug
taking strongly influence an individual's
actions and quite often place them in an
environment of high pressure to conform.
legislation that promotes and provides
health incentives
eg school zones
^ Acronym:
DEAD CATS SMELL REALLY BAD
Principles of social justice
Equity: taking action to rescue the ;level of
inquiry in society. AIms to distribute
resources in a way that allows all people the
opportunity to achieve optimum health
Diversity: Recognises the many differences
that exist between individuals and groups
Supportive environments: Have a
significant impact on an individual’s level of
health.
An individual is always able to modify their
peers and who the associate with to cut off
friends that promote health degrading
activities and instead find ones that enjoy
health enhancing activities like study and
exercise. CLearly displaying how individuals
can exert control over their health to an
extent. Therefore, as proven, individuals can
exert control over their own health to an
extent and they can control their own
modifiable health factors.
➔ Investigate how the determinants of
health explain why some individuals and
groups have better or worse health than
others.
➔ Describe the various health promotion
roles and responsibilities adopted by
individuals, groups and governments
➔ Explain how health promotion based
reorienting health services on the action
areas of the Ottawa building healthy
public policy Charter have contributed to
positive health outcomes. For example:
reduction in road injuries
reduction in tobacco use