DETERMINANTS OF

HEALTH
DIFFERENT TYPES OF ILL HEALTH AND INJURY
BY K. KANJIRAWAYA
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 By the end of this chapter, learners must be
able to;
Define health, illness, disease and ill health
Understand WHO Definition to “health” and
limitation to this
Understand physical illness and mental ill health,
and the impact of this to individuals and families
Explain physical disability, learning disability,
developmental and hidden disability.
 Health is a state of complete physical, mental
and social well-being and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity.
 A disease is a particular abnormal condition

that negatively affects the structure or

function of an organism , and that is not due
to any immediate external injury.
 A disease can be caused by either internal
(internal dysfunctions) or external factors
(pathogens)
Often associated with specific symptoms and signs
 The term illness refers to the patient’s
personal experience to his or her disease
 NB; it is possible for a person to have a

disease without being ill….and to be ill

without being diseased
 Disorder is a functional abnormality or a
disturbance
 Ill health is a condition of inferior health in

which some disease is or impairment of

function is present but not as serious as in
illness
UNDERSTANDING WHO DEFINITION TO “HEALTH” AND
LIMITATION TO THIS

 NB: Health is a state of complete physical,

mental and social well-being and not merely
the absence of disease or infirmity.

What are the

limitations of this
definition?????
 LIMITATIONS OF THIS DEFINITION
An individual believes they have a good state of
health and well being because they have nothing
wrong with them ( No physical illness, no injury, no
mental stress, no pain or discomfort)
Individuals do very little to maintain their health
and well being
They don’t go for regular checkups or screening to
understand their health.
PHYSICAL ILLNESS AND MENTAL ILL
HEALTH
 PHYSICAL ILLNESS
 Physical illness is defined as an attack on the

physical body.
 Can be acute (severe and sudden onset)e.g.

flue, asthma
 or chronic (an long developing health

problem that will not go away) e.g. diabetes

mellitus,
 What are the impacts of physical illness to an
individual and the family?????
IMPACTS OF PHYSICAL ILLNESS TO AN
INDIVIDUAL

 Pain
 Fatigue
 Poor self image
 Less productivity
 Financial problems
 Withdraw from friends and social activities
 Stress and anxiety
 Insomnia
IMPACTS OF PHYSICAL ILLNESS TO
THE FAMILY
 Financial impact-Treatment cost, transport
costs etc
 Stress and anxiety
 Poor family unity
 Promotes family unity
 Disruption of school or work of family

members
 Lack of family leisure time
MENTAL ILL HEALTH
 Mental ill health is a broad term that includes
both mental illness and mental health
problems
 Mental illness is a disorder that is diagnosed

by a medical professional that significantly

affect individual’s cognitive, emotional and
social abilities
 Examples are mood disorders( depression,

anxiety), psychotic disorders (schizoprenia),

eating disorders and personality disorders
 Mental health problems occur as a result of
life stressors and are usually less severe and
have shorter duration than mental illness
What are the impacts of
mental ill health to an
individual?
IMPACTS OF MENTAL ILL HEALTH TO
AN INDIVIDUAL
 Disability
 Unhappiness
 Relationship problems
 Social isolation
 Legal and financial problems
 Poverty and homelessness
 Self harm and harm to others
 Suicide
 Family conflicts
IMPACTS OF MENTAL ILL
HEALTH TO THE FAMILY
 Family members may be isolated
 Chronic stress
 Feeling of helplessness
 Withdraw from social activity
 Conflicts
DISABILITY
 Disability is a physical or mental impairment
which has real and long term effect on
person’s ability to carry out day to day
activities
• Some forms/types of disability are:
• physical disability, learning disability, developmental
and hidden disability.
• PHYSICAL DISABILITY
 Can be physiological, functional / mobility impairments
 Can be visible or invisible
 Can be painful, less painful or even painless
 Can be progressive (chronic anthritis) or non
progressive (e.g. cerebral palsy and spinal befida)
LEARNING DISABILITY
 It is a specific disorder of a person’s CNS
affecting the learning process
 Characteristics are:
Poor reading fluency
Slow reading rate
Lack of self monitoring reading skills
Difficult in identifying important ideas in a context
Difficulties in controlling eye movements across the
page
Poor decoding skills ( analyze and interpret
information)
DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
 They are a group of conditions due to
impairment in physical, learning, language or
behavior areas.
CHARACTERISTICS
 They begin during developmental period
 May impact day to day functioning , and

usually last throughout a person’s life

 Most developmental disabilities begin before

the baby is born

 Some can happen after birth due to injury or

infection
EXAMPLES OF DEVELOPMENTAL
DISABILITY
 Attention Deficit Hypertensive Disorder
(ADHD)
 Cerebral palsy
 Visual impairment
HIDDEN DISABILITY
 These are disabilities that are not
immediately apparent
 CHARACTERISTICS
They do not use assistive devices
They look and act healthy
Hidden disability can include chronic illnesses e.g
renal failure, diabetes, and sleeping disorders
 Other types of invisible disabilities are:
 Chronic fatigue-may be sign of back

problems or bone disease

 Chronic pain
 Mental illness-schizophrenia, attention deficit

disorder, agoraphobia (fear of being in

situations where escape might be difficult)
 Chronic dizziness-associated with the

problems of inner ear

Any questions??
 “The only way to discover the limit of possible
is to go beyond them into impossible.” Arthur
C. Clarke

 Thank you.