Better Health for Individuals Essay

Words: 3561
Pages: 15

Better Health for Individuals

* Identifies and examines why individuals give different meanings to health * Explains how a range of health behaviors affect an individual’s health * Describes how an individual’s health is determined by a range of factors * Evaluates aspects of health over which individuals can exert some control * Describes factors that contribute to effective health promotion * Proposes actions that can improve and maintain an individual’s health * Forms opinions about health-promoting actions based on a critical examination of relevant information * Uses a range of sources to draw conclusions about health and physical activity concepts

Meanings of Health * Definitions of health *
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* The differing expectations that come with people’s different perceptions of health are therefore likely to impact on the degree of support that individuals provide to others. * Implications at the policy level * Statistics of ill health are often gathered to measure the health of individuals, communities and nations. * At a societal level the perceptions of the health status of Australians held by various levels of government, health professionals, non-government policy, expenditure and action, and impact on the agenda set by various organizations. * Epidemiology – the study and analysis of trends of illness and disease evident in the figures of mortality, morbidity and life expectancy. * Mortality – the number of deaths in a given population from a particular cause and/or over a period of time * Morbidity – the incidence or level of illness or sickness in a given population * Life expectancy – is the average number of years of life remaining to a person at a particular age, based on current death rates. * Conflicting perceptions often arise about the areas of health that should be given highest priority, leading to competing demands for the finite resources allocated by the various levels of government.

Perceptions of health as social constructs * A social construct is a