The level of control an individual has on their own health

Individual health can be determined by a variety of factors acting in carious combinations
1. Derterminants
  1. sociocultural
    1. Family
      1. A child is exposed to violence and abuse in their home environment is likely to suffer long term physical, emotional and social well-being than a child living in a pleasant and supportive home environment.
    2. Peers
      1. Peers can influence the decisions the decisions people make. e.g. If your peers drink and take drugs you are influenced to experiment which can impact negatively on health. Although your peers could play a lot of sport which influences you to join a team and play to which is a positive influence.
    3. Media
      1. Newspapers, TV and the internet can inform people to take action on their health to avoid diseases. E.g. Slip, Slap, Slop was produced to inform people about skin cancer, However the media can also create stereo-types which can impact on an individuals body image in a negative way as they may feel depressed cause they do not look the same as the images in magazines.
    4. Religion/ Culture
      1. Beliefs can influence peoples decisions/ behnaviours which can affect their level of health. e.g. Food, sexual activiety and drug use. Muslims partticipate in Ramadan which affects their food choice are they are not allowed to eat in daylight. This can result in people not eating which can make them feel fatigued etc. However beliefs can benefit a persons spirituality and well-being by adding meaning to their life.
  2. Socioeconomic
    1. Education
      1. Enables people to gain knowledge on health issues and increases their understanding of protective and risk behaviours. Education also enhances employment opportunities, which provides them with a good socioeconomic status. Homeless people usually have low levels of education as they have not been able to get a job and do not know where to seek support durring tough times. Instead many of them will waste their money on drugs and alcohol.
    2. Employment
      1. Employment provides opportunities to be active and interact with others while at the same time being financially stable. Being unemployed affects a person's confidence, limits their social contacts and the individual may also feel depressed and disempowered. The type of employment can also impact on an indivduals health. e.g. A labourer will work long hours with lots of physical activiety which can increase fitness. Were as someone who works long hours at a computer and desk isn't getting the right amount of exercise they need, hence they may put on weight.
    3. Income
      1. Those with higher incomes are able to spend their money on health related products (vitamins), services (phycology), recreational activities, quality food and private health issurance. These people have a higher sense of confidense as they can fford whatever they need which decreases stress and provides them with control over their life. Howver those with a low income or no income are subject to many risks as they are restricted to health services, quality food and safe and secure housing. This adds to stress and creates a low self-esteem which may result in drug use, binge drinking etc.
  3. Individual
    1. Attitudes
      1. Attitudes link to knowledge. Eg. A person with knowledge about the detrimental affects of smoking will likely have the attitude the smoking is bad and therefore will reframe from putting themselves at risk. However someone could have the attitude of 'it will never happen to me' which means they will continue smoking which will increase their chances of illnesses e.g. Lung cancer.
    2. Genetics
      1. Potential to achieve a certain level of health is based upon an individuals genetics. E.g. A girl who's grandmother has breast cancer is at increased rick of getting breast cancer which will then impact on their health severely.
    3. Knowledge + Skills
      1. Knowledge + Skills enable us to act in ways that benefit our health. E.g. We are able to make healthy choices such as eat nutritional foods and exercise. Health literacy also enables people to asses the accuracy on the information they find. Visa-Versa for people who do not have knowledge. This can result in people with becoming overweight as they do not know how to make healthy everyday decisions.
  4. Envitonmental
    1. Access to health services + technology
      1. Health care options for people in remote areas are less than those in urrban areas. These options include; supportive groups, hospitals, dentists etc. An indivdual who lives in a remote area may have to travel hours to visit a doctor. This can be hard for that person as they may not be able to drive or if they do it is very costly due to petrol which means that the person will sat at home and not get their treatment or checkup. This is dangerous to their health as they could have a life-threatening disease which by the time they do get it cheacked out its to late to treat. Technology also impacts on a persons health significantly as it effects the amount of physical activity someone participates in. An individual who lives in the city with reception for mobile phones and internet is very likely to spend a lot of time consumed in the viral world which will limit the amount of physical activity they participate in.
Factors that influence health and physical activity
1. Non-modifiable
  1. Age
    1. Age cannot ruin health, however as you get older you do become more prone to illnesses and disease e.g. arthritis
  2. Gender
    1. Your gender can put you at risk of ilnesses and diseases. E.g. If you are female you can get Cervical Cancer whereas men can get Testicular Cancer
  3. Race/ethnicity
    1. Health promblems such as diseases can be more prone to certain races/ ethnic groups e.g. African decent are more prone to sickle cell anemia
  4. Genetics/ Family history
    1. An individals chance of developing a certain disease or illness is increased if someone in their family has had it e.g. breast cancer
2. Perceptions
  1. Perceptions of health as a social construct
    1. Everyone has a different opinion to what it means to be healthy and how to be healthy
  2. Impact of family, media and peers
    1. Media: Magazines present skinny, tall, tanned girls which many teenagers aspire to look like. Although these images are photoshopped an individual may go to extreme lengths( exercise excessively, diet, expose skin to sun) to look alike. This is not healthy and can eventually lead to health problems such a anerexia. Although the media can also inform people about safe behaviour in order to prevent illness and diseases e.g. Swap it campaign
    2. Peers: Your peers can influence you positively by behaving safelty and not putting their health at risk, or they can encourage risk taking behaviour such as taking drugs, drinking, tanning etc. which will impact negatively on your health
    3. Family: If your are brought up in a family with a good socioeconmic status that values health, your are more likely to appreciate your own health and not put it at risk. However if an individual is brought up by people who smoke, drink, take drugs and eat fast food due to a low socioeconomic status you are likely to grow up thinking those behaviours are ok which results into no respect for your health.
  3. Implications of different perceptions of health
    1. Other peoples perception on health can influence an individuals life-style choices and behaviours
  4. Perceptions of their own health (Individual holistic)
3. Modifiable
  1. Attitudes
    1. Events and experiences can change someones attitude to health. This can be positive of negative. E.g. someone who has had skin cancer may value their health more now and take action such as staying out of the sun and putting sunscreen on to protect their skin and prevent skin cancer. However someone who has not been affected my severe health problems e.g. skin cancer may have the attitude that 'it will never happen to me' therefore they they don't take action to reduce the risk of getting it. e.g. exposing their skin to the sun.
  2. Socioeconomic status
    1. If you do not have a great socioeconomic status you can modify that by gaining further education which will help your chances of employment and increase income. However this may be hard for people with a low economic status e.g. Aboriginies
  3. Life style
    1. Physical Activiety
      1. By exercising more and participating in sport it is likely that you will increase your fitness. This can also help with loosing weight if you are overweight. Although this can be costly (joining gym) and it may be hard/ time consuming to find exercise groups.
    2. Diet/ Nutritional habits
      1. Modifying your diet such as consuming more nutrients and cutting fatty/ sugary foods will improve your health and prevent certain diseases e.g. Diabetes‎. However eating healthily is more expensive than cheap fast foods, therefore low socioeconomic groups may find this hard.
    3. Drug consumption
4. Different life stages
Health and physical activiety as socially constructed
1. Interelationships of determinants
  1. Determinants interrelate with oneanother
    1. Individual and socioeconomic
      1. Low SES limits the individuals ability to buy healthy products and serrvices
    2. Individual and environmental
      1. Lack of social networks due to geographic location could be overcome by developing skills in information and communication technology.
    3. Individual and sociocultural
      1. Personal identity is closely linked to culural identity. The way an individual interprets and responds to cultural background can have a protective or harmful influence on their health.
    4. Environmental and sociocultural
      1. Income and wealth have a big influence ib where a person lives, so groups who share common environments often share common characteristics.
2. Individual responsibility
  1. Can control
    1. Modifiable factors: e.g. Socioeconomic status, physical activity, diet, drug consumption
  2. Can't control
    1. Non-modifiable factors e.g. Age, gender, race, genetics
    2. Government
      1. The government has the responsibility to provide education, employment opportunities and medical facilities to groups in society e.g. Indigenous Australians.
  3. Factors
    1. Enabling factors: factors that support the behaviour e.g. availability of fast food outlets promoting consumption of these fatty foods.
    2. Predisposing factors: Factors that increase the likelihood of the behaviour e.g. parents are overweight which influences the family to be non-active
    3. Reinforcing factors: factors the help the behaviour continue. . e.g. No suitable role models to encourage a healthy diet and regular exercise.
  4. Different groups of people experience different circumstances which results in a diverse range of opinions to what health is.

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The level of control an individual has on their own health

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	Created by bmirabitur about 10 years ago