Essentials of Health Behavior by Mark Edberg - Essay Example

Health Sciences and Medicine 07 November Essentials of Health Behavior, Social and Behavioral Theory in Public Health It is very difficult to distinguish global health from domestic health. The former offers coverage for healthcare practices globally whereas the latter is limited to covering only healthcare practices within the state. Domestic healthcare practices are more affordable than the other one. Global health is a new field of study that is gradually becoming popular by pressing social concern and a most powerful interdisciplinary academic synthesis intended at understanding and effectively intervening in procedures of health, sickness, as well as healing across the globe. “An ideal health care system would be one that works for the community, the individuals living in that community. An ideal health care system has the ability to provide care, research, and even basic information to the patients. In this paper I will identify and explain some of the key factor that needs to be addressed when developing an ideal model of health care” (Glasgow 1). Key factors that should be addressed when developing a perfect model of healthcare consist of trained doctors, researches, nurses, teachers, and a willing society. Without the correct people there is no means for a model of health care to be formed. In order to apply the healthcare in US into the global context one of the main things that have to be adapted is the cultural and social aspect. Social inequality affects the health in many ways. Example of this situation is that, Public health in the 21st century increasingly thinks how social inequalities impact on human being health, moving away from the focus on how illness relates to the particular person. This 'new public health' recognizes how social, financial and political factors influence the level and distribution of human being health, in the course of their effects on person behaviors, the social groups citizens belong to, the character of relations to others and the uniqueness of the societies in which citizens live. The increasing social inequalities that can be seen in nearly all country in the world these days present not just a moral hazard, but a mortal hazard as well. C-Channel 36 presents 7 more articles on adapting programs of behavior and social alteration communication and various activities to other settings. The first summarizes a sexual and reproductive health plan for particular groups in Guatemala; the 2nd and adaptation of a US youth HIV avoidance plan in China; and the next two information on adaptations for US minority inhabitants.  The ultimate objective of primary healthcare is better healthcare services for all. The WHO has recognized five key elements to accomplishing that goal:     * Decreasing exclusion and social differences in health;     * Managing health services around requirements and expectations of the people;     * Integrating health into the entire sectors;     * Pursuing joint models of strategy dialogue; and     * Increasing participation of the stakeholder. Examples of global health approaches include communication programs to infuse diffusion of innovation, social marketing, and community mobilization. Racial and ethnic disparities are known to reflect right to use to care and other issues that occur from differing socioeconomic circumstances. Racial and ethnic minorities are inclined to obtain poorer quality care compared with non-minorities, even when right to use connected factors, for example insurance position and income, are controlled. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) describes disparities as racial or ethnic dissimilarities in the quality of health care that are not due to access connected factors or clinical requirements, preferences, and suitability of intervention. Many things contribute to racial, racial, and socioeconomic health disparities, “including inadequate access to care, poor quality of care, community features (such as poverty and violence) and personal behaviors. These factors are often associated with underserved racial and ethnic minority groups, individuals who have experienced economic obstacles, those with disabilities and individuals living within medically underserved communities.  Consequently, individuals living in both urban and rural areas may experience health disparities” (Disparities in Health par. 2). In spite of ongoing efforts to decrease health disparities in the US, racial and ethnic differences in both health and health care endure. Even when income, health insurance and right to use to care are accounted for, disparities continue.  An application of generative approaches includes work for adding lesser risky behaviors to an “inventory of behaviors” that encourages the generative plan. Health disparities are a very relevant problem in today’s society. In order to raise the quality of life and eliminate health disparities, communities, states and national group will require to adopt a multidisciplinary approach in attaining health equity as a plan that includes improving education, health, housing, agriculture, labor, integrity, transportation, as well as the environment. To be profitable, this method needs community, system and plan level modifications that join social, organizational, economic, environmental, and policy approach along with individual behavioral variations. Strategies and other interventions affect the accessibility and distribution of social determinants to different people, which include those living under different socioeconomic status, sex, race and ethnicity, disability status, and geographic setting. Values of social justice affect these multiple relations and the resulting effects on health. Disparities can be decreased by concentrating on communities at higher risk, developing multi sector relationship that generate chances for health equity and healthy communities, raising availability to quality prevention services, raising the capability of individuals in pretentious communities and also facilitate healthcare and prevention personnel to deal with disparities. To efficiently address health disparities, it is necessary to apply community-based approaches that encourage healthy behaviors and avoid injury and disease among population at utmost risk. Vulnerability trajectory involves people’s difficulty to avail the diseases, attitudes, knowledge and lack of experiences in health practice. People should not only be culturally knowledgeable but also suitably diverse to reveal causal community distinctiveness such as culture, race, ethnicity, culture, language and so on. Health disparities are mostly affected to the individuals in a community. They are becoming the victims of the serious issues of the health disparities. In order to eliminate the health disparities, there is a need to adopt the individual approaches. This approaches and theories focus on changing the attitude, and behavior of the individuals, providing better knowledge, and awareness about the health disparities. Individual approach emphasizes behavior change of people by recognizing the interventions. Importance of context is used as a method of awareness and impacting risk behaviors. Context may act as a trigger for risk behaviors. Contextual features are regard as characteristics of the situations in which risk behaviors might arise. It may include interpersonal aspects such as sex with partners of unknown, socio cultural factors such as religious beliefs, gender, and legal factors such as unemployment, low income, etc. High-risk behaviors are those that can cause harmful effects on the overall growth and well-being of persons or that can stop them from attaining future development and success. This contains behaviors that cause acute physical injury and also behaviors with increasing negative effects. Risk behaviors can also influence people by disrupting their natural growth and avoiding them from contributing ‘typical’ work efficiency for their age group. Risk factors for high-risk behavior include isolation from family and relatives, limited access to current health care, low literacy rates, irregular pay as well as living and working environments that provide fewer opportunities for activity. HIV prevention rates in these groups have been created to be as high as about 60 to 80 percentage. Harm reduction approach has recognized applicability for extra high-risk health behavior issues also, such as, changes in alcohol rules towards accepting the fact that drinking conditions may occur as well as giving an emphasis on stopping drinking behaviors that present the majority risk, for instance, driving and drinking. Generative approach is focusing “not on behavior conceptualized in terms of inputs and outputs, but on the organizing process and structures through which persons generate behavior overtime, containing behavior that implications for health or that is intentionally health related” (Edberg 143).   Works Cited Disparities in Health. National Conference of State Lecislatures. 2012. Web. 08 November 2012.  Edberg, Mark Cameron. Essentials of Health Behavior: Social and Behavioral Theory in Public Health. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Canada. 2007. Print. Glasgow, Yvonne M. Key Components of an Ideal Health Care System. Yahoo! Health Care and Lifestyle Network. 2009. Web. 07 November 2012.  Read More