Determinants of Health - Essay Example

"Determinants of Health" is a good example of a paper on the health system.
The economic, social, cultural, and physical environment in which we work and live has a considerable effect on their health and wellbeing. In terms of economic, the amount of money that a person receives will determine the kind of medical attention that they receive. Culturally, some people will have prohibits regarding certain activities geared toward achieving good health and well being. In addition, our physical environment will determine the type of ailments that may attack my colleagues. In this case, if the working environment will be conducive without many health risks, then my colleagues and I.  Although personal behavior and genetics play a strong part in influencing a person’s health, good health and well-being start where we live, work, learn, and play, Suleiman, Azeez (2012).  . Improving community health calls for undertaking a wider view of the conditions that enhance health and wellbeing. Therefore, factors that determine our health and well-being include a clean environment, medical and health policies, cultural orientation, economic status, and individual’s behavior among others.

Similarly, there are a few factors that may contribute to ill health and stress in the workplace. The commonest of these determinants include nutrition and physical exercises in the workplace, Zou (2011). In this case, improper nutrition will bring various ill health complications such as diabetes and other lifestyle diseases. Poor nutrition includes consuming fast foods that usually lack correct proportions of required micro and macronutrients. In addition, the lack of exercise in the workplace has reduced the people’s health to a health catastrophe in waiting. This is because of the type of food they consume coupled with the absence of physicals exercise. Other factors that add to ill health and stress in the office include being overweight and reduced immunity. As such, the individual will have a stressful time trying to manage the complications emanating from a poor lifestyle.

The majority of the policies being implemented in my working place are reactive instead of being proactive. In this case, the policy has often emphasized providing health care rather than health. As such, there is a significant lack of focus on prevention, despite the importance of prevention rather than cure. Many companies have only made provision for medical insurance and other policies that guarantee excellent medical care when work becomes ill. In my office, there lacks the knowledge of the comparative significance of health determinants that can help in designing policies that prioritize interventions in areas where the impact is likely to be greatest.

To change the current policy, my company needs to establish programs that are proactive; they should be preventive as compared to being reactive in healing and providing compensation to those affected by the illnesses. To achieve this, the company needs to formulate policies for proper nutrition and exercise. In addition, the policy should make provision for regular checkups so that earlier intervention can be made in the case of an ailment. Moreover, the policy should educate my colleagues on healthy lifestyle so as to reduce the vulnerability to lifestyle diseases such as cancer and diabetes, Urquhart (2013).